I would like to thank the Fodorites who answered not only my questions but those asked by others. I would also like to thank those who asked the questions.

Special thanks to Maribel who suffered through the planning and cancellation of this trip on two previous occasions. I made condensed versions of her very valuable files omitting things such as hotels, etc.

== Itinerary
The trip began on May 27th flying British Airways (booked in Nov ?03 at US604. per person) from Miami to London Heathrow and on to Madrid and ended on June 11th returning from Barcelona to Heathrow and back to Miami.

We spent 3 ? days in Madrid (including day trips), 4 ? days in Seville (including a day trip), 1 ? days in Granada and 3 full days in Barcelona.

== General Impressions
In general we found Madrid to be cleaner, quieter and less chaotic than we expected.

While I expected to hear less English than on previous European trips, I was a little surprised at how few younger people speak English. In Barcelona there seemed to be more English spoken.

We also found that we never had to wait in line for anything. Other than when we were leaving the Alhambra in Granada around 1 PM we encountered no lines anywhere.

Either tourism is down, Spain is not very popular or we went just before the start of tourist season.

Two years ago in Italy bowling shoes were in all the stores and were being worn by quite a few people. Either the style never hit Spain or it has come and gone. We saw a few in one or two stores and none being worn.

They don?t spring their clocks forward in Spain. Mostly as a result of this it didn?t get dark until almost 10PM. This made it quite easy to go out to dinner after 9PM and begin eating around 10.

== Luggage
Our checked luggage was always weighed. On British Airways each person is permitted two pieces of checked luggage but neither can be heavier than 72 pounds. We were well within the limit.

On the flight from Granada to Barcelona (Iberia) and again leaving Barcelona (BA), our carry-ons were weighed. While the allowance was different each time, my carry-on was well over the limit. I took out my camera, film bag and some other things, placed them in a plastic bag and reweighed until it met the limit. The carry-on was then tagged. I?m not sure what was accomplished here as there?s nothing stopping you from replacing what was removed.

The airport in Granada is very small. It has three gates. Actually, it has one gate with three side-by-side doors.

== Food/Tapas
While I?m not a demanding eater, I am quite picky. We thought meals would be a challenge, especially since we don?t speak Spanish. It really wasn?t too bad.

Food is not the focal point of our day. In general, after the lavish buffet breakfasts, we didn?t eat more than a small snack for lunch.

For dinner, we generally preferred to sit at an outdoor restaurant. Since most restaurants wouldn?t serve tapas outdoors (except in Barcelona) our tapas experiences were not overly successful before getting to Barcelona.

== Weather
We had 14 days of sun with only a couple of cloudy mornings. Absolutely no rain.

The temperature ranged from 27-30 degrees (centigrade) in Madrid, Granada and Barcelona to the high 30s (yes, 39 requires 3 digits when translated to Fahrenheit) in Seville.

== Pickpockets
On previous European trips I really didn?t prepare properly. I used a money belt to hold some valuables. My credit card, driver?s license and other important cards as well as too much cash were in my wallet and card case kept in my pockets. I was much too easy a target.

For this trip I felt that I probably couldn?t stop pickpockets. I decided to employ a strategy that would all but eliminate the rewards available.

I used the money belt as before but also a small, thin pouch that had a belt loop and easily slipped inside my pants for my credit card and extra cash.

Essentially I had approximately 25 Euros, a sunglasses case and street map in my pockets. Not very exciting.

See Madrid/Sunday El Rastro below.

== Daytrips
We went to Toledo, Cordoba and Segovia. All were quite interesting.

We found that each town had 2-4 unique sights. Unless you are a true student of history, after eliminating those sights in each town, within a few days, the towns began to blend together.

I would suggest you list the sights of interest in each town, pick the one that interests you the most and visit that one (maximum two) town. Save a lot of traveling.

Of course it?s easy for me to say after three day trips.

Due to AVE construction, the train to Toledo required a transfer to a bus for the last 10-15 minutes. It was not a problem and was done very efficiently. There were sufficient buses waiting when the train arrived. The reverse also held true.

