My Way Spain + 6 days Barcelona

04/29 - major sightseeing plans; pouring rain
- 9:00 entry La Sagrada Famila this is our 2nd visit; 1.5 hours viewing the sanctuary, museum and gift shop. Bill avoids downward stairs and we did a tower previously, so not today
- San Pau Recinte we’re ahead of our timed entry, but no crowds so we head right in, pouring rain dampens enthusiasm for dashing between buildings; wish it had been a dry day as it’s so worth a visit to this former holistic hospital, especially if you have a hospital background or are just a fan of Modernista architecture (and no crowds)
- 15:00 timed ticket entry for Casa Batllo doesn’t work out; people with 14:30 and 14:45 are still waiting (uncovered) in the pouring rain and decide we’re too wet to wait for uncertain entry time - we had the blue ticket option
- Evening tapas tour with Foodlovers terrific small group; congenial group with all ages including a kid; plenty of food and an introduction to vermouth; guide Marcel knew how to manage a group for maximum enjoyment; 4 different stops in Pablo Sec & Sant Antoni neighborhood

04/30
- am walking tour with Nick Lloyd Spanish Civil War Tour easy meeting spot across from Placa Catalunya; small group walking tour of important Spanish Civil War sites in Barcelona ( next time you’re in Placa Catalunya look for bullet holes in the masonry); tour ends in a coffee shop where he shares more stories and artifacts; he also has an excellent book if you want to read up before you visit the city
- pm visit to La Pedrera entry time was 16:45; get audioguide and take elevator up to the furnished apartment; the attic has an excellent display explaining Gaudi’s design techniques; eventually end up on the roof; one of our favorite stops
- Tapas at La Bodeguita and dessert from Xixona

05/01 - nice weather for the Spanish holiday; many places are closed
- off to Montjuicmetro to funicular to 150 bus and we’ve got a 360 view of Barcelona; the castle is fascinating after our tour the previous day with an exhibit on its historical roll; guidebook and even Wikipedia don’t give its current status much credit, but we read all the information in rooms surrounding the courtyard; the moat where Franco’s firing squad shot Luis Campanys was being used as an archery range;
- because of the holiday, lines were long for the cable cars
- Bus 150 winds a route through Montjuic, so next stop was Fundacio Joan Miro very busy and we remember we’re not big modern art fans, so it’s a limited stop
- Back on bus 150 to the Olympic Stadium which is the current home of FC Barcelona (grandson wants an FC jersey) and the Olympic Village from an Olympics we well remember;
- Sadly, Museu Nacional d’Art de Cataluynais closed for the holiday (but we didn’t realize this before we got there)
- Escalator to Arenas de Barcelona - basement food court, nice restaurants on the roof and shops on floors between
- My Way Spain begins tomorrow

Travel styleMurphy’s Law

Lol! Love this. So true!

Edit to add: We're spending about 5 days in Barcelona this fall, so I'm definitely bookmarking this! The Maritime museum is one of our favorites. And I love the "Pre-tour research" idea.

NIck Lloyd's tour really is terrific. Personally I would just go to a show at the Palau de Musica and arrive early enough to look around rather than take a separate guided tour, and I love guided tours.

Over the years I’ve developed a long list of regrets and not doing a concert at the Palau de Musica is now on the list. My carpe diem needs work

My Way Spain begins - disclaimer: because this is our 2nd tour with a similar itinerary, we didn’t repeat some of the most popular sites. I try and mention what others did at each stop.
05/02 - onward to Hotel Jazz the tour hotel; drop luggage
- tour of Palau de la Musica; English tour at 10 a.m., arrive early as we’re afraid we’ll get lost, but that means time for a coffee in the Modernista cafe and a chance to take in this jewel box; engaging guide with a twinkle and a short film starts things off, tour of the facility and chance to sit and enjoy a pre-recorded section of a performance
- Lunch is on the top floor of El Corte Inglesdepartment store; a cafeteria/food court with killer views;
- Tour meeting at 5:00; Rich Earl introduces himself and explains his function (he went WAY beyond); we choose buddies and briefly explain who we are; appetizers and drinks are provided; one couple was off kilter as they had left home without realizing their ATM/ debit had expired and their credit card wasn’t working either-a reminder to always check expirations (I’m sure lots of people would have answers for the mistakes they made, but we’re the Murphy’s Law people so we get it)
- Rich offers an orientation walk and points out pharmacies (remember all that rain?) and ATMs with the best conversion rate

05/02 La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Park Guell, the Picasso Museum, Las Ramblas are on most tour mates list; laundry is on our list - it doesn’t take credit cards; meet helpful people and mission accomplished; buy lunch for tomorrow’s train ride in the basement of El Cortes Ingles; packed and ready for train ride to Madrid

05/04 off to Madrid
Everyone gathers with luggage and we walk to few blocks to Placa Catalunya and a bus to the train station; Rich manages to get all of us on the AVE train and in 3 hours we’re in Madrid; Hotel Moderno Madridis just off Placa del Sol; orientation walk followed by a group gathering for tapas and drinks; dinner was a fail but we get churros and chocolate at Chocolateria San Gines

05/05 most of the group is off to: The Royal Palace, The Prado,
- Noon tour with Stephen Drake-Jones for his Hemingway’s Madrid I had read For Whom the Bell Tolls before the trip; Mr Drake-Jones is quite a character and an excellent raconteur; lots of wine, food and stories so we just have gelato for dinner; he has a very interesting book about Madrid which I wish I’d gotten before the trip

05/06
- Botin Experience the oven has been running continuously for 300 years (even during COVID someone came in every day to keep it going) small group of six; we went through some pretty tight places in the cellar but lots of great stories; lunch followed and the suckling pig was worth it
- Walk to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia We’ll being going to Guernica on our Best of the Basque Country following this tour; admission is free for over 65 (we didn’t need to show proof) and we use
the entrance on Ronda de Atocha
- there is an area that had more fabric stores than I have seen in years. I wish I had known ahead of time. I will try and edit this after I look up specifics

05/07Granada
Short walk to the bus; 2 comfort stops on the way and lunch is in an auto grill; Hotel Anacapriis our destination; orientation walk through the Albayzin and area around the hotel; Rich points out the bus stop for The Alhambra close to our hotel; he has arranged a dinner atRestaurante Las Tomasasfor anyone interested- the restaurant overlooks The Alhambra and we watch as the sun goes down and the lights come on - .pretty spectacular; those who were interested had given him money ahead and he set the menu; taxi back to the hotel

Fantastico! Heading to Spain in 10 days!

This just gets better and better. I just looked Stephen Drake-Jones up, and have bookmarked the website. Is his book simply titled "Madrid?" I see it can be purchased through the website, but I'll see if I can find it here first.

Thank you so much!

We took a walking tour with Stephen Drake-Jones also. It was some walking but mostly sitting which was fine with us. He is definitely a unique person, fun and interesting. When we were with him he mentioned his book but it wasn’t finished, gonna look for it now.

We also did the Botin Experience. A fun, fun afternoon and wonderful dinner.

As far as the hot chocolate goes, our tour guide took us to El Riojana which was just around the corner from Sin Gines. It looks like a bakery but has a small cafe in the back. Not crowded, no line, we had a table, and the hot chocolate was thick and creamy and delicious. A much better choice in my opinion.