<p>Going to Seville, Grenada and Barcelona in July. Spending a day in Madrid.</p>
<p>I have, of course, looked up the things to do. Do any of you have suggestions not usually known?</p>
<p>Also, what should I wear or not wear. Will my H feel self conscious in shorts? I have read that sneakers make you stand out. I am not ashamed of being an American and I will never see anyone I come across again. But I do not want to be embarrassed or not allowed into things. I know I have to cover my shoulders when going into a cathedral.</p>
<p>We were just in Barcelona. I would not worry about what shoes you wear - just be comfortable. We did not notice and did not stick out. You often also have to have your “knees covered” as in long shorts or skirts to the knees. My husband and boys all wore shorts. For shoulders, the best idea is to take a light scarf, and just tie it to your purse. This way you always have something to pull around your shoulders. The highlight for me was the La Sagrada Família … just beautiful. Great back story. I would highly recommend hiring a local guide to take you through so you get the full experience and all the information. There are pickpockets around. We spotted some of them. Just be aware of the world around you. </p>
<p>@morrismm, DH is flying to Seville day after tomorrow! He will pick up our 16-year-old daughter from her host parents’ house in Cadiz, then drive up the coast to Barcelona. Among other places, they will stay in Granada for a day. They fly home on July 4th.</p>
<p>DD also said that shorts are fine, but she added sneakers aren’t a good idea. She said a lot of men wear sandals, so that is what DH will wear most of the time.</p>
<p>My husband wore tennis shoes the entire time - didn’t pack sandals. He looked fine. We saw no one stare. I think it’s much ado about nothing. Wear what is comfortable. </p>
<p>Manny from Toma Tours was a great help! He was our guide in Granada and Morocco, and I think I remember he had choices in Seville too. The train worked well for our trip from Malaga to Barcelona. Shoe-wise there is a lot of walking, so be comfortable in whatever you wear. There is a wide variety of clothing on the street, especially in Barcelona.</p>
<p>I would skip the Prado museum in Madrid and head directly to the Reina Sofia National Museum. The Reina Sofia is intimate and rich with beautiful art and very manageable. The Prado was huge and in my opinion was not thoughtfully laid out. Just tons and tons of art. I LOVED the main park in Madrid It was poetically beautiful. I would definitely spend a few hours there. The intimate neighborhoods are hard to find and the main part of the city was like every other large city. If you have only one day, I wouldn’t plan to see the neighborhoods I would go to the main Park and the Reina Sofia. I think you will get a good feel for neighborhood culture from the other cities you are visiting.</p>
<p>I visited in November. I wore leggings with dresses over them and sandals as well as jeans. My daughter said that most woman do not wear shorts and wear dresses in the summer. If my husband was going in the summer, he definitely would wear shorts and sneakers. In fact, if I were you I would wear your most comfortable shoes ever despite what they look like. Same for your husband.</p>
<p>It will be really, really hot, especially in Sevilla, Granada, and Madrid.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about dressing to go into churches anyplace other than Sevilla. You won’t be spending time in churches in Granada or Madrid (not if you are only there one day), and in Barcelona I don’t think anyone cares what you wear, at least no more than they would care in New York.</p>
<p>It’s true that the men in Spain don’t wear sneakers as much as American men do, but I have never heard of or experienced anyone looking askance at them. It’s not like they are not familiar with Americans in major tourist destinations in Spain. (Granada, though, seems to be off most Americans’ itineraries, for reasons I don’t really understand. We were there for a few days five years ago, and only met a couple of other Americans.)</p>
<p>We just returned. Re the sneakers, if they are white they will stand out more. If they are darker (grey, dark blue), they won’t. White sneakers with white socks will stand out. No one will stare but you will look different, and, if you care, feel unfashionable. </p>
<p>In Barcelona, we used a private guide for the Sagrada Familia. I am usually pretty frugal, but went for this although it was expensive. TOTALLY WORTH IT. Go onto trip advisor and search for “A Private Guide in Barcelona”. We used Sonia. My review is under the name tmputah. You can read more there. </p>
<p>I also have a review there for Park Guell and Montserrat (which you would only do if you have four days or more in Barcelona) . </p>
