Recently returned from a two week vacation in Spain. Madrid / Granada / Barcelona / Costa Brava / Sitges. First, I would like to add my name to the list of all the folks that have thanked Maribel of fodors.com /Madridman and friends for the valuable information. And to all the other people that have posted their suggestions, recommendations and experiences. Second to Pimsleur for their Spanish language courses, without which we would have had a very difficult time communicating.

The three of us (my girlfriend, Sue; another friend, Ray; and I) arrived in Madrid the morning of the Royal Wedding (Saturday, May 22) in the midst of a torrential downpour. Took the Aerocity van to our Hostal. Because of the Royal Wedding most of the streets near the Puerta del Sol were closed off. We had a wonderful driver, who managed to skirt the police barricades and delivered us right to the entrance of our hostal. The Hostal Adriano , on Calle de la Cruz, 26 is just one of the hostals that fills this building. For the low price of 55 Euros a night (double) you get a very clean, Ikea efficient all be it small room with an equally tiny private bath. (air conditioning, small frig, satellite TV included) The owner and his staff are very helpful, and made our stay a pleasant one. The down side, for those of you who don?t like a climb, pick another place to stay. There are 5 flights of stairs to go up and down. The building is scheduled to have an elevator installed sometime before the end of the year, so relief is in sight for the vertically challenged.
For the next four days, did the usual tourist things in Madrid. Prado and the gardens (loved it!!) Plaza Mayor, the gardens next to the Palace. (Palace was closed, as was the Cathedral for the Wedding) Took a day trip to Escorial. Tapas, cervasas, tapas, cervasas, etc. Oh, and did I mention it was raining on and off the entire time?

Best Tapas: Any one of the cafes in Plaza Santa Ana. Taberna Los Cabales had great asparagus, and stew.
Best restaurant: Madrilia, Clavel 6 in the Chueca district. (Bring your dictionary, to translate the menu.) Wonderful first courses.
Cheapest meal: The cafe inside the Prado for lunch. Good value and tasty.
Best entertainment: The tunas in Botin. Cute guys in tights. In keeping with Madrid, we ate late (11pm) and down in the cavern. The food... well let?s just say, ya go for the atmosphere, and the serenades.

Wednesday, May 26, flew to Granada on Iberia . Purchased the tickets from their website in advance. Inexpensive, and good service. The downside is all the time spent prior waiting at the
airport. Got into Granada, piled into a cab and checked into our hotel. Hotel Melia Granada . We would stay at another Melia in a heartbeat. Good service, big clean rooms, what one expects from a 4 star hotel. Had lunch and then hiked up to the Alhambra . Picked up our tickets for the night tour, and since it wasn?t crowded decided to see everything that afternoon in the daylight.Though I haven?t mentioned it until now, I highly recommend renting the audio tours/headset for all the museums, and historical sights. They are well worth the 3 Euro cost. Like the guide books say, if you have only one place to see in Spain, make it the Alhambra. Incredible!!! Especially at night.
In the morning we hopped on the tour bus of the city and took in the rest of the sights.

Thursday, May 27, evening flight on Iberia to Barcelona. Now, I?m not one that enjoys writing a bad review, but I have to say our next choice of places to stay, was less than stellar. The Hostal Palacios on the Rambla de Catalunya was very disappointing. I found them during a web search, and the website looks wonderful. Very elegant, lots of antiques and old word charm. (I even double checked with a posting from Kadrey who stayed there this past spring) Translated, dark, dingy, questionable stains on the duvet covers, (ick) and due to their unusual electronic plumbing, an ever present smell of raw sewage emanating from the bath room. To the proprietors credit, attempts were made to alleviate the situation. (Air freshener, and new linens) To no avail. We told them, that we would be looking for alternate accomodations, and checking out the following morning. Since I had booked us in for 4 nights they were not very happy about this. And so, I was charged for one night (95 Euros) plus a half day (47.50) before being able to check out. Needless to say, on the guidance from our friends living inBarcelona, we went earlier that check out morning to the travel agency within El Corte Ingles , purchased Bancotel coupons and checked in to the Husa Hotel Barcelona , Caspe 1. (I had heard about the coupons from other people here, and they?re worth it.? www.bancotel.com )
Anyway, the Husa is a good business persons hotel. Huge bathroom!! (We?ve come to realize that the star ranking for the hotels in Spain are based upon the size of the bathrooms.) All and all, for just 5 Euros more (100 Euros a night for a double) we stayed in a 4 Star Hotel. Well ya live and learn.