== El Corte Ingles
You?ve heard of hitting for the cycle in baseball and winning all of the majors in golf. You?ve also heard of the Route Modernisme in Barcelona. Well my wife completed the famed ?Paseo el Corte Ingles?. She visited el Corte Ingles stores in five cities.

Interestingly, she spent much less on shopping than I did on sight admissions.

== Departure
We had 1 ? hours between flights from Miami to London Heathrow and from Heathrow to Madrid.

We left Miami 50 minutes late. The excuse given was that the luggage conveyer belt had broken and they had to wait for repairs. We were convinced we?d miss the connecting flight from London to Madrid.

Immediately upon takeoff we were told that due to strong tail winds, we would arrive in London just a couple of minutes late. Hope resurfaced.

We arrived in London just about on time as promised. There must be something wrong with the designers of Heathrow airport. Between walking to the terminal shuttle bus, riding between terminals and then walking to the gate, we made the connecting flight by no more than 10-15 minutes.

== Madrid
We arrived in Madrid about noon and took the Aerocity shuttle bus (18 Euros for both of us) to the Hotel Carlos V (4 nights at 130 Euros per night including full buffet breakfast). The first room we were shown had a strong disinfectant odor and no dresser with drawers (we were to find a lack of drawers fairly standard in Spain). The second room also had almost no drawers but at least didn?t have that odor. Since we had an extra bed in the room, we improvised and quickly unpacked.

The hotel is ideally located in the midst of a pedestrian shopping area. The Buffet breakfast was excellent.

We walked from the hotel to Puerta del Sol, over to Plaza Mayor, wandered the streets below the Plaza and then veered over to the Royal Palace and through the Plaza de Oriente. I decided to make my way down, around and into the Campo del Moro. Why there was only one open entrance and why it was located furthest from the front of the Palace only they know. This provided excellent views of the Palace.

Normally we wouldn?t do an inside tour on the day of arrival. However, when we walked over to the entrance, we found that the Palace would be closed on Monday and Tuesday (I?m sure that pleased unsuspecting tourists to no end). Since we planned on going to Toledo Saturday (wanted to avoid going on Monday due to closings) and to el Rastro Sunday morning, we were a bit boxed in.

We visited the Palace. While it is immense, beautiful and very lavish, I don?t really think a sufficient number of rooms are available for viewing.

We decided to immerse ourselves into tapas on our first evening. Since we preferred a table to the chaotic tapas bar scene, we selected a restaurant that had both. We sat down armed with our little phrase book and began to translate. The waiter immediately ruined (and simplified) the experience by bringing us an English menu.

On Saturday we went to Toledo as described above. Very historic and interesting.

On Sunday morning we went to the el Rastro flea market. As someone wrote in a previous post. Junk in one city is junk in another.

On two occasions I found the outer zipper of my backpack unzipped. I guess a street map, some tissues and a roll of unexposed film were not very exciting. Nothing taken.

Then it happened. I heard some coins fall in front of me. It immediately occurred to me what was happening and I jumped back and out of the way. A young boy bent down to pick up the coins and an older man leaned on my leg to make more room for him. Within 5 seconds a third person gave me back my street map and sunglass clip-on holder. He claimed he took them from somebody (yes, me!!!). Not a very rewarding booty. My strategy worked.

After a few hours we decided to go back to our hotel, clean the grime off and attempt the Prado.

The Prado. Sunday afternoon. Free admission. I expected we would get there, see a long line, give up (and return on Tuesday morning) and wander over to Retiro park.

While there were quite a few people milling around the Prado, there was no line. We just walked in. The Prado is smaller than I expected but absolutely spectacular. We concentrated on Velasquez, Goya and El Greco.

Our favorite was Velasquez? Las Meninas. It was interesting to compare Picasso?s butchering interpretations of this work of art in Barcelona.

Since we are not really art aficionados, we only spent a few hours in the Prado.

On to Retiro Parque only a few minutes away and the Sunday afternoon paseo. We really enjoyed relaxing for a few hours in the park and watched the goings on.

