Spanish Holidays + Royal Madrid
Our journey began in Milan, where we arrived by plane from Kyiv. Then, after transferring to a comfortable bus, we headed to Spain.
Our path ran along the coast of France and the first city was the beautiful Nice. The city itself is small, compact with a long promenade along the coast, Nice at night is especially beautiful. But the impressions of the city are ambiguous, next to the luxury hotels there are homeless people in refrigerator boxes, and a large number of Arabs are annoying, as if you are not in France, but somewhere, say, in Tunisia.
We had a 3 * hotel (ambassador), but I would give it half a star, the living conditions are disgusting, the hotel is dirty and the breakfasts are very modest. The only plus is the proximity to the center. It was already cold to swim in the sea during this period, but the most desperate tourists from our group took a chance and were satisfied.
The next city on our program was Nimes (also known as the French Rome). This is a provincial, small town, rustic, but very nice.
And then there was magnificent Spain! My husband and I dreamed of visiting Spain for a long time and it met all our expectations! This country has amazed us, impressed us, charmed us and conquered literally everyone! Magnificent nature, gorgeous views even from the bus window, not to mention the peaks of the Montserrat mountains, standing on top of which was simply breathtaking, and all of Barcelona lay at your feet. And despite the fact that there were very long journeys (we traveled from Milan to Madrid in 4 days - 1600 km), it was not tiring, as there were always stops in some interesting city or place. But, of course, fatigue was present (for 12 days of travel we changed 6 hotels), but all this was more than offset by what we contemplated. We visited Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Toledo, Zaragoza and Figueras. We were in all cities for 1 day, except for Madrid, where we were lucky enough to spend as many as 4 days.
Madrid is a truly royal city, one Royal Palace is worth a visit (be sure to visit), and Alcala Street in the evening lights, which shines all 10 km along the central part of the city. We had a sightseeing tour by bus, and so we always traveled by metro (there is a very convenient metro in Madrid).
We had a wonderful 4 * hotel (Holiday Inn), although it was on the outskirts of the city, but it was chic, with delicious breakfasts and next to the Mercadonna supermarket, where we bought all the gifts to take home. I recommend the wine El Cote (Rioja). Super! Very tasty chocolate, and we bought coffee on Gran Via in the center of Mexico in a centralized store, we also got cheese in Toledo (very tasty cheeses in Spain) and jamon (but this is not for everybody).
Toledo is the medieval capital of Spain and definitely worth a visit! You will not see such a cathedral anywhere else, where every little thing and detail has historical significance, and the city itself has retained its original appearance, feeling as if you were in the Middle Ages. There we had lunch in a cozy restaurant with venison stew, which we tried for the first time (I liked it). We also watched the famous Spanish flamenco, it's not just beautiful, it's graceful, colorful and colorful!
But I do not advise bullfighting - a real murder with a bloodied animal, which is dragged to the screeching and hooting of the Spaniards, who smoke cigars and click seeds during all this horror. In general, this is not for us, and even now bullfighting is prohibited in many cities in Spain.
Even in Madrid, there is a very interesting art gallery in the Prado Museum and the Museum of America (on Moncloa Square), and even for football fans, the Santiago Bernabeo Stadium, where the famous Real Madrid trains (there is also a club fan shop, but everything is very expensive there, T-shirt with the name of the player 100 euros).
But in Barcelona, of course, 1 day was not enough for us, but still we visited the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral by architect Antonio Gaudi, as well as Park Gü ell. Then there was a sightseeing tour of the city and a couple of hours of free time, which we used like this: we walked around the Gothic quarter, then went to the central Ramblas, went to the Boqueria market, bought fruits and shrimp there, went down to the embankment and there under the contemplation of the sea and the noise waves enjoyed lunch. And then we went to Valencia. The hotel was also 4 * (Hotel Olympia), a very decent hotel and breakfast is appropriate.
In Valecia, I really liked the old city and the tour in the Cathedral, where the famous Grail is kept. We also had a tour of the city of science and arts, built by the architect Calatrava, we were taken for a ride on a beautiful white train around the city, in general, we were impressed . But in Valencia you need to go not for 1 day. And in Zaragoza, we generally ended up on the Day of Hispanidat, where the feast of the Virgin Pilar is held and the inhabitants of all Spain gathered in the city to bow before the Holy Virgin in the Cathedral, the whole city was decorated with flowers, the inhabitants were dressed in festive national dresses, a procession through the whole city, in in general, and we were lucky to see it.
I was also impressed by the theater - the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueras, unusual, but interesting. In general, I think that in such a short period of time to see so much Spain, it's wonderful!
And for this, many thanks to the tour operator Feeria Mandriv, who organized such an exciting trip, and especially to our guide Sasha Tretiak for his talent and professionalism! In general, the holidays went off with a bang, it is impossible to describe everything, it must be seen!
