Gallery

Me and my husband went here on our honeymoon in the summer of 2009, back when direct flights to Europe were under $1000 each. This was my first time ever going to Europe. I wasn't an experienced enough traveller to know that going to Spain for a total of only seven days was a pretty dumb-as-hell idea. We modeled our itinerary off a friend who did the same trip for her honeymoon! We decided to go to Barcelona (the nicest city I have ever seen), Seville and Marbella.

Our first stop was Barcelona. We stayed at Condes de Barcelona for three days. This was a hotel located on beautiful Passeig de Gracia. We chose this hotel because of it's modern decor, rooftop pool, and location! If I were to visit the city again, I'd stay in a hotel off La Rambla (the main pedestrian street and tourist attraction in Barcelona). As soon as we arrived to our hotel, we both took a much needed 3 hour nap. Then we began our day. We walked down Passeig de Gracia towards La Rambla (about a 20 minute walk from our hotel). We saw two of Gaudi's masterpieces on Passeig de Gracia: "La Pedrera" and "Casa Batllo". We opted not to get a tour of the inside (big mistake!) as we were pressed for time (not really, I was just young and dumb and cheap and lazy). We got to La Rambla and went straight to "La Boqueria", a large outdoor public market. The fruit and smoothies here were out of this world. They were so refreshing on an extremely hot and sunny day in June. We walked all the way down La Rambla (probably a 30 minute walk total) and then explored the narrow Gothic streets off La Rambla and then walked back to the hotel. Basically we did a huge lap that took roughly 4 hours just to get a feel for Barcelona and went back to our hotel for much needed sleep. By the way, it stays light out until around 11 oclock. I really was looking forward to seeing Barcelona at night but we were way too tired the first three days we stayed here. BIGGEST REGRET EVER!

On day two in Barcelona, we decided to take a public bus to Park Guell, Gaudi's masterpiece. I will spare you the details. Just look at the pictures in the gallery. My friend's album on facebook convinced me to go to Spain just because of this park. It was the most unique park I've ever seen in my life. And we also decided to walk to Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece "La Sagrada Familia" which was a couple blocks away from our hotel. The church has been under construction since 1892 and it's not expected to be finished till 2030. Unfortunately, again, I was too impatient and dumb to wait on a line and take a tour of the inside. The details on this church are out o this world.

On day three we decided to walk down La Rambla and then all the way down to the beach town of Barceloneta. The mediterranean water is freezing! We weren't able to dive in much but the beach is still super charming and it was a nice relaxing break from all the walking of the prior days.

Also, you must note that if you are Kosher and are travelling to Spain, be prepared to starve. There was a Maos felafel store on La Rambla that came in handy as did La Boqueria. There were also some Italian restaurants. But everything else is pork! And the Italian food is good for nothing!

My deepest regrets in Barcelona: not seeing the city at night. And also, we didn't visit Mountjuic which is a huge draw for tourists. This is a mountain at the end of La Rambla which was the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. You need to take a cable car up to the mountain which gives you commanding views of the city! Also, for those who have extra time, it may be worth the train ride to the Salvador Dali Museum. I'm not one to care too much about museums when there is a whole city to see before my eyes. But I understand this is a great museum to see.

The second leg of our trip was a day and night in Seville. We had to take a flight (one hour at most) from Barcelona. Had we opted for a train, we'd have been in transit for about 7-8 hours. If we were in Spain for two weeks, I would have taken a train ride. Seville is an extremely charming and medieval city with lots of Muslim and Islamic influence. (Think Jerusalem meets Europe meets mosaic art meets home of flamenco dancing). We stayed at Casas de la Juderia....the most unique hotel I have ever stayed at. Basically, there is one long corridor (probably 1/6th of a mile long) that leads you to all these different sections of the hotel with different themes. There are little gardens scattered all around the property and there is a pool on the rooftop as well. The hotel itself was enough to sightsee here as it gave you a very good idea of Seville.

My whole day here was one deep regret. Seville is a small enough city to see by foot. But it was so excruciatingly hot that by 4pm, I was done with my dad and decided to go to sleep for the night (my husband later woke me up that same evening to tell me Michael Jackson had died). What I was able to squeeze in: we walked through the Jewish quarter to Seville Cathedral and then walked towards Tower de Oro and walked back to our hotel. I didn't go to the top of the bell tower in the Seville Cathedral that has magnificent views of the city. I didn't go to see bull fighting in an arena (home of bull fighting). I didn't go to see a flamenco show (home of flamenco). I didn't go across the Guadalquivir river. I didn't see the gorgeous city at night. And my deepest regret, I didn't see the gardens of the Alcazar palace! Basically, this is a city I went to just to sleep and where my husband got a horrendous taste for how much sacrifices he'll have to make in the future of our marriage! Seville is also known for its orange trees and gardens. If we had enough time, I would have taken a train ride (30 minutes to an hour) to the city of Cordoba which also has beautiful gardens. One thing I didn't like about Seville is that it felt extremely eerie and isolated. Like I felt that if I died in this city, no one would ever know. So definitely if you plan a trip to Spain, you must set a day for Seville and you must actually utilize your time here efficiently! Sunblock and coffee will go a long way!

What better way to close our trip than the coastal and affluent town of Marbella. Located in Andalusia, the same provence as Seville, and just a three hour train ride away, this was a much needed three days of relaxation. To get to Marbella, we had to take a train to Malaga and then a 45 minute cab ride. I forgot the name of the hotel we stayed out, but it was on the beach and had a sister hotel so we were able to access both pools. There was so much I loved about Marbella. It is like Spain's Cannes. There is a pedestrian town with beautiful shops and lots of people watching (rich, attractive people watching). There is a boardwalk along the beach. Of course this is the Mediterranean and it's freezing so we didn't get in much swimming...but we saw a lot of naked Europeans sunbathing! Also, fortunately for me, Flamenco is still kind of big in Marbella. So we saw a free show in our hotel on a Friday night. And I have never been so awed and amazed by a performance (to think the best of Flamenco is in Seville and we missed it!) We also dined in Puerto Banus, a wealthy port town 20 minutes away, one night. This was the perfect way to close the trip. My only regret here was not going to Gibraltar, which is a British owned peninsula right across Morocco and probably a 45 minute drive from Marbella. There is an international airport in neighboring Malaga and we were able to close out this trip with pure relaxation. But if I were to do it all over again, I'd have made it a 10 day trip and squeezed in one other city! Spain is full of wonders and natural beauty! Hopefully we will make it back there one day!

Click on the gallery above (best viewed on a desktop for captions), the videos below to get a better sense of the area, and add your feedback by clicking on the comments section below! Follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see my next adventure! And share with your friends if you appreciate this page!