Apologies to all Madrid lovers, but for us, Barcelona is the place. As in Madrid, for the next three days we did the tourists stops. And as in Madrid some of the places we wanted to see, we missed, do to unexpected closures, or poor timing. Did get to visit all things Gaudi. Of course you?ve heard it all before... WOW!
Don?t miss the Museu d?Historia de la Ciutat. The underground Roman ruins of 4th and 5th Century are worth the price of admission. Just give your self plenty of time to see everything, because when they are set to close, they don?t mess around. Ray almost got locked in the museum.
Took the tourist bus around town, word to the wise, get on line early. There were very long lines at the Placa Catalunya stop and this is still before the high season. Come to think of it, most of the attractions we saw were already very crowded.

Best Tapas: At this point in our travels we?re beyond tapas.
Best restaurant: We have a few picks. On the Barca, Restaurant Emperador. Very fresh fish. Acceptable prices. Placa Reial, Restaurante Taxidermista . Wonderful duck, nice dining outdoors. Eixample, Trobador, (Ferran 46) good value on plata del dia. And for those of you on Atkins, a steak burger with all the fixings, ?cept the bun. Finally a Thai Restuarant believe it or not. Thai Gardens, Diputacio, 273
Cheapest meal: Burger King (I know, I know. We just wanted a quick bite and not a three hour dining experience) Needless to say, way better than the BKs in the USA.
Best entertainment: Of course all the performers on the Ramblas. In particular a puppeteer who?s
frog marionette is a consummate concert pianist. We also had a chance to see some Flamenco dancers performing right on the street.

Monday, May 31. Picked up the car at Avis, and took off for the Costa Brava. Set to meet up with Barcelona friends in Empuriabrava later in the day. Driving a car in Spain is interesting, and not for the faint of heart. We had a large car by European standards. (An Opel, Diesel engine very comfortable ride) In some of parking garages it was a unbelievably tight squeeze. We managed not to drive off the road, or get hit by anything larger than a bug on the windshield. First stop, was Figueres and the Dali museum. Which according to all the information we had was suppose to be open, being a Monday that?s a bank holiday. Oh, so not true. ( Are you sensing a pattern here?) Yet again, another place closed. ARRRRGGGH. So we have lunch, and off we go to Empuria. We end up taking the scenic back road route on dirt roads complete with cows roaming free. Luckily, these roads did have sign posts every few kilometers pointing the way. (seems like we weren?t the only people to take this wrong turn). We made it, and check into the Hotel Port Salins , Av. Pages de Climent,10-15. This was by far our favorite hotel. Beautiful pool, well appointed rooms, (even terry cloth robes in the bathroom) friendly staff. And because we booked in online (www.centraldereservas.net) it cost only 75 Euros for the night breakfast included.
Rendezvous with our Barcelona friends. Rented a electric motorboat from Eco Boats went for leisurely trip about the canals. Afterwards, had a drink and you guessed it more tapas!
Next day, we sent off early and drove the crazy hairpin turn up hill road to Cadaques and Dali?s house. (You need a reservation in advance) Worth the trip and the views are breathtaking. With time to spare we decided to try again for the Dali Museum in Figueres. Glad we went back, although very crowded, it is a wonder.
So now we are off on our last leg of our trip. We drive to Sitges, the beach town south east of Barcelona. Ready for beach, sun and relaxing for our last four days. This time we rented an apartment. Fully equipped, with all the comforts of home. (joy of joys, a washer and dryer!! no more washing socks in the bidet) If you are interested in a decent deal for Sitges rentals, contact our friend Annette Flowers. ( annetteflowers08870@yahoo.com)
I must say that dining was very expensive during our trip. That being said, our last recommendations for restaurants in Sitges had excellent seafood. Restaurant Pic-Nic right on the beach. And Gabriels, right next door to our apartment. Sant Gaudenci. had wonderful buffet of first courses.
Well that about does it for our rundown. And of course it?s back on the diet.
Happy trails,
Jill