again, i’m so thankful i was able to make this trip with my friend! i appreciate her generosity with the hotel in Barcelona and i hope i was a good travel companion…..it’s been awhile since i’ve traveled with anyone.

we were on different flights home, so parted ways at Terminal 1 after breakfast.

my flights were uneventful, although i’m grateful i renewed my Global Entry or else i wouldn’t have made my connection at EWR due to long passport control lines.

a couple of notes before this “big trip” post series is complete.

places we stayed (all but the first found via Booking.com):

• Barcelona – Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel, Pl Europa, 50-52, 08902 Hospitalet de Llobregat (make sure to get a white room!!)
• Madrid – Bright Center 2 BD Apartment, 57 Calle del Amparo, 28012, Spain
• Girona – Apartment Francesc Samso Girona, 1 Carrer d’en Francesc Samsó, 17004, Spain
• Barcelona – Sleep & Fly, T1 Barcelona Airport (BCN)

the original car rental was through Enterprise, boo. Hertz came through, they were very nice and accommodating. we were in a Peugeot 3008 SUV, which handled nicely, but the seats were really uncomfortable and there was a significant blind spot on the driver’s side.

driving in Spain can be a bit nerve wracking, even with a co-pilot.

lots of roundabouts and small street signs can be a challenge plus big rig drivers are an issue of their own. probably wise to map out routes in advance completely old school with paper maps & highlighters and not rely 100% on digital navigation, until you’re familiar with the area and a new car. big props to my friend for doing the driving……i volunteered to drive on our next road trip!

i think that wraps up Spain…..any questions, you know where to find me!

as for the next trip, we’ll have to see what the year has in store.

ps. this entire series was written on my mobile phone and pictures taken with the phone as well.

not ideal and tedious at times, but oh-so portable.

it’s hard to believe our last day is here already.

as i mentioned, we planned a full day of things to see before we go back to the Barcelona Airport.

we’re spending the last night in a hotel adjacent to the airport, as my flight was going to be at 6:30 Thursday morning.

yes, was going to be at 6:30 AM. there is a strike going on at the Frankfurt Airport which of course, was my connection city……until they cancelled my flight. rude.

i spent close to two hours online with United customer service trying to get on a different set of flights home. i need to be home on Thursday and was trying to make it back earlier in the day, hence the original 6:30 AM flight.

Noemi J with United did the best she could and i ended up on an 11 AM flight going through Newark…..she also was able to move me to Economy Plus which was a bonus. a pass to the United Lounge would have been nice too, but hey, at least i get home on time.

once that flight mess was taken care of, we drafted our plan for the day, ending up with a visit to the Girona Cathedral, checking out a town called Pals and ending at Montserrat.

the cathedral was lovely and worth the time. anyone that is a Game of Thrones fan might recognize the stairs leading up to the entry, it’s the stairs in the, “walk of shame” episode. of course there was a lot of CGI involved, but it all started here.

we checked out of our wonderful flat and made our way onto the highway to Pals.

most of our navigation was being managed via Waze (yes, it works in Spain!) with verification by us along the way.

sadly, we went about 16 miles out of our way (the wrong way, my fault) and had to make our way back to the route we were supposed to be on. thankfully we realized when we did, but this delay of course made everything else that much later.

Pals, although small and very quiet on a Wednesday afternoon in the off-season, was still worth the visit.

small town, oozing with charm and crafts, lots of ceramics are from this area.

after a quick bite, we got back on the road and headed to Barcelona with a stop at the Abbey of Montserrat.

this time Waze took us the wrong way, plus we totally missed the parking area (again, my fault) to the monastery and got there about 30 minutes later than we wanted.

the sun was setting, it was really cold and we only had a little over an hour to look at things.

most everything was closed up already, except for the Basilica.

the choir was present, so we were able to hear them sing, which was a lovely treat.

pictures weren’t allowed, but since we rushed in to hear the singing, i missed the sign. here is my one interior photo before the guard gave me the stink eye and the “no-no” finger wag.

it was pretty, even for a brief visit, but i would like to go on a full tour next time.

next time…..on the hour drive to the airport plans were being made for a next time trip to Spain.

we talked about starting with the Montserrat tour, then taking the train to Valencia, Granada and Seville.

not out of the realm of possibility.

since we were only an hour south of the French border we decided to venture out of Spain and head to France.

we started in Perpignan and then went to Collioure.

both were great places and i’m glad i was there at this time of the year. i’m sure Collioure is packed during the summer months, it’s so picturesque.

Perpignan is a medieval town and we spent quite a bit of time wandering around.

we saw the Perpignan Cathedral and Notre Dame de la Réal, the outside of the palace, plus a lot of streets in between.

