Holidays in Spain

Written: 25 june 2013
Travel time: 5 — 19 june 2013
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday; For families with children
Your rating of this hotel:
9.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 10.0
Service: 10.0
Cleanliness: 10.0
Food: 8.0
Amenities: 8.0
From June 05 to June 19.2013, my husband and I rested in Spain, the city of Malgrat de Mar, at the Amaraigua Hotel. The tour was bought from the travel operator "Neva" along with the issuance of a visa. Departed from Domodedovo Airport at 06-20 by Orenburg Airlines. Registration, passport control, everything went quickly and well. They took off without delay. The flight lasted 4 hours 10 minutes. In Barcelona, ​ ​ passport control and baggage claim are also without delay, like clockwork.
And now we are at the hotel. The hotel is small, three-star. Located on the seafront. It is separated from the city by a railway and you can cross it through an underpass. Many hotels are located behind the railway, even with more stars. On the day of our arrival, the receptionist Olga, our former compatriot, worked at the reception, she quickly arranged everything and gave us the keys to the room. She is a very friendly kind woman, always ready to help and explain. We paid a resort fee of 7 euros. The room in which we settled 209 overlooking the sea and the pool. The first digit means the floor, but in fact it is the 3rd floor, since the first floor is considered zero for them. The room is medium in size. It has two double rooms put together, a wardrobe with mirrored doors, one bedside table, a table, a chair, as well as a TV and air conditioning. 2 Russian channels were broadcast on TV - "Russia 24", "Planet RTR". The room appears to have been recently refurbished and is clean and tidy. The remote control for the TV and air conditioning must be taken at the reception for a deposit of 20 euros each. Safe rental 20 euros per week. The bathroom in the room is shared, equipped with a shower. We didn't have a hairdryer in the room. The hotel has rooms equipped with bathrooms and some have a hair dryer, so who's lucky. Mosquitoes flew one night, but at the reception you can also take a fumigator for a deposit of 5 euros. I took with me. The room has a balcony with two plastic chairs and a table. They cleaned up well. Bed linen changed frequently. The only bad thing is that our windows overlooked the venue for the evening disco. It started at 21:00 to 24:00. It was noisy.
We took all inclusive meals. The hotel has two bars: one - in the building itself (worked in the evening from 18-00 to 23-30 and in bad weather), the second - near the pool (worked from 10-00 to 18-00). In this hotel, full board and half board guests could drink drinks - water, fanta, cola, 7up, as well as beer, wine in the restaurant itself for lunch and dinner. A vending machine with coffee, tea and milk was located near the first bar and worked from 08-00 to 23-30 for everyone. For those who have "all inclusive" were offered cocktails and many other drinks. The food at the hotel is quite good. Breakfast: scrambled eggs, sausages, sausage, ham, fried bacon, boiled eggs, croissants, puff pastries, bread, tomatoes, pate, butter, jam, muesli, processed and hard cheeses, fruits. There was also champagne every morning. For lunch and dinner: 2-3 types of meat, chicken, fish, cutlets, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, olives, french fries, less often boiled potatoes, fruits, ice cream. There were hamburger buns as well as sliced ​ ​ tomatoes and onions. From fruits: bananas, watermelons, melons, peaches, nectarines, pineapples, apples, oranges. Canned fruits. Baking is only one type and most often mini rolls. In general, you won't go hungry. The first dish was offered for dinner - chicken broth with vermicelli. Instead of breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can take a "picnic", in general, a tourist's breakfast, consisting of a bottle of water, sandwiches, fruit, butter and jam. It must be ordered the day before 19-00.

The sandy beach is very beautiful and clean. Almost every morning a tractor drove by and collected garbage. The only pity is that summer is late. The water temperature at the beginning of our holiday was 16 degrees. Then it warmed up to 20. So you don’t buy much. Air temperature + 24 + 26 degrees, but it seemed much hotter.
The meeting with the guide was scheduled on the day of our arrival for the afternoon. From the Neva, two of us checked into this hotel, but the guide Marina came at the strictly appointed time. At the reception, she took a map of our town of Malgrat de Mar, just from the administrator Olga. She showed us interesting objects in the city. She said that there is a botanical garden in the neighboring town of Blanes, explained how you can drive on your own (first by train to Blanes, then from the train station to the center by bus, and then on foot to the yacht club and near it there is a botanical garden). And in the city of Tossa you can see a beautiful castle, but you can’t get there by boat, by train. Later we learned that in front of our hotel in a travel agency (unfortunately I don’t remember the name, but some kind of “… Travel” and a red-green sign design) a trip to the botanical garden in Blanes is sold and costs 10 euros. We bought a sightseeing evening tour of Barcelona from the guide for 75 euros for two. And the sign on the bus turned out to be just the travel agency that was opposite our hotel, and there this tour was cheaper. Also on the main street there are offices of the tour operator "Tez Tour", "Natalie Tour". I don’t know about Natalie Tour, but at Tez Tour, some excursions turned out to be cheaper than offered by our tour operator and hotel administrator Olga (she had the price list of the Beijing travel agency).
On a sightseeing tour of Barcelona, ​ ​ you visit: Park Gü ell, Sagrada Familia, then you arrive at the port, they give you free time or you can visit the aquarium (19 euros, paid separately), and then the singing fountains in Plaza Españ a.
We planned our second visit to Barcelona by train. Olga from the reception gave us a map of Barcelona, ​ ​ although I bought houses and marked objects of interest to me in advance, but I did not refuse, I decided that it would come in handy. The main one, as they explained to us, is at the Plaza Catalunya station, when you get out you need to remember the building at which you leave, and go back from it. Trains in Barcelona are moving to the metro. Travel time 1 hour 20 minutes. A round-trip ticket from Malgrat de Mar to Barcelona for one costs 9.10 euros. The direction when you go to Barcelona is not important to follow, since all trains in that direction reach Barcelona. But back, it is important not only to get on the R1 line correctly, but also to watch the trains indicating the direction of Blanes and Massanet. Usually in front of the train and on the side at the top of the cars. These trains just pass through Malgrat de Mar. You pass the ticket through the turnstile not only at the entrance, but also at the exit.

