TravelStream™ news feed for member shawnc on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/shawnc en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 16 Oct 2005 21:56:27 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shawnc/spain2005/1128447180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shawnc/spain2005/1128447180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shawnc/spain2005/1128447180/tpod.html Sun, 16 Oct 2005 21:56:27 -0400 Three cities in Spain: San Sebastian, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

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San Sebastian, Spain

San Sebastian is one of the most beautiful places I have visited. It is a lifestyle I could very easily adapt to. Here was a typical day for us: Wake up at 11am, out the door by noon. Beer and Pintxos for breakfast in the old town. Explore the city, public spaces, old churches, port, beach, whatever. Buy shoes. (People in Spain have great shoes for some reason.) Have a late afternoon snack: More Pintxos and Beer. Go to cafe, watch sunset. Get cleaned up for dinner. Have an evening walk along the river. Dinner at 10pm, some kind of fish a la vasca. Club til late or not. Then we'd just repeat it the next day. Plus, we went during the film festival, so a few misguided movie fans took pictures of us maybe thinking we must have been American actors or whatever as we entered our very nice hotel, the Santa Maria Cristina. (Which I highly recommend, btw.)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shawnc/spain2005/1127329080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shawnc/spain2005/1127329080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shawnc/spain2005/1127329080/tpod.html Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:09:20 -0400 Three cities in Spain: San Sebastian, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

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Palma de Mallorca, Spain

I will be moving to Mallorca eventually. It is an impossibly beautiful place.
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Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona? Not so much. Throughout history, Barcelona has been occupied by pretty much everyone. As a result, whatever beauty exists in the city is due to fairly recent private investment and not inherent public wealth. Because of this, the architecture is beautiful in an old-world sort of way, but it is not particularly notable. This explains why Barcelonans love Gaudi so much - his architecture is the only truly unique influence in the city. Barcelona largely feels like a city created for the Olympics.

Nonetheless, we had a great time. The people were very friendly. The old town is very cool, with its meandering narrow streets open only to foot traffic. You can feel the ghosts lingering.

Overall, it is worth going, particularly as part of a larger visit.

One thing to note: The Ritz hotel (now the Palace) is neither Ritzy nor Palatial. Despite its claim of being a 5-star Grande Luxe hotel, it is not. The service was bad and unfriendly, and the room was far below average. Also, they have no irons. Sounds like a small issue, but what hotel doesn't have irons? After traveling from anywhere, your clothes are wrinkled. You need to iron. We spend $100 on their (overpriced even for luxury hotel standards) pressing service. This hotel is bad. Avoid.
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