My husband and I traveled to Spain in September/October 2022
Thanks to everyone on the forum who provided input on our first self-directed trip to Europe. Our first trip was the Rick Steves' Venice/Florence/Rome tour in 2016. We have since retired and decided to do this trip on our own because we wanted to take our time. We decided on Spain and spent six weeks. I spent almost a year planning (aka obsessing) and the trip turned out better than I imagined. We utilized train travel for almost all of it, but did rent a car in Girona for two days (to visit Figueres and Port Lligat/Cadaques). Our least favorite souvenir of the trip was the speeding ticket we received several weeks after we returned home.
Six weeks is a long trip, so prepare for a multi-post report. :-)
BARCELONA (Hotel Praktik Essnes): I was a little overwhelmed the first day. I spent the first night in bed staring at the ceiling, trying to quell my anxiety. "SIX WEEKS! WHAT WAS I THINKING?" After a couple hours of hamster-wheel perseveration, I finally fell asleep to the not-soothing sound of my husband sleeping peacefully next to me, apparently oblivious to all the disasters that could occur in the next six weeks.
But sleep is magical. The next morning it was a new day and a new me. We fell in love with Barcelona. We were fortunate enough to be there during the city's annual La Merce Festival, and it added a whole other layer of joy to our Barcelona experience. The fire walk, the gigantes parade and the performances/concerts were highlights of our Barcelona stay. The only festival activity we were unable to get to was the castellers, which I really wanted to see. Other favorites included the Sagrada Familia (I don't have the writing skills to capture the experience...just go and make sure to take the guided tour), the Picasso Museum, Recinte Modernista de San Pau, Montserrate, Gaudi's Palau Guell and Casa Vincens (which we liked more than La Pedrera), Park Guell and a Casa Batlo rooftop concert. Two thumbs up for the El Corte Ingles' cafeteria. Food was really good and the view of the city was phenomenal.
Barcelona missteps included 1. traveling across town to visit the Museum of Catalan Art and discovering it closed early because of the festival. 2. We missed our pre-paid Park Guell tour because we waited a very long time for the park trolley, only for a gentleman to come along and tell us and the others waiting that there is no longer a trolley. I now know the Rick Steves website has guide book updates and will check when planning our next trip. 3. We wasted time struggling with the Rick Steves audio walks; we had difficulty understanding the pacing and couldn't connect what we were hearing with what we were seeing (although the audio tours worked well for us in Madrid).
The Hotel Praktik Essnes is a thumbs up. The room was quiet (despite being situated on a major boulevard) and metro stops were close. Friendly staff, and the hotel has a wonderful terrace and daily happy hour.
GIRONA (Hotel Ciutat de Girona): Kudos to acraven for recommending Girona on the travel forum. Girona is beautiful, perfect for relaxed exploring (we enjoyed the Jewish Museum, the Girona Cathedral and the Basilica de Sant Feliu), and a soothing elixir to the hustle and bustle of Barcelona. I highly, highly recommend it. Besides spending time exploring Girona, we used it as a base to visit the Dali Theater Museum in Figueres and the Dali House in Port Lligat. We were disappointed in the Theater Museum as there was no audio guide nor written information on the pieces (The Dali in St. Petersburg, FL was a far better experience). Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have used up a day of our trip to visit. Dali's house in Port Lligat was interesting and nearby Cadaques was a beautiful place for a stroll and lunch.
Hotel Ciutat de Girona is a thumbs up. Quiet, lots of storage/space, good location.
On to part two.