Spain

4,913 Views | 44 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by 2008and1
94chem
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Quote:

I disliked Barcelona. People were rude everywhere- felt like france.
You probably tried to speak Spanish to them. The only people doing that are Mexican tourists.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
Ag CPA
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AG
I agree on the people in Barcelona, the city itself is beautiful with plenty to do but the people there are more "diverse" and definitely aren't as friendly as Madrid and the rest of Spain we visited.

Add to that the Catalonian chip that a lot of people we met were carrying last summer (taxi drivers, waiters, hotel staff) and seemed eager to vent on; there are other cities higher on the list the next time we go back to Spain.
Furlock Bones
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AG
i'll add to this. the Suckling Pig in Segovia is a rip off at most places. it's turned into a giant tourist trap and they aren't even trying to do it well.

one of the best restaurants in Segovia is Restauranted Teteria Tuma if it is still there and owned by the same guy.

It is right next to the aqueduct. the food is lebanese and delicious. the guy that owns it speaks something like 6 languages and is really an interesting nice guy.

do both Toledo and Segovia if you can find the time.

i've been to Barcelona 2x. once in college and once when i turned 30. my experiences were completely different.

when i was in college, Barcelona was awesome. the nightlife, the beach, the people. but, i got older and my tastes changed and the people in Barcelona seemed less friendly.

we also went to Madrid on that 2nd trip and absolutely loved it. the one thing about Madrid is that the people are super nice but for the most part they speak Spanish and very little English. my wife is a native Spanish speaker, so that helped.
Crocker91
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AG
We've been to Spain several times. I agree that you guys have a great outline. My few contributions:

  • In Granada, stay at the Hotel Alhambra Palace. Right next to the Alhambra. Easy night walk into the palace to roam the grounds after the tourists have gone. Walk down the hill to the Albaycin for food/tea, etc.
  • Toledo is more fun if you stay overnight. It's too touristy in the daytime. At night it's like living at Hogwarts.
  • In Barcelona, have dinner at Roca Moo in the Hotel Omm. Owned by the Roca brothers. One Michelin Star. Have the tasting menu with the wine pairing. You'll thank me later.
Texaggie7nine
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So, we are in Madrid for the next 4 days. Working remotely on US hours so going to have to fit in what we can during the daytime before 3pm. We stuck pretty close to what I originally said.

Flew into Malaga direct from Cork Ireland. 1 day in Malaga, 2 days in Granada, 2 days in Cadiz with a day stop in Ronda, 2 days in Seville with a day stop in Jerez, 1 day in Cacerez with a day stop in Mirida, 1 day in Salamanca, 2 days in Segovia then to Madrid with a stop in El Escorial. Drove it all with a small fiat rental car.

Only thing I would really change is stay in Cacerez one more day and in Segovia one less day.

Quick review.

Malaga, really cool ocean town with obvious tourist pull from around Europe. Great historical spots, the cathedral was amazing, Picasso Museum is cool and 1 day was enough for us.

Granada, 2 days might have been too much, but it was well worth it with the Air BnB we had and the view it had. Alhambra is obviously a must.




Ronda, we got there during a very strong storm with high winds. Determined to get some pictures still we parked in a garage destroyed our cheap umbrella and put it in the trash can that had about 20 other destroyed umbrellas and made our way to the bridge to snap some pictures then got out of dodge. If we come back to spain though, Ronda is definitely on our list for a 1 or 2 night stay.


Cadiz, Very cool city and history. stayed right in the middle of the old town and enjoyed all the old streets and buildings. 2 days was about right because just staying there long enough to enjoy the atmosphere and history is worth it.

Seville, Got in en the evening on the first day because we liked Jerez and hung around the old town there for several hours drinking Sherry and eating tapas and walking the streets. So really we only had 1 full day in Seville, and I really don't regret it. We got in the Seville Cathedral which was the best of all that we visited easily (plus Columbus' tomb was cool), the Alcazar which was definitely worth it, the Plaza de Espana wich was great, and a Flamenco show at Casa de la Guitarra which was all I could ask for.
The night life around the area is nice but very touristy and busy which just isn't our cup of tea. I'm sure there were places that would have been more of a local scene that was cool but the amazing places we went to after left me with no regret.

