Spain 2012

First stop: Barcelona
We stayed in Badalona, a small beach town just a quick train ride from Barcelona. It holds an old Spanish la familia feel to it. While walking down the mid area mall you will pass by generations of families enjoying one another’s company sitting on a benches, while kids ride their bikes, scooters, skateboards.  There are restaurants all along the mall where people are enjoying tapas and cervezas, vino and mojitos.  You can tell that these families have been here forever.  There is so much love here.

We  stayed at Hotel Miramar, a lovely hotel located right across from la playa.
After unloading our bags we headed back to Barcelona for dinner.  We took the metro to  the first stop, Barcelona Sante,  where we hopped off.  We stopped and had a couple of drinks at a neighborhood bar while we decided on where to go for dinner. We ended up going down to  Olympic Park, which is on the water with a plethora of seafood restaurants lined up.  We stopped at one and had a delicious meal….paella and fried camerones.  We met a couple of Brits and Italians there…..everyone is so friendly. We were also introduced to how the locals “get” the tourists, with roses and cokes…..behind those items leaves the mind to the imagination.
Next day…We took the train back to Barcelona and got off at Catalanya….where it’s all at! La Rambla and La Boquitera….the market to the heavens. We walked around eating ham, fruit, cheese, bread….so fresh and so full of life! muis bien! We then strolled up to the center and got our tickets to the hop on/hop off bus tour…..which was amazing! Thanks Doug Ferguson for the great recommendation. We did the 2 hour loop that showed us places that we would have never seen if we hadn’t been on that bus. The loop allowed us to figure out where we wanted to hop off at and then also gave us the option to hop back on. We chose to get off at Antonio Gaudi’s park, Parque Gulle….wow!  We walked up to the very top of the park where there is a cross that stands high above the city. Wow! We then strolled down passing  many locals and visitors and so many dogs! Spain is SO dog friendly….it’s fantastico!  We stopped into this Gaudi shop and checked out some of his work ….and purchased a 3-d coffee table book. We then walked  to the metro and took it back to Badalona. I went to a local shop and purchased a pair of sneakers, which btw, are the coolest sneakers.  Everywhere that I read what not to bring…it was sneakers.  WHY?  You need sneakers to walk in and there is so much to see.  It’s all about how you wear them, sneakers can be extremely fashionable.  We chilled for a bit before showering up and heading back to Barcelona. We ended up going to Citrate Vella…old city and had an amazing meal while surrounded by beautiful Barcelona. The Cava sangria was off the chain. We cruised more of La Rambla…and also hit the cathedral…by night it is muis different. In the evening it’s so quiet, still and full of shadows and by day it’s alive. We took the train back to Badalona and had a mojito at our neighborhood bar.

On October 6th, my birthday, we headed over to Sangrada Familiar…..ahhhhhmazing. The outside architecture …..still in the works as well as the inside draws crowds from all over. It sits right in the middle of the city. We ordered our tickets on line to avoid lines…a MUST. We did the walking tour guided by audio and it was magnifico! It was Antonio Gaudi’s last masterpiece that he worked on for the last 40 years of his life….and it is still in progress. It is scheduled to be completed in 2025…what a masterpiece. His love for nature and religion shows true to every inch of this space. It will hold 8000 people with a choir of 1000. While inside looking up the columns that represent trees with leaves at their tops. Antonio Gaudi is buried in the basement.

We then decided to finish our bus tour on a different route. Note to self- 2 days on a bus is not my idea of seeing the sites. One day was perfect……2, too much. This route had some of what we had already seen but it did take us to the port and the Olympic Center…..wow!  We ended our route at a spot that was closer to our Badalona stop. We then showered and got ready for the Lady Gaga show.  The Collisium is located by Font Magica, the magic fountains.  Barcelona has the feel of a very liberal, young, laid-back, urban metropolitan city….for everyone. The LG show was fantastic!  I saw her in a new light.  Her expression of acceptance is inspiring.  Her message is so positive.  After LG we went back to Badalona and had dinner at our neighborhood bar. Tuna and tomato on bread and roasted peppers….delicious.

On the 7th we tried to get to the Picasso museum early because we had to fly out at 2:50. Our navigation was off so, it took us forever to get there. Once there, oh so beautiful…..there are so many nooks and crannies here. There is no entry fee on Sundays so of course the line was about 1 mile long.  Since we were on a time line we opted for the basement/gift shop and cafe. We bought some art and then cruised around. We stumbled into the Arch de Triumph area where there was a marathon happening. I have actually read about this race. It was cool to see! We then jumped on the train, headed back to Badalona, where there was a festival happening.  We grabbed our bags and bid our goodbyes to our favorite spot. We ended up taking a cab from the metro to save time. Thankfully we did. Barcelona and Madrid were playing football in Barcelona so, the metros were insane. We arrived at the Barcelona airport to move onto to Ibiza.

Next stop-Valencia

We took a small plane from Ibiza there, it’s SO inexpensive to fly within.  Valencia was awesome!  We rented bikes and cruised the small city and took the greenway all the way  to the beach.   On the way we stopped in at City of Arts and Sciences, a modern masterpiece by Santiago Calatrava.  We kept moving until we hit the beach.  Once we got there we found this little restaurant and snuck in for the most amazing lobster!  It was SO fresh!  While we were biking back we stumbled upon an Andy Warhol Exhibit at Bancaixa.  We also ate THE BEST paella at a small cafe in Valencia.  I love just roaming around and stumbling upon cafes and shops.  Another thing that we did that I’m SO mixed up about we went to Plaza de Toro to see a bull fight.  It was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities but oh man, it was intense!  I cried my eyes out.  I respect the tradition and to witness such an art of culture and history, it was an incredible experience.  BUT the bull…..it was rough!  We had 2 full days in Valencia and enjoyed every minute of it.

We then jumped on a bus and headed to Madrid.  It was nice to sit back and enjoy the scenery…Spain is so beautiful!  Once we arrived in Madrid I knew this was my favorite city.  It’s so old school and classic.  The fashion is on point.  We happened to be there on Spain’s Independence Day.  There were parades on every street…very cool.  If you didn’t know, Christopher Columbus founded Spain.  We did our double decker bus tour to get the most out of the city.  We were on a mission to find a spa and a rooftop bar, which were literally right around the corner from one another.  We hit the Hamman Al Andalus Banos Arabes which is an ancient bath house.  It was just what the doctor ordered!  We then landed at The Penthouse for champagne and a lovely view.

This was an unforgettable trip.  Spain is so special.  I can’t wait to go back.