i'm going to spain for two weeks, tell me about cool things to do

[Bob]

i'll be in madrid, valencia, and barcelona for four nights each. i'm traveling on a trip offered through my job (i work for a travel company), so i'll have some guided tours and junk, but there will also be some free time, and i'll be on my own for a bunch of meals so i'm looking for tips on things to eat and stuff too. i'm going solo (well, with a group of customers, who are all 60+ years old, but my free time will be solo), so if there's anything i ought to know about that, let me know too

it should be cool

[M|X|Y]

paella.

[cosmo105]

Barcelona is amazing. I assume you'll go to Parque Guell, and probably the Sagrada Familia. Both are absolutely incredible and well worth your time.

I ate paella (they had a veggie version) on the beach here and it was incredible: http://www.catamaranbcn.com/presentacioneng.html. Our friend that ate with us and had the real deal with fish and all said his was amazing too. The chocolate museum was kind of fun and silly and it was near this whole awesome candy/chocolate district. I also really loved getting gelato at this place Gelaaati off La Rambla.

There's a big farmer's market on La Rambla right by the hostel we stayed at where we bought breakfast every morning. Also, Maoz on La Rambla is LEGIT. The best falafel I have ever had in my life. It's cheap and incredibly good and you can stuff your pita with as many toppings as you want. I crave that falafel all the time.

There's a great little bar right next to the main little cathedral (not sagrada familia, the actual cathedral of barcelona) where we wiled away one long night, and had breakfast on the steps of the church the next morning. I can't say enough good things about Barcelona. Renting bikes and riding through that city to the beach is one of the best memories I have. I didn't want to leave (y)

[Lyman Zerga]

no bullshit traditions for you!

[Waus]

I don't have much constructive to add, having never been there. My in-laws went last year though - and auto-correct texts kept changing Spain to "Dolphin."

They brought back a book about the Sagrada Familia though, and it looked really really impressive. The architect who designed it was a visionary.

[ms.peachy]

I love Spain, and Barcelona in particular. cosmo's recommendations are good. Read up on Antoni Gaudi before you go, you will be able to appreciate his indelible mark on the city that much more. If you are interested in art at all, be sure to go to the Picasso museum there, and also to the Prado in Madrid. Mostly just open your eyes, and look. Take it all in.

Eat a lot. The food is fantastic, everywhere. If you like wine, try lots of different wines.

One important thing, although it pains me to say it: be careful. Things are tough in Spain right now. They have huge unemployment, especially amongst young people - they are really in grave danger of having an entire 'lost generation.' Street crime is a big issue; be careful with your money, and with walking about alone at night especially. I mean, enjoy yourself, don't walk around all paranoid, but take all sensible precautions.

[Guy Incognito]

Indeed, i believe its not a great financial climate.

I work in Lancashire in one of the bleakest places in the country , sometimes driving to work is like entering Mordor. We have a lad from Barcelona over for a few months on work experience as part of his university scheme and he is due to go back next week. I asked him if he was looking forward to going back and he said no as its pretty depressing at the moment. Not a lot of prospects. He wants to stay on, which is unbelievable when you think about it.

Oh and I know you arent a sporty dude bob, but i believe going to the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona is worth doing anyway, even if its empty.

[cosmo105]

Agreed with Ms. P. We were fine but we were definitely careful. I bought a smaller purse I could keep closer to my body for the trip.

Also I'm almost positive we got bedbugs either there or in Paris. Even if your hotel/hostel/whatever seems fine put all of your clothes, and I mean everything whether you wore it or not, in the dryer for an hour when you get back home and vacuum out your suitcases. Any major old city is going to have them everywhere. They are the worst.

[Bob]

haha oh i know all about gaudi and the sagrada familia. i actually wrote the itinerary (http://www.gct.com/trips/2014/tour-spain-csp.aspx) (i know it's cheesy as fuck but i'm salaried and was in a hurry, don't judge me), as well as pretty much all the marketing materials for this trip (one of the reasons they're sending me for free) and gaudi is far and away one of the easiest go-tos to go to when talking about barcelona so i'm fairly versed in his accomplishments by now :)

thanks for the heads up about safety--i'm hardly the scrappiest dude or the savviest world traveler (i went to peru on a work trip a year ago, and to london with my family when i was 13 and that's about it) and i'll be spending my free time alone probably so these are things i need to hear! i will probably be sticking to tourist areas at night

i don't think i'll need to worry about bed bugs. this is a trip designed for old people with too much money so i highly highly highly doubt that our accommodations will be filthy (i actually wrote all the hotel descriptions too, and they sounded pretty swank, but i bullshit that stuff anyway so who knows)

thank you for the advice so far! keep it coming if you have it!

[cosmo105]

even the fanciest hotels can have bedbugs! it really doesn't matter how clean they are. any major city has bedbugs, man.

