D.C. Area Nesties
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: OSUMelissa!!!!
oooo we are leaving just as you are getting back! leave some wine for us.
Spain was AMAZING!!!!! It was so freaking awesome.
Madrid - where we started the trip. Went to the Prado museum, Reina Sofia museum, Royal Palace, Mercado de San Miguel market, Plaza Mayor, and Puerta del Sol. We also just walked a ton of the city! I loved seeing Guernica at the Reina Sofia - amazing painting in real life. The Prado was just "meh" to us, but we determined that while we like art, we are much more into 17th century - present art more than 14-16th century art which was more of what the Prado was. But it's still a good museum and worth seeing. We also did tapas hopping. If you go to Madrid, definitely go to Museo de Jamon. Awesome food and very cheap (don't mind the rude service). Overall, Madrid was a great introduction to Spain.
Toledo - did this as a day trip from Madrid on our second day in Spain. Roundtrip train tickets (30 minutes each way) run about $30 euro. The town is really cool. The main reason to go is for the cathedral which is gigantic and amazing. Definitely a town that you can visit and walk around in five-six hours.
Sevilla - our least favorite city we visited. It was gorgeous don't get me wrong, but it was a bit sleepy and old (age wise) feeling to us. Not as fun or lively as the other cities we visited. Our hotel was in a great location and we had views of the cathedral lit up at night. The main two sites to visit are the Alcazar (Moor palace) and the Cathedral/Bell Tower. Both are super impressive for obviously different reasons. The highlight for Sevilla for me was getting to see a flamenco show (Tableo el Arenal)...it was wonderful! So glad we did that.
Granada - my husband's favorite city and the place that he intends to live in if he ever needs to take a sabbatical or respite from real life
The Alhambra (the main reason to go to Granada) was so freaking spectacular. It really does take about four hours to visit there properly. We thought we were going to miss lots of tour groups by getting 3:30 pm tickets for the Palace, but that was not the case. If I went back, I would wait and get like 5:30 or 6 pm tickets. Both nights we just did tapas hopping for dinner because Granada is like one of the last Spanish towns that gives free tapas when you buy a drink! We called it "tapas roulette" because you never knew what they were going to bring out.
Barcelona - my favorite city we visited. The other cities we visited had a distinct "Spanish" feel to them, but Barcelona really felt modern and European. It was so beautiful. The Sagrada Familia is even more impressive and breathtaking than you can even imagine. You can not go to Barcelona and not see this. Las Ramblas was completely overrated and way too packed with people (the Champs Elysees is 100% better in my opinion). La Boqueria market (located just off Las Ramblas) is a definite must. It's quite large and the smells of fresh food are awesome. We also visited Park Guell, went down to the marina and beach area, and went to a FC Barcelona game. We were actually at their last home game and saw them be presented the La Liga trophy. Very cool!
Overall our trip was all we could have asked for. The train system is super easy to use and really convenient. The Metros in Madrid and Barcelona were also very user friendly and reliable (the stations in Barcelona have the time of the next arriving train counted down to the second and they run about every 4 minutes even close to closing time). Tapas hopping was so much fun, and we drank lots of cerveza (beer), wine, cava, and sangria.
I can't wait to hear about both of your trips when you get back!!
Oh wow, we're doing nearly the same exact itinerary, except we're adding San Sebastian to the end (per the lovely SStrug's recommendation). How much time did you have in each place? Did you feel like it was too much/too little?
Great advice on the Alhambra tickets. I was actually just about to book those!
Thanks for the review!
oh yay! glad you had fun. did you have a problem booking train tickets via Renfe website? for some reason it does not like any credit card we try to use.
oh yay! glad you had fun. did you have a problem booking train tickets via Renfe website? for some reason it does not like any credit card we try to use.
Ahhh, I am so jealous! I will live vicariously through you ladies until I can afford to go back!
Planning Bio
Madrid/Toledo - 3 days/3 nights (we spent six-ish hours in Toledo I believe...maybe seven...I know it was about an hour too long we felt)
Sevilla - 2 days/2 nights...honestly you can do Sevilla in a 1.5 days/1 night if you structure your time right.
Granada - 2.5 days/2 nights...we should have booked the morning flight to Barcelona to have another evening in Barcelona. That is our one regret. But we had thought about renting a car and doing some of the small towns between Sevilla and Granada which is why we booked an evening flight.
Barcelona - 3 days/4 nights...we wish we would have had another evening in Barcelona, especially a Saturday night. Also if we could have squeezed another half day in to go to and lay on the beach, we would have.
Yes I had a ton of problems with the RENFE website even after I called my credit card company and told them I would be making charges. I really believe dealing with that site is a lesson in patience and persistence. I just kept trying. I found that on other message boards that people were having/had had the same problem.