Collioure was 40 minutes east and we made our way there after lunch.

it is a charming seaside commune and a perfect place to take a coastal stroll. there is a church, shops and a number of places to grab a bite and/or drink.

on the way back to Girona, we had a spectacular view of the Pyrenees Mountains, my photo can’t do it justice. i did the best i could from a moving car.

i can’t believe tomorrow is our last day here. we have quite the agenda planned, it’s going to be a full day.

we made it to Girona safe and sound after a train trip, renting a car and driving to the flat.

so both of us could drive, we had booked an automatic and made arrangements for pick up in Girona at 1:30 PM and dropping off at the airport in Barcelona.

we arrived at the car rental office around 1:45 PM after getting lost trying to find it……it was actually in the train station without any signage. sigh.

the office had a sign up saying they would, ” be back shortly”. 2:30 was shortly……

we let them know we had a reservation and they said yes, and asked if we could drive a manual because the automatic wouldn’t be available for two more hours, “it is in the shop being worked on”. that did not inspire confidence.

so you make a reservation for an automatic car, picking up at 1:30 PM and we are offered a manual at 2:30 PM. we were not pleased and went next door and rented an automatic from another agency for twice as much. sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do what feels like the right thing, even if it’s more expensive.

we negotiated our way to a parking lot in town and unbeknownst to us, it was the free lot by our flat.

this flat was managed by an agency, so we walked to the office to get our keys stopping for lunch on the way.

lunch, keys, small grocery shop and we were set!

tomorrow we’re off to France, which is an hour north of us! très bien.

thankfully, day two in Madrid was cold, but not as windy or rainy. not that sightseeing isn’t ok in the rain, but it can make for a very damp day.

we walked over 10 miles today, traipsing through the various areas in Madrid. although we could have taken the Metro or a taxi for some of the day, walking allows you to see so much more of the different neighborhoods…… especially if you just wander down side streets.

we started off the day going to El Rastro to check out the most popular flea market in Madrid. it was open from 9 AM – 3 PM and it was HUGE, it puts any other flea market (i’ve been to) to shame.

there was a vast assortment of treasures just waiting to be bought on the streets or in the small over-packed stores tucked away. if it wasn’t at that market, i’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist.

one downfall, since it is a well established and popular market, it got really crowded around noon. and when i say crowded, i mean like leaving a football stadium at the end of a game crowded. in some spots you could barely move.

after the market, our mission was to get to Chocolateria San Gines, the home of, “the best” churro dipped in chocolate. we found the spot easily, just look for the big sign and long line……

we opted to have lunch first and then churros. wise move considering the amount of sugar that was ingested. it was delicious and i recommend if you happen to be in the area to seek them out. also, one order is easily enough for 2-3 people to have a taste.

after our chocolate overload we headed to the Royal Palace for a guided tour. completed in 1755 this palace contains over 3000 rooms and is the largest royal palace in Europe. it used to be the residence of the Spanish royal family, but now is only used for state ceremonies.

we left the palace and went to the Catedral de la Almudena (we saw the outside the day before) and went in for a look.

we easily had enough time to make it over to the Prado Museum before it closed, but sadly, the line was WAY too long for us to get in before closing. note, if you’re going to try and go to the Prado for a free ticket visit, you probably need to be there at least an hour before free time begins.

we decided to make our way home, wandering through the Malasaña District, on the way. this is the, “bohemian/hipster” neighborhood. lots of restaurants/bars and there’s a strong “community” feel….it was a little quiet on a Sunday at 6 PM, probably a livelier scene on a Friday night.

one of the coolest stores we passed was a little book store with amazing paper mobiles and specializing in pop-out books & cards.

we eventually made it back to the flat for cocktail, snack and repacking time.

off to Girona tomorrow.

Friday afternoon we left Barcelona and took the train to Madrid.

before we left, we did one last stroll through an area we hadn’t walked around previously, over by the Arc de Triomf.

the train ride was almost 3 hours and we got in early evening. we found our flat, went to the market and made our way to/from dinner. that seemed like enough activity for one day……

we are staying in the Lavapiés district which is pretty centrally located and convenient for what we want to see and do.

dinner was at Oven Mozzarella Preciados, about a 20 minute walk from our flat. we arrived too early for our reservation and sadly didn’t get to sit in the main dining area. we sat downstairs which felt a little like being banished, but we were hungry and the food didn’t disappoint.

we had originally wanted to visit the Royal Palace of Madrid today but couldn’t get tickets, so decided to follow one of Rick Steve’s walking tours and will see the palace tomorrow.

we did pretty well and visited places he mentioned, like La Mallorquina bakery, Plaza Mayor and Catedral de la Almudena.

but also went down a few side streets and saw things that weren’t mentioned.

we also went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which holds over 1600 paintings from some of the greatest masters of art. it was a nice way to end a cold & rainy afternoon.

today was spent enjoying a little more Gaudí.

there are a few houses he designed that you can visit, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, and Casa Vicens all within a short walk of each other.

i went and saw the outside of all three and opted to take a tour of the Casa Batlló.

it was pretty interesting, i’m not sure i’d want to live there, but i enjoyed the visit.

in the basement there is the “Gaudí Cube”, with a six-sided immersive experience called, “In the Mind of Gaudí” by artist Refik Anadol.

this project, in addition to being very cool, aimed to create the largest digital library in the world on Gaudí.

after countless hours of research and thanks to the use of AI, Casa Batlló collected millions of files, photos, videos, plans, writings, drawings, 3D models and original manuscripts of Gaudí .

advanced machine learning processors deciphered the construction patterns, biomimetic structures and the design logic hidden within the data, which allowed Refik Anadol to understand the mark that Gaudí left on humanity and to “decipher his mind, imagine his dreams, and experience the world through his eyes”, thus creating, “In the Mind of Gaudí”.

you can see the experience in its entirety on YouTube, but here is a short video (i hope this loads, i’ve never included a video before!).

after my time with Gaudí, i went over to the Boqueria on La Ramblas…..who doesn’t love a market?!

after that, i meandered through the side streets from La Ramblas over to the metro station and made my way back to the hotel.

tomorrow is a half day in Barcelona, then off to Madrid!

being a person of a certain height, i often forget to/don’t look up. if it’s not at eye level, i usually won’t notice whatever it is.

there is a whole world above 5’3 and here, if you don’t look up, you could miss some cool things.

today i went on a tour that took me up to Montjuïc (Jewish Mountain), back over to the Gothic Quarter, El Born District, lunch at Picca-Dilly, Sagrada Família and ending at Parc Güell.

i found a tour on TripAdvisor that would pick me up at my hotel (which i now know is quite a distance from central Barcelona) and bring me back for a reasonable price. done.

we were a group of 16 and our fearless leader was Marlon and we were, “his people” all day. “my people, vamos!” was heard multiple times during our adventure.

the morning view from Montjuïc was really nice, a beautiful way to ease into the day.

after a sufficient amount of picture-taking time, we were off to Old Town.

i wandered around the Gothic Quarter yesterday and although i saw some of the same things, there were different sites as well.

for example, this photo-mosaic mural made up of tiny tiles. “The sound of a kiss is not as loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer.” by Oliver Wendell Holmes is the quote associated with this piece.

and we went to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar.

after a little wander, we went to lunch at Picca-Dilly an, “authentic” Spanish restaurant.

after a delicious vegetable paella, we made our way to the Sagrada Família.

my pictures can’t do this cathedral justice……i am a huge fan of stained glass, this artful wonder did not disappoint.

it is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), his work on Sagrada Família is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site…..

hmmm, maybe i should make a quest to see all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites…..i have a few under my belt already.

i can only imagine what it would have been like to be in Gaudí’s mind. loud, colorful and emotional are three descriptors that come to mind.

he was living at the Sagrada Família at the time of his tragic death….he was hit by a trolley car and he was left in the street for hours because people thought he was a poor and homeless beggar. people finally took him to the “poor people” hospital where he was for two days before a chaplain at Sagrada Família found him, but by then it was too late and he died in that hospital.

as with other artists, he wasn’t truly really recognized for his accomplishments until after his death. sigh.

so many structures here are credited to him, including the Parc Güell, which was our final stop of the day.

it was a great day spent with some nice people…..i wonder what tomorrow will hold?!

today was my first day in Barcelona and i didn’t have anything planned (how unlike me), although there were a couple of places that i wanted to visit.

since this was a day of leisure, i slept in, had breakfast, then stopped by the hotel desk to grab a map or two and figure out how to get where i wanted to go. obviously my, “full day” was in reality, a half day.

the metro system was pretty easy to navigate, like most metro/train maps, you find the name, number and/or color line you want to take, then look at the last stop to determine the correct direction to go. it could get dicey if there are multiple transfers involved, thankfully today there was only one.

the first destination was the Cathedral of Barcelona.

the church was named after Barcelona’s co-patron saint Eulalia and was built in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries.

Eulalia was a 13 year old Roman Catholic virgin (of course) who was martyred in Barcelona during the persecution of Christians in the reign of emperor Diocletian. One story says that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in mid-spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street (according to tradition, the one now called Baixada de Santa Eulàlia). The body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedral’s crypt.

after a visit to the cathedral, i wandered around the Gothic area and my next site was the Palau de la Música Catalana.

this is a concert hall, built between 1905 and 1908 and it was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.

it’s so beautiful…..mosaics, stained glass and sculpture make up the surroundings and i was there in time to hear the organ being played as well, such a treat.

i meandered back up La Ramblas (considered the most well known street in central Barcelona) to the metro station and headed back to the hotel.

that was it for today. tomorrow, more sites!

Spain!

on Sunday i’ll be heading to Spain for a 10 day trip.

Barcelona, Madrid and Girona are the places we’ll be calling home. four days in Barcelona, three days in Madrid and there will be a couple of days trips while in Girona, including a drive to France.

why Spain you ask?

one of my friends travels to Barcelona every year for work and she’s asked a couple of times if i would want to go and meet up there, then travel outside of Barcelona for a few days.

i couldn’t do it last year, (she and her cousin went to Prague post Barcelona) but this year…..absolutely, count me in!

stay tuned for some Spanish adventures…..

and now that i don’t have to travel with a laptop, i may try and do all of the posts via my phone. although, that  seems a bit tedious and small….. we’ll see.

photo credit: Dimitry Anikin on Unsplash