<p>Although Tapas 24 is supposed to be one of the best Tapas places, we couldn’t get in. But right around the corner is Tapas Tapas, not too expensive and the best potatoes bravas we had in the city. In Barconletta (near the sea) there are lots of restaurants, out favorite is totally hidden away and was L’Ostia (Placa de la Barceloneta). Less expensive and better food than the big places. </p>
<p>There is a very inexpensive chain of stores in Spain called Ale Hop. They sell what we would call a reusable grocery bag, but it folds into this tiny carrier and they are completely cute prints on the bags. They are only 2 euros. The make fun gifts to bring back (small, light, useful). I only bought one and wish I had bought another. </p>
<p>The subway is really easy to use in Barcelona. Make sure you buy the T-10 ticket. This is a ticket for 10 rides, not 10 rides for one person. Ten rides period. So use use it, then hand it to the next person in your party, they use it and so on. Super convenient. </p>
<p>I thought the Picasso Museum was a bust in Barcelona - it is only his very early work. The Miro Museum on the other hand was great. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t miss the Prado–it’s one of the great art museums of the world. If the size is overwhelming get a private guide. I have been to the Prado three times ( my kid studied in Spain and after she graduated the two of us hiked the Camino de Santiago). We had a guide each time we went to the Prado–I arranged it through my hotel. All were extremely knowledgeable. </p>
<p>If you are a museum person, then by all means go to the Prado. I love going to museums, but when I’m in a city for just one day I skip museums because my goal is to get a feel for the city, which I don’t do by wandering around the inside of a huge building. </p>
<p>I love Madrid. We took inexpensive walking tours through Discover Madrid – through them we learned about the nuns who sell cookies hidden deep inside a convent. There are some wonderful neighborhoods in Madrid, narrow streets, ancient buildings, with cafes and boutiques, that are a delight to wander through. Near Plaza Mayor and Plaza Santa Ana – Las Letras, La Latina and Chueca are all interesting neighborhoods. Get churros y chocolat at the Chocolateria San Gines.</p>
<p>In Barcelona, we loved all the Gaudi buildings. At the Sagrada, take the elevator to the top of the spire that you can then walk down (one of the spires you have to take the elevator down, too). The first time I did that was in 1984 and it was such a vivid memory we did it again on a more recent visit. I’ll second the Miro museum, and make sure to get the audio guide. I think it is the best audio guide I’ve ever listened to.</p>
<p>My husband only wears sneakers (seriously, he doesn’t own any other shoes). Granted, they are not white sneakers. He was fine. The women in Spain are very well-dressed – more so in Madrid than Barcelona, though. If you have good walking sandals and are self-conscious, that might be a better way to go for you. I wasn’t there in the summer, but my guess is that you won’t see many women or men walking around the cities in sneakers and shorts. Since you are only one day in Madrid, I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of wonderful artistic details in Spain – the mosaics, the street signs in Madrid, public art – really train your eye to look at details. At night, before dinner (so between 7-10) many Spaniards take a paseo – a walk. Streets are packed, and it’s a fun thing to do to join them. And yes, they eat very very late. Have a least one Spanish omelet (tortilla) while you are there, although not in Barcelona. </p>
<p>The Picasso Museum is as interesting for its architecture as for its art. It’s carved out of three different adjacent houses, built in three different centuries. If you are expecting a lot of great Picassos, the art is disappointing. There are really only two strong things to take from the art there: (1) There is a lot of juvenalia, and it demonstrates that Picasso didn’t paint/draw the way he did because he was not a competent draftsman. He was an excellent draftsman, and as a student had quite a good command of 19th century neo-realist painting techniques. (2) The museum has one important series of paintings, which are a re-vision (and several related studies) of Velazquez’s Las Meninas (probably his most famous painting, in its own room at the Prado). That’s the last room in the Picasso Museum, and it’s almost worth the admission. </p>
<p>The Picasso Museum came into being during the waning days of the Franco regime, when there was a bit of a rapprochement between Picasso and the government of Spain, but still a lot of suspicion. It was also a time when Picasso prices were already sky-high, making acquisitions difficult, and when a lot of what Picasso was painting was semi-pornographic and not suitable for a tourist institution underwritten by the Spanish government. So the museum was going to be largely dependent on what Picasso gave it, and what he gave it was a bunch of juvenalia and second-rate stuff and the Las Meninas series.</p>
<p>A few less-well-known suggestions for Barcelona:</p>