We then decided to wander between Paseo de Recoletos and Calle de Serrano. Walking there on a Sunday probably didn?t do it justice. Pretty quiet.

On Monday my wife decided to spend the day wandering the stores near the hotel. I decided to take the bus to Segovia. While the super highway is completed, that doesn?t mean the bus drivers go any faster.

If you want unique, spectacular sights, Segovia is the place. I still don?t know what the aqueduct has to do with water, but it sure is impressive. The Alcazar looks like it was taken out of a Disney movie (actually it?s the reverse). After my visit, I found a walking path (could be quite muddy and slippery if it had rained recently) and circled the Alcazar from both sides of the river below and then around the town. Great views!!!

Since Sunday was a very efficient day and we had visited all of the sights on our list, we decided to leave for Seville Tuesday morning rather in the evening. While I was in Segovia, my wife went across the street to el Corte Ingles, found the travel department (at first they sent her to the department selling travel accessories) and bought two AVE touristo class (that was fine - no need to upgrade) tickets from Madrid to Seville.

As it turns out we were probably lucky to get our first choice (11AM) of time purchasing the tickets the day before traveling. We had the last car, second to last row.

The AVE train left right on time (as did all trains we took).

Meals in Madrid.
Due to the summer-like weather, we had decided to eat in Plaza Mayor twice and people watch. The food was good both times.

Our best meal was a Maribel suggestion ? Botin. We walked in, were told the restaurant was fully booked and made a reservation for the next night.

== Seville
We arrived in Seville in the early afternoon. Las Casas de la Juderia (5 nights at 156 Euros per night excluding breakfast) was only a few minutes away by taxi which cost a few Euros.

What a hotel!!! Its setting rivaled some of the sights. Patios, fountains and gardens. Coincidentally, our room was one of those written up by Maribel (we didn?t ask for it). Room 30 doesn?t have much of a view, but has two windows, a four poster bed, coffee table, sofa and chair as well as a desk and chair. In addition, the room had a walk-in closet with plenty of DRAWER space.

We normally prefer to have breakfast included but it was no problem here.

While the hotel is located down a narrow alley way, every time a car or taxi stops, a porter comes running down the alley to provide assistance. The alley is a dead end so doesn?t have strays lurking. It opens up to a small square that has several outdoor restaurants that serve all meals. This was very convenient for breakfast.

A few days after arriving I was speaking with the desk clerk and she told me that in our building, room 30 is the nicest. I don?t know what room 29 is like, but it has a nice large patio outside. If you have a choice, check out both of these rooms.

After checking in we began to wander around the town. What a beautiful town with it?s wide, tree-lined boulevards and river walk. Then, it also has Santa Cruz and its narrow winding streets. It?s easy to get turned around and disoriented. No problem.

We came upon the Alcazar and decided to go in (again, no lines anywhere). I don?t know if it was because it was our first encounter with this type of architecture or because it truly is spectacular, but this was one of the surprise highlights of the trip.

Later in the afternoon (around 5PM) we found ourselves stopping for refreshments. There was a thermometer in a traffic circle and the temperature was 39. Although the humidity was low it still felt hot.

It?s probably possible to see the city in less time than we took. But in that heat there?s only so much you can do in a day.

Among the other sights visited were:
Casa de Pilatos- It?s unfortunate they have a split admission. For 5 Euros you see the downstairs patios and gardens. While impressive they couldn?t compare to the Alcazar and looked very much like our hotel. For an additional 3 Euros you get to see the real thing. The upstairs furnished rooms. If you go (and it?s worth it) do the whole thing.

Museo de Belles Artes. A beautiful building. The art is almost all very religious. (Good if that?s what you?re into). A savior from the heat.

Triano ? Mostly just visited a few ceramics stores just to the right of the bridge. Crossing the bridge in that heat with no shelter was a challenge.

Bullfight ring tour ? Didn?t go to a bullfight but this tour was interesting. I asked the tour guide if she goes to the fights. She said that she?s seen a few but has a problem with it. I would be cheering for the bull. She said the last matador killed there was 12 years earlier and the last one hurt was the previous year. But ?it wasn?t very important?. I guess she meant the injuries weren?t very bad.

