Spain: The Original 4

In April, Janet, Bethany, Sammi and I undertook a singular endeavor: a trip abroad to see the sites and taste the food of Spain, reprising the many journeys that we took back when our nuclear family consisted of a mom, a dad and two dependent children. However, this was not a reenactment so much as it was an new adventure as grownups. Sammi and Bethany are both in their thirties with families of their own, and Janet and I are both retired grandparents. Several decades of life experience have passed since the days when the girls were unattached minors, and we were busy not only with child rearing but with full-time jobs. One of the best things about the trip was getting to reflect on our past roles, and even slip into them a bit, but also to relate to each other as independent, fully grown adults. Janet and I are deeply grateful to our son-in-laws who stayed home with the kids (Alex, Simon and Parker), making this unique opportunity possible!

Taking on an old role, I planned the trip and drove the agenda. It wasn’t because I wanted to “be in charge,” but now our girls are the busy ones with full-time jobs and child raising responsibilities, and I have more time at my disposal. In my head, and perhaps not theirs, this was going to be a road trip: picking up a rental car in Bilbao Spain (our point of entry) and cruising across the country to Barcelona, then down the coast to Valencia and finally up to Madrid. Yes, Spain has high-speed trains, but I was a bit nostalgic about the week we spent in Germany, Switzerland and Austria when we visited Sammi back when she was in college and spent a term working on an Army base. On that trip, we ended up with a Mercedes that I relished driving on the Autobahn. In Spain, we were assigned a Subaru Outback hybrid (somewhat to my chagrin) that ended up being a great vehicle for us and all our luggage. Both Bethany and Sammi have become great drivers over years so having Dad behind the wheel relying on his GPS unit was probably a bit too old school.

My approach to the trip was to set up a combination of formal, more curated experiences with plenty of time set aside for discretionary exploration. This amounted to one guided tour per day, time for strolling and a dinner reservation in the evening. In Bilbao, we visited the Guggenheim Museum which is wonderful both inside and out. Barcelona featured the Picasso Museum and the Sagrada Familia. In Madrid, we toured the Royal Palace and The Prado Museum. Our guides were both informative and a source of amusement. At the Guggenheim, Vanessa, a local, was so enthusiastic, that we nearly begged to be cut loose after 3.5 hours! The Picasso Museum was led by Romina who had strong opinions about avoiding touristy spots and tapas–advice that we ignored :-). The guide at the Sagrada Familia had a delightful accent that had us chuckling as she searched for a missing tour participant by repeatedly calling out “Dooglass” (i.e., Douglas). The young women who showed us through the Palace and The Prado were the epitome of professionalism and kept their remarks focused, ending on the tours on time. Headsets at the Palace and The Prado were welcome additions and gave us the ability to move more freely without missing audible content. I used the app Viator to book the tours and highly recommend the service for its reliability and excellent communication via text along the way.

Dining out was the highlight of my day. It was marvelous to spend long meals with the family where we processed the day’s events, waxed nostalgic, dug into family history, and tried new tastes but also enjoyed comfort foods like yogurt, pastries, chocolate and pizza. It worked well to reserve a dinner time in the hotel on the day of arrival, leaving the second night to explore and try out recommendations. The staff at the Madrid Edition were especially helpful in directing us to a terrific place for tapas and another restaurant for a sumptuous feast on our last night. I was proud of our willingness to test some boundaries that included grilled octopus, rabbit, snails and most importantly paella. We were only in Valencia one night but we were able to book a late lunch at Casa Carmela, a highly rated paella hot spot, just across the street from the beach. Another highlight was lunch after the The Prado tour at one of Michele Obama’s favorite restaurants in Madrid. We asked for water but the wine always flowed freely! We never quite adapted to the Spanish circadian rhythm for eating. Breakfast was easy enough but lunch is typically served from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and many restaurants do not open for dinner until 8:30 p.m. with reservations available until the wee hours. If we travel to Spain again, I will be more mindful about not scheduling tours from early to mid-afternoon. Expecting to get table service at 11:30 a.m. or noon is a lost cause and leaves you limited options (e.g., fast food).

We laughed, cried, vented, debated, shared our hearts and felt deeply grateful for a unique experience that will probably not happen again, at least in the same way. There is no way to do justice to the immensity and delight of this trip. Even the 459 photos and 154 videos do not capture all the nuances of our time together. We will always have Spain and our memories. To conclude, I share our list of “The Best of Spain” that we put together over our final dinner in Madrid. Viva la familia!

The Best of Spain: compiled by Janet, Sammi, Bethany and yours truly:

• Best breakfast: Gran Hotel Domine in Bilbao
• Best dinner: Raza in Madrid
• Best dining atmosphere: Casa Carmela in Valencia
• Best hotel room: Palacio Santa Clara in Valencia
• Best hotel service: The Barcelona Edition
• Best hotel lobby: The Madrid Edition
• Best drive: from Valencia to Madrid (a worship experience set to music courtesy of Bethany’s I-Phone)
• Best tour guide: Olaya at The Prado in Madrid
• Best museum/cathedral: Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
• Best cultural experience: Flamenco dinner/show in Madrid
• Best shopping: Sokura bags in Barcelona
• Best dessert: Churros dipped in drinking chocolate in Madrid
• Best tapas: Tapeo in Barcelona
• Best spontaneous meal: Ristorante Pizzeria Eden in Barcelona
• Best server: Tapeo in Barcelona
• Best hotel neighborhood: The Madrid Edition
• Best city for walking: Madrid
• Best interaction with a local: Vanessa in Bilbao
• Best yogurt: Gran Hotel Domine in Bilbao
• Best city to return to: Madrid
• Best hotel robe: The Barcelona Edition
• Best nightlife: Valencia with Emily Jewett and Emmet Cullen
• Best surprising food experience: Oroyo at the Madrid Edition
• Best hotel room view: The Madrid Edition
• Best architecture: The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao