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Spain is a Rock Star (Part 3)

CORDOBA (Hotel Madinat). We hired guide Isabel Marinez, and she did a great job walking us through the neighborhood while giving us info on Cordoba history and life today. She improved our experience of the city exponentially. The Mosque-Cathedral is stunning.

Hotel Madinat: Our priciest hotel of the trip. Staff were extremely nice and helpful, and it was super enjoyable to sit on the rooftop terrace with the amazing view and talk with other travelers. I don't know that I would stay again, however, because it was (to us) very pricey (but very, very nice).

GRANADA (Casa Del Capitel Nazari): Granada ranks with Barcelona as our Spain favorites. A clean, beautiful city. Alhambra is a must-see. We hired a guide for a full day. The guide was informative, but ended up sharing (unsolicited) somewhat extreme political views that I found off-putting. One of our favorite meals of the entire trip was at a Moroccan restaurant that I unfortunately cannot recall the name of. :-(

Casa Del Capitel Nazari: We ended up here after the air conditioning in our first hotel malfunctioned. Great location, generic room, would stay here again.

SEVILLE (El Rey Morro Hotel): The length of this report is causing me to lose my mojo, so I'll summarize by saying Seville is beautiful and the highlights were the flamenco performance at House of Flamenco (except for the guy next to me who kept massaging his bare feet during the performance). I enjoyed the gardens of the Royal Palace. The Seville Cathedral was beautiful, but by this point we were burnt out on cathedrals. We did the rooftop tour and enjoyed it.

El Rey Morro Hotel: Nice room. Very much enjoyed the courtyard. Friendly staff.

That's a wrap! It was the trip of a lifetime. Spain is a rock star. :-)

Posted by
5603 posts

Thanks for sharing, Spain is on our bucket list, and you did a great job of describing the highs or lows. Glad you got your wallet back. Where to next? Safe travels!

Posted by
6444 posts

We loved Andalusia as well. We stayed at El Rey Morro as well. What a great bargain for an inn with local charm, great staff, great location and fabulous breakfast.

Posted by
120 posts

Hi Pat-- Thanks for reading my lengthy post. We are heading to The Netherlands/Belgium/London in August. So excited. We are fairly new at all this, and at times I am making some rookie (costly!) mistakes, but I know I will get better in time. :-)

Posted by
2784 posts

I must say you make Barcelona sound enticing! We have been to some of the other locations you describe when our daughter was in school in Granada but never Barcelona.

You will get better at traveling but then there are those things you can’t control …. like weather. Both Pat and I have recent trip reports attesting to that!

Posted by
3561 posts

Thanks for your report. Would love to get to Spain. Can you post the link to contact your guide Isabel or is she in RS guidebook?

Posted by
120 posts

Rick lists two private guides in the Cordoba section of the Spain book:

Isabel Martinez Richter--"a charming archaeologist who loves to make the city come to life for curious Americans." Weekdays 140 euros/3 hours, 170 on weekends and holidays. [email protected], mobile +34 669 369 645

Angel Lucena--"is a good teacher and a joy to be with." 100 euros/3 hours. Mobile +34 607 898 079, [email protected]

Posted by
2607 posts

Thanks for your report! I'm heading to Spain later this year and took note of some of your recommendations.