<p>If you like Gaudi, check out the work of his colleague and rival Lluis Domenech i Montaner, principally the Palau de la Musica (which is in the center of the city, right near Placa Catalunya) and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (which is a ways away, albeit walking distance from Sagrada Familia).</p>
<p>Another (if lesser) Domenech i Montaner building houses the Fundacio Antoni Tapies. Tapies is the greatest living (if very old) Catalan artist (probably the greatest living Spanish artist), although his work is not terribly well known in the U.S. His museum is very impressive, and justifies the foregoing claim.</p>
<p>My son really loved the Museu de l’Historia de la Ciutat de Barcelona, which gives you access to some of the Roman ruins which underlie the oldest part of the city.</p>
<p>Google search this site for Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada. There have been countless threads on travel to Spain and issues of medicine or web services. </p>
<p>By the way, it does not get really, really hot in Madrid or Barcelona. Well, unless one consider days in the 70s and low 80s and evenings of around 68 too be that warm. Evenings are even chillier in Granada. Locals do not wear shorts in the major cities but plenty of tourists do. July is a big tourist month and you can expect crowds in the main touristic areas. </p>
<p>If you want an idea how the fashionable dress in Spain, visit <a href=“http://www.zara.com”>www.zara.com</a>. I notice that they are opening stores here in the U.S. now.</p>
<p>If you’re going in early July, like we did, you can head to Pamplona for San Fermine (running of the bulls). </p>
<p>Which dates in July will you be there? If I recall correctly there’s a big holiday in Spain in July. If so, enjoy the local celebrations. </p>
<p>Also make sure when you’re in Barcelona that you stroll down the Ramblas on the weekend. The vendors, the street performers - it’s fascinating. </p>
<p>We visited Seville and Granada end of Mar. D1 likes to keep a spreadsheet of restaurants and sites of places she has been to. Below is her list.</p>
<p>Seville </p>
<p>Restaurants:
Azotea
Eslava </p>
<p>Visit
Alcazar of Spain - cheap tickets with student ID </p>
<p>Did the “free city tour” from our hotel. Was free but we tipped the guide bc it was amazing. They were so good and was a great overview of the city </p>
<p>Restaurants:
Carmela
Manuels (my fav food)
La Huerto de Juan Rana - Amazing restaurant with view of Alhambra and all of Granada - need a reservation (recommended)
Bodegas Castanedas - There are two next to each other (confusing) go to the one with all the meat hanging and is very crowded… not the empty one… </p>
<p>Restaurants didn’t go to but recs from tour guide
Casa de Vinos
Leon
Chanterella
Oleum
Saffron
Viva Maria </p>
<p>The alhambra gets booked up quick. If you want to go you should book tickets as quickly as possible to the palaces. The Muslim palace is amazing. We booked a private tour. It was well worth it because we were able to cut the line.</p>
I am going to pardon this because I know xiggi is from Texas. The last time I was in Madrid and Granada, it was June, and the temperature was in the mid-30s C every day. “Chilly” was not a term that applied to anything that was happening in Granada at any time of day.</p>
<p>Just to check my own memory, I looked at some climate charts. The average daily high in Granada is over 32 C (90 F) June-August, and over 32 C in Madrid July-August. And that’s the average; current projections for Madrid have the daily high up to 40 C in the coming weeks. </p>
<p>Granada gets really really hot. We were there in August. It was well over 100 degrees in the afternoon. You get the meaning of siesta. We stayed indoors between 1-4.</p>
<p>My husband’s flight for Madrid leaves out of Boston at 6:50 pm today! That is about an hour and a half later than originally scheduled, so he won’t make it down to Cadiz to pick up my daughter on time - her host parents are expecting him for lunch tomorrow at three, and that’s not going to happen. I spent about an hour on the phone, trying to see what I could do, but I didn’t have any luck. DD took the news better than I expected.</p>
<p>They will ride horses in Tarifa on Thursday, then take a ferry over to Morocco and stay for a few hours. After that, they will travel up the coast. I found them a cute hotel in Granada, where they will see a flamenco show that everyone seems to like. I really had fun planning their 10-day itinerary. I printed out reservations and Google Map directions for each day. They are renting a little car for only $200 for the entire time! Of course, gas is much more expensive. For fun, I compared prices in the US, and found that the total cost of rental and gas would be about the same both places.</p>
<p>I got them reservations at Hotel Curious in Barcelona, right in the middle of everything. They’re going to a classical guitar concert and hear Cuban jazz at a club.</p>