Preamble regarding our trip to Spain

Spain has been on our bucket list since we visited neighbouring Portugal four years ago. My brother and his wife have been to Spain several times, friends Rob and Karen were there last Fall, our friend Janet went to university in Barcelona, our Bellingham friends were there several years ago. It is now out turn and we have a wealth of information to draw from. Lucky us!

Spain seems to offer something for everyone. It has a rich cultural past, amazing food we hear, colourful festivals with giant puppets, historic site and incredible museums. Planning a two month trip was a challenge for me because there are so many interesting places to visit. Every area in this spread out country has thing we wanted to see. But we decided that since we are going in the winter we would focus our journey in the warmer area of Andalucia. The north will have to be on another bucket list…

Once again, we will stay in a variety of accommodations with an eye out for clean, budget conscious hostals, hotels, bnbs and apartments in good locations. A bonus would include hearty breakfasts. Mainly, I used Booking.com to find good places. We’ll mainly be relying on public transportation, buses and trains, but will also rent cars in more rural areas. International drivers licenses are asked for, when renting in Spain.

Even though we are going off season, we have pre-booked some key sights like the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell in Barcelona, Granada’s Alhambra, Seville’s cathedral and Alcazar, and Madrid’s Prado Museum. I have discovered that there are discounted seniors’ prices if you look for them.

As usual, we are packing light. I have a small tear in my rotator cuff tendon and don’t want to aggravate it with a heavy bag!

And yes, we know that Barcelona is the pickpocket capital of the world. Wish us luck!Read more