Plaza de Espania ? visited here a couple of times. Very nice setting and interesting to see the coat of arms of each province. There was a tapas fair just behind the plaza so we made another attempt a tapas.

Flamenco ? We had a decision to make. Do we go? Do we go to one of the big tourist shows? Our mind was made up when we met a girl who had seen the show at Casa de la Memoria the evening before. She said it was excellent. It?s located less than 5 minutes from our hotel. We bought a ticket for the 10:30 show that lasted an hour. The show took place in an outdoor covered patio (a bit warm) and consisted of a guitar player, a singer and a female dancer. First she dressed as a female and later took the part of a male. The show was excellent, lasted an hour and was minus the drink.

We ate in several restaurants. The best was Corral del Agua (coincidentally written up in Maribel?s file). A beautiful setting and very good food. The evening we found it the restaurant was fully booked so we made a reservation for the next night.

We also ate at La Cueva (Rodrigo Car, 18 ? not far from us but difficult to locate). Outdoors in a plaza and the food was good. While we ate no less than four wedding parties came by to take pictures in the plaza.

Our least favorite meal was at Modesto (written up in Maribel?s file for tapas). Since we wanted to sit outside and they wouldn?t serve tapas outside, we ate a meal. We probably shouldn?t have ordered what we did. Fish with too many eyes were a bit of a turnoff.

To travel from Seville to Granada we took the 11:45 train.

== Granada
Three hours later we arrived in Granada. I?m not sure if the train station is always this empty or if it was just Sunday afternoon. There was no line of taxis and most people just walked to the main street. We waited and after about 5 minutes we got into a taxi that had just dropped off some people.

Less than 10 minutes later we were at the Melia Granada. This is a four-star, very nice, American style hotel with a full buffet breakfast included. Since we had a weekend rate of 87.5 Euros, I was a bit concerned that although on the map it appeared reasonably close to Plaza Nueva, we might be in an area deserted on weekends. This was not the case.

We were quite pleasantly surprised with Granada. It appears to be a very nice city.

After checking in we took a walk over to Plaza Nueva and stopped for refreshments. We then decided to explore the Albaicin. This was quite disappointing as it was fairly deserted. Eventually we made our way back down to the city and began to wander past the area of the Cathedral.

We came upon a beautiful square (Bib-Rambla) full of outdoor restaurants. Curiously, almost all served Italian food. We decided to come back here for dinner. It turned out to be very good.

The next day we had a 10 AM time for the Alhambra. We took the bus from Plaza Nueva up to the entrance and got there a few minutes early. People who hadn?t booked in advance were buying tickets for an hour later.

The Alhambra turned out to be much larger then we expected. It is very impressive. Amazing what they were able to do then. However, when one has a reputation, it?s very difficult to exceed expectations. It?s definitely a sight worth visiting.

We left around 1PM (3 hours after arriving). Those purchasing tickets were getting times of around 3PM.

We spent a few hours walking around the town and went back to our hotel to get our luggage and take a taxi to the airport for a flight to Barcelona. Iberia had a selective day and hour special that I booked for approximately 25-30 Euros per person. The only time I felt a bit ripped-off was the flat-rate taxi charge (I should have asked in advance but didn?t) to the airport that was about the same cost as the airline ticket for one person.

We left Granada on time at 6:45 in the evening.

== Barcelona
We arrived in Barcelona on time and just before 8PM. We immediately found the blue Aerobus. For about 3.5 Euros each we arrived at Placa Catalunya 30 minutes later.

We stayed at the three-star H10 Placa Catalunya (4 nights at 160 Euros including breakfast). It?s located right on the square directly opposite el Corte Ingles. Since the sign isn?t very big or high it took a minute or so to see it. Not long before leaving for Spain a Fodor?s poster indicated that he had stayed at this hotel and the room was quite small. I sent them an email expressing my concern. I immediately received a response and was told that my reservation would be modified to include a larger room (the charge was the same). While there was a shortage of drawers (we got used to that) the room was quite roomy and had a small alcove with a desk, TV and sofa. An excellent buffet breakfast was included and a computer (internet connected) was located just outside the breakfast room for guest use. The location could not be beat.