Our walk started from Plaza Catalunya, one of the most popular squares in Barcelona. Along Passeig de Graci̒ a we reached Batllo's house. The house was built by the famous architect Antonio Gaudi, also referred to as the "house of bones", which is listed as a UNESCO heritage. In its facade, the supporting columns are bones, and the balconies are skulls. Casa Batllo is located next to two other modernist buildings - the Amallo house and the house of Lleo Morera. Then we saw the house of Mila, it is one of the main masterpieces of Antonio Gaudi, his last completed work and at the same time the first architectural object of the 20th century, included in the UNESCO heritage list. Then we walked along the Rambla. We went to the Boqueria city market. This is not just a market, but one of the most popular attractions in Barcelona. Here you can buy meat, poultry, fish, sweets, mushrooms, jamon, vegetables and fruits. The shelves are literally bursting with abundance. Vegetables and fruits are stacked in bizarre pyramids. Eggs are placed in baskets with straw. There is a special section here where they sell wine, fresh bread and cheese. They also sell freshly squeezed juices. Also on the Rambla saw the Liceu Theater - one of the main opera halls in the world. We went to the Royal Square, located halfway from Plaza Catalunya to the port. The square is a characteristic example of the Spanish romantic style. Its center is occupied by a fountain called "Three Graces". This square is decorated with lanterns, which became the first Barcelona work of the famous Gaudí . We went to the Gothic quarter. We saw the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (Catedral de Barcelona) and the Church of Santa Maria del Mar (Iglesia de Santa Marí a del Mar). Next was the Citadel Park with its beautiful fountain and the Arc de Triomphe. We boarded the train to Malgrat de Mar from the Arc de Triomf station.
Were also on excursions to the monastery of Montserrat. Bought from Tez Tour for 44 euros per person. The monastery was founded in 1025. The monastery keeps the statue of the Black Madonna, for which pilgrims come here. Legend has it that this statue was carved by St. Luke and then brought to Spain by St. Peter. In 718, the statue was hidden from the Saracens in the mountains of Montserrat, after which its traces were lost. And in 890, a miracle happened - shepherds found the Black Madonna in a cave, from which, according to their stories, a mysterious radiance flowed and the singing of angels was heard. A chapel was built at the site of the discovery of the statue, and the cave has since been called "Santa Cova". Football teams and special services of Catalonia come to bow to the Black Madonna. A very interesting train takes pilgrims up from the base of the mountain to the monastery itself. It is called cremallera, which means "zipper" in Spanish. The rails of the train are unusual, in addition to the usual two along the edges, there is a jagged strip in the middle, for which the train clings and does not slide down. And the height of the mountains to which you climb is great.
There are also many other interesting excursions for every taste: the Salvador Dali Museum, Aventura Park, trips to Andorra, Paris, Nice, Monaco.
In Malgrat de Mar there are two interesting parks "PARC DEL CASTELL" and "PARC DE FRANCESC MACIA". The PARC DEL CASTELL park is located on a hill and can be reached by a small funicular, which is an elevator moving downhill. From the top there is a very beautiful view of the city and the majestic Church of St. Nicholas (Esglé sia de San Nicolay). And in another park there are very interesting figurines of fungi, flowers, a shoe with a book, a gingerbread house.
In the last two days of our stay, the weather deteriorated again, and the sea was stormy. Probably in order not to be so sad to leave.

They also flew back by Orenburg Airlines at 10-55. Transfer, passport control everything went quickly and normally. We flew to Domodedovo, but here it was just a disaster with passport control, there were a lot of people.
In general, the hotel, I really liked the rest.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original

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