[Helvete]

Barcelona is rife with pickpockets. Go full on tourist and strap your valuables to your balls in one of those little wallets.

Enjoy.

[checkyourprez]

if you can get free on a saturday or sunday go to a football game. any of the cities you mentioned have good to great teams. nothing like going to a game here in the states.

[Documad]

What about Madrid? I'm probably going there and thereabouts. I've never been to Spain or Portugal.

My parents did their big Spain trip when Franco was in charge. So they had no issues with crime in Spain :p but my dad was a victim when they got to Tangiers. Someone in a crowd took the big lens off his nice camera.

[Bob]

even the fanciest hotels can have bedbugs! it really doesn't matter how clean they are. any major city has bedbugs, man.

I guess i just assume i'm going to be safe because our customers love to complain, and i feel like if we'd exposed them to bedbugs, somebody would have written a review about it by now. but i'll be careful!

i haven't been pickpocketed ever, but but i did get swindled pretty epically by a guy in peru. he sold me a tiny bag of coca leaves for $20 (i discovered later that you can get a huge bag of them for $5 (also it's not a drug thing, they help with altitude sickness, which comes up at 12,000 feet above sea level)). i didn't want anything to do with it, but i wasn't sure if he was gonna beat me up if i didn't buy them so i just did it. i was walking around with a map out, it was my fault, lesson learned

[Helvete]

Just watch out for the Roma gypsies.

[b-grrrlie]

Barcelona is rife with pickpockets. Go full on tourist and strap your valuables to your balls in one of those little wallets.

Enjoy.
This is so true!

I spent my last birthday i Barcelona, partied for a week with my friends! But first I was there for three days alone, as I wanted to see Jon Spencer Blues Explosion!!!

I've made a map (https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214126710175703742760.0004d44753410c2d75f3 d&msa=0&ll=41.39323%2C2.161989&spn=0.044622%2C0.09922) of my interests down there, veggie places, rock clubs and sights to see.

[b-grrrlie]

I really need to get to Madrid sometime! The only other place I've been to in Spain is Salamanca. I had a boyfriend down there in 1982...

[cosmo105]

I LOVE CAT BAR!

[b-grrrlie]

I LOVE CAT BAR!
(y)

I became a regular after first night! :D
Luckily it's just a crawling distance where my friend has a flat that she rents out.

[checkyourprez]

This is so true!

I spent my last birthday i Barcelona, partied for a week with my friends! But first I was there for three days alone, as I wanted to see Jon Spencer Blues Explosion!!!

I've made a map (https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214126710175703742760.0004d44753410c2d75f3 d&msa=0&ll=41.39323%2C2.161989&spn=0.044622%2C0.09922) of my interests down there, veggie places, rock clubs and sights to see.

that is a very nice map of things to do Boberto.

[Echewta]

Speaking spanish there is pretty fun.

[DandyFop]

get laid

[Bob]

i bet that not speaking the language would get me off the hook for the whole "being a bad conversationalist" thing

finally i can just let my raw sexuality shine like the beacon that it is

[Lex Diamonds]

paella.
This was going to be my reply. Eat as much seafood as you can.

[Dorothy Wood]

Learn to play Spanish guitar! (for getting laid when you get back).

Enjoy your trip!

[camo]

Go out on on the tiles after your last day on photo shoot, meet a hot girl called Fatima, let her ply you with Jager - then wake up at hers with less than an hour to go before your flight leaves. Go back to sleep and get a later flight at a cost of 600 euros. Don't sweat it because the company pays for that kinda shit.

[MC Moot]

Just got back... (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x265/mcmoot/playa1_zpsb4fafc66.jpg )(y)

[MC Moot]

I’ll have to say Peachy nailed on the socio economic situation across the country at this time…The situation is referred to as “La Bomba” or the bomb…in that people and the country are about to go off…since the crisis began people are continuously feeling the pinch…while the majority government “La Pepe” is embroiled in corruption, reducing pensions, cutting post-secondary education, letting banks fail, mortgage dissentegration,etc,etc…when the peeps can no longer afford the food they like,wine,tobacco,ability to send your heirs to university and spoil the grandchildren, bad things are going to happen…With 40% unemployment things are dismal…the youth are seeking any way out of the country as they see no future, no resolution and no real hope of recovery…this is the current views of all walks of society,laborors to lawyers to artists and the law itself…so watch your kit tightly at all times, the ladrons are genius,especially the Gitanos…my Fathers wife’s business is primarily taking tourists to the police station to translate theft and burglary reports to the Guardia...and business is good…but don’t let this deter you, don’t front or wear jewelry, spend small dominations of the euro,don’t drop 50’s and 100’s around…as for Madrid, I would advise taking a bus up to Segovia to see the aqueduct and castle, much more interesting than Madrid itself…if you care,Senor Roberto,I put loads of stuff on my facebook...but this time I was only in the South...

https://www.facebook.com/james.aparicio.3