Throughout our stay in Barcelona we noticed an almost complete adherence to cross-walks and traffic lights. At one point I edged onto the street while the light was still red and a woman looked at me and pointed to a police officer. I guess they ticket jay-walkers.

For our first day we chose to walk down the Ramblas (this is a curiosity at best), picked up a ticket for a 1:30 tour of Palau Guell (it was free but I?m not sure if it was for just that day or because some floors are not available for viewing ? also it will close for renovation/restoration in the fall). Definitely an interesting introduction to Gaudi. See this before seeing the other Gaudi works. I?ll explain later.

Among the other sights visited:
The Ramblas to the Columbus statue.

Barri Gothic. Winding streets, historical, interesting.

Placa Reial ? Very nice square. Sat down for refreshments. The only police presence we detected on the whole trip.

Picasso Museum. Quite interesting but how can he be compared to those in the Prado.

The Synagogue ? the oldest in Spain but not really practicing other than for special requested occasions.

Eixample ? We considered taking the tourist bus that day and I?m glad we decided not to. While it definitely saves wear and tear on the body, we would have missed out wandering the streets of this upscale neighborhood. Every street is tree-lined and has great architecture (not necessarily known works). There is more to this area than Passeig de Gracia and Rambla de Catalunya.

La Sagrada Familia ? This is NOT a church if that?s what you want to see (maybe eventually it will be). It?s a curiosity piece. This is a stroke of genius. It?s a construction site where the admission charge is picking up the tab for the construction.

Manzana de la Discordia ? The most interesting part of the buildings can be seen from the outside. I didn?t think the fee charged for the tour of Casa Batllo was worth what you get. The roof is not very exciting. I would pass on it.

Casa Mela (La Pedrera) ? Now this tour is worth taking. In addition to the outside (obviously free), it has three parts: a tour of a typical, furnished apartment of the day, a section on Gaudi?s work that contains many cut-aways of buildings with explanations as well as a comparison of the design features of Palau Guell (horse and buggy transportation) and Casa Mila (20 years later when automobiles existed) and finally the roof with it?s many chimneys, etc. Don?t miss this one.

Montjuic ? I took a late afternoon/early evening Metro ride over to Placa D?Espania, walked around a bit and then took the Metro to Paralel and the funicular up Montjuic. I then took a very pleasant walk through the park (it very much reminded me of Mount Royal in Montreal) passed the Olympic stadium (a gate was open, a few people were there so I walked in ? it appeared to be set up for competition ? maybe Olympic training or trials) past what I think is the indoor cycling track and past the pool that appeared to be very busy. I continued to walk over to the Palau Nacional (MNAC), down to Placa D?Espania and took the Metro back to Placa Catalunya and the hotel. A nice couple of hours before dinner.

Parc Guell. Very interesting walk in the park. Spent a few hours wandering around.

We had tapas twice on Passeig de Gracia at Txapela and Ba Ba Reeba (both mentioned in Maribel?s file). You can sit outside and still order tapas. Some restaurants not only have English menus but pictures. Still when you walk in and ask about a specific dish you may see, you?re told it?s not always on the printed menu.

=== Summary
While we were pleasantly surprised with Granada, Seville and Barcelona were our favorite locations. For a relatively small city we were really taken by the wide, tree-lined boulevards of Seville. This was an excellent contrast to the narrow, winding streets of Santa Cruz. In Barcelona, the Ramblas and Barri Gothic seem to get all the publicity. We really enjoyed walking around Eixample.

Spain doesn?t seem to get the publicity of other destinations such as Italy, France and Great Britain. Maybe it?s because in some places knowing the history is important as it tells a good part of the story. Spain was originally chosen for this trip as we had never been there. After visiting this beautiful and diverse country I have to say it?s definitely up there and I can see returning.

Photos (many) of the trip can be seen at www.travelwalks.com

Very interesting and very well reported! Thank you Meyer~

Great report Myer---I like your style.