Merida, this town is 100% on the list of places to stay if we come back. I want at least an overnight stay there. The amount of Roman history and ruins there is crazy. They have a big Roman museum built on top of ruins, they have a full frame of a roman temple still standing, a full roman theater and amphitheater, huge aqueduct remains, I think the longest roman built bridge in Spain or maybe Europe. That was all we had time to see. But there was still more I wish I could have.

Caceres, So glad I discovered this town. So well preserved 1500's era part of town that was built on a roman town, goes for blocks and blocks. Like, the old, old town pretty much is exactly the same building wise, streets and all. All the other old towns I've been to in Spain have had at least some buildings updated or built over. The night life in such is in the newer old town that backs up to the old old town.

Salamanca, slightly regret only spending one day there, however got a great Air Bnb apartment right near the main cathedral and with the help of a Salamanca phone app, was able to walk the city and do all the major sites in a day. I do wonder if Salamanca was like 2nd to Rome (yes I know it's nickname is "little Rome") in the amount of cathedrals and chapels inside the city. Also such amazing history to learn there, but it was at this point we started to get a little "cathedraled" out after like the 3rd one there.

Segovia, stayed right near the Alcazar at the Don Felipe which was great. However we got the castle, cathedral, aqueduct and suckling pig all in on the first day. So the second day we spent most of the time resting at our hotel and eating and drinking around the plaza which was nice, but I felt regret we did not get everything we wanted in in the previous cities.

Madrid, has been cool so far. Did the Mercado San Miguel last night before we had to start working nights. Very cool but very crowded. All I can say so far about Madrid is, it's friggin packed everywhere. I don't know if it's because everyone is off for Holy Week or if it's like this all the time. I felt less crowded in NYC.

As for the rental car. It was 100% worth renting it. Was great being able to set our own schedule, enjoy the countryside, especially the mountains going from Caceres to Salamanca, and keep our extra stuff in it so we didn't have to carry everything in our luggage.

I will say, if you ever plan to rent a car and drive into the old parts of town in any city here, do not get anything larger than a fiat or Mini coop. I don't know how I could fit through the streets I had to in anything bigger. In granada, in our fiat, there were 2 places in the road where we had to flip in the side mirrors to be able to fit through parts of the alley. There is a bit of a learning curve to driving here. Especially with how many pedestrian crossings there are and how you must stop to let people cross. Some of the intersections in the larger cities are crazy where you have a green light to start through the intersection but then suddenly have a red light as you are turning left to stop for pedestrians, basically in the middle of the intersection. You must be able to be a patient driver, that is for sure. Especially in the old town areas where most of the roads are closed or only for the traffic going the opposite way. Several times we drove into dead ends and google maps doesn't always know which roads you can go down.

Also, take into account parking when looking for places to stay. Like in Caceres, our parking was like 10 blocks from our hotel in the middle of the old town. Also expect to pay up to 20 euros a day for parking at hotels. Air BnBs that we parked also usually charged a fee. Also be prepared for random toll booths to show up between cities, usually before large tunnels.


7nine
90 bull
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AG
It's interesting to compare your experiences to ours. We loved Seville, and greatly preferred Cordoba to Granada. It's good to hear about Madrid. We are in Santiago de Compostela right now, and we're going to go to Madrid today, but couldn't find an Airbnb we liked. Everything during Holy Week is expensive. We were going to take trains across northern Spain, and decided to stay in Santiago until Saturday and fly back to Barcelona then.
Texaggie7nine
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Ya, that's why we are staying in Madrid for holy week. Got a nice apartment in the Torre de Madrid for about 120 a night.
7nine
90 bull
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AG
The benefit of staying in Santiago is the Airbnb is $55 a night.
2008and1
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AG
Any recommendations on how to get tickets?
Texaggie7nine
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I looked while in madrid. Wasn't hard to get if you were willing to pay $200+++ for tickets. Cities like seville have good teams and are way cheaper.
7nine
2008and1
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AG
Alright I just purchased tickets for Real Madrid v Atletico on Sunday.

We get to Madrid at 1:30 and the game starts at 4:15, so we will be booking it!
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