Thanks for the report, Myer, and I'm glad you finally made it.

One nagging question, though, just how many eyes did that fish have?

Cooter,
If it's the Modesto meal, it's not how many eyes the fish had but how many fish were on the plate with their eyes still there.

Myer,

I'm delighted to see your trip actually happened. Thank you for the nice report.

I had all but forgotten the Picasso Las Meninas series. (Velazques is supreme!) On our trip we saw the Picasso copies first and then the original. Both Ray and I were quite familiar with the Valazques painting through art books and had read about Picasso's fascination with Las Meninas and his copies. So, we were well prepared to understand what we saw in Barcelona at the Picasso museum before seeing Las Meninas in Madrid. I must say Velasquez could paint! How he made form turn with so little amazes me.

-Sharon

What a wonderful trip report. Thanks for sharing, a perfect way to end a very long day!

Julie

Great report!

I'm glad you liked Las Casas de la Juderia. We have booked to stay there for a night in August. We have booked a junior suite - would we be better to just take a regular room instead & request room 29 or 30?

I'm a bit nervous about driving down narrow alleyways though!

Cailin,

I don't know where Seville fits into your trip but you definitely have no use for a car there.

You can't drive down the alleyway leading to the hotel (although we saw one car drive out from beyond the hotel). Taxis just let people off at the entrance to the alley and a hotel porter seems to be on the lookout for arrivals.

Driving on the streets of Santa Cruz looks like it would be interesting. We actually saw some cars backing out of attempts.

Unless a suite has kitchen facilities or more than beds for two (if that's required), room 30 is actually more like a suite.

It has a window on two sides so no chance of the room being gloomy like others appeared to have gotten. It's also quite large.

no, we're not planning on using the car in Seville, but we will be driving there from Marbella, staying one night and then driving to Carmona the following day, so there's no way we cannot take the car. The hotel website did mention there is car parking.

Our other alternative would be to find a car park on the outskirts of the city and take a taxi to the hotel. It might save me the headache of driving through the narrow streets!

The suite has no kitchen facilities - I might see if I can "downgrade" to a regular room on the proviso that I get room 30!

Sounds like you had a fabulous time, reading that was almost like being on holiday, although I imagine one took longer to do.

Did you happen to see The Ritz, Hotel Arts or The Claris whilst in Barcelona? If so, I'd very much appreciate your input on them.

I see. Well, that's certainly better than one fish with more than two eyes! I forget that some people are bothered by this; but you must have encountered this before in Cuban restaurants in Miami, right (I gathered from you trip description that we are from the same city)?

My Spanish relatives get freaked out by the lack of whole fish served in non-Latin or non-Asian restaurants in the U.S., so it cuts both ways...they don't trust what they are eating unless they see the whole thing...

Anyway, thanks again and I'm glad you had a great time.

Thanks for the report!

Re: bowling shoes in Spain & Italy

The bowling shoe 'craze' hit about 4-5 years ago. Spain was one of its originators (with Campers being Spanish). Two to three years ago everyone in Italy and their grandmother were wearing bowling shoes - including bus drivers - a definite sign that the 'craze' would not last very long...

m_kindom2,

The only other hotel I noticed was the Becquar (sp). That was because I considered it for about a minute.

I didn't see the inside but walked by it. It's on a busy street downtown - if that's what you want. I'll take Santa Cruz and Juderia any day.

Downtown shopping streets (Sierpes,etc) are really no more than a 10-15 minute walk max from the hotel.

Cailin,
Since we didn't have a car I didn't ask about parking. I imagine driving through the streets of Santa Cruz and focusing on getting to one location may not be the same.

If you can orient yourself on a map, the hotel really isn't very far from a main traffic street. Unfortunately the street at the end of the alleyway (Santa Maria la Blanca) goes in the other direction from the main street. I don't remember the name of the street but it runs along the side of the Murillo Gardens. I don't have a map with me but it's not too hard to find.

Thanks Myer - I will invest in a map! Your post makes the hotel and Seville sound fantastic - I'm getting very excited about my trip now!