After last year’s trip to Italy, we decided to go to Spain for winter vacation. We planned to fly to Barcelona and spend 5 days based there, then take the train to Madrid and spend 4 days based from there. We arranged a few day trips, where we rented a car from an app called Virtuo to explore the areas around the city.
Day 1-2 – Barcelona (Friday/Shabbat)
After flying out on the redeye Thursday night, we checked into our hotel on the Ramblas and spent the day exploring Barcelona. The weather was beautiful (60’s and clear) and it was a great day to explore.
First, we spent the morning exploring the Gothic Quarter and Ramblas area with Rick Steve’s walking tour. We stopped in the Jewish Museum in a small Jewish Synagogue along the way, and the Boqueria outdoor market where we were able to get a falafel for lunch at Falafel du Shani.
After that, because the weather for the next week was iffy, we decided to go to Parc Guell in the afternoon. The park was filled with cool buildings and architecture designed by Anthony Gaudi. Rita prepped the kids with some info on Gaudi before the trip, so they loved seeing the fantastical buildings there.
For Shabbat, we walked to Parc de la Cituadella, which had a nice sculpture and lake, ate lunch, and walked around the city a bit.
Day 3 – Girona / Figueres / Besalu (Sunday)
We planned to take a roadtrip around Catalonia. First stop was Girona, where we explored the old town. We visited the Jewish Museum (Ramban lived here), walked by some of the Game of Thrones filming locations, and the Arab Baths (we picked up a map of some of the sites at the tourist visitor’s center)
Next, we drove to Figueres to see the Salvador Dali Theatre-Museum. The boys got to see some of the paintings Rita prepped them for, and we got to see into the crazy mind of Dali.
After that, we drove to Besalu, which was a medieval city with a picturesque city wall and bridge over a moat. We then drove back to Barcelona for dinner at Restaurant Maccabi.
Day 4-5 – Barcelona (Monday/Tuesday)
We spent Monday exploring the newer Eixample neighborhood in Barcelona. We visited the Sagrada Familia church, which after 200+ years of construction is still not finished. As Churches go, it was really different, as you could see the classical Gothic aspects, as well as Gaudi’s Modernist flair. After the church, we went to Casa Mila, another Gaudi creation, this time an apartment building. The highlights were the roof and courtyard.
After all that culture, we took the kids to the Marina area and the Barcelona Aquarium to see penguins, sharks and play around.
On Tuesday there was a huge storm, so we stuck to some indoor activities. First we visited the Picasso Museum, which had ridiculously long lines to get in. After that we visited the Museum of Xocolata which had crazy sculptures out of pure chocolate. That night, we took the train to Madrid.
Day 6 – Madrid (Wednesday)
Exploring Madrid by foot, we followed Rick Steve’s walking tour through the center of town. We made sure to stop at Casa del Raton Perez, a place dedicated to the Spanish equivalent of the Tooth Fairy. We also got some churros from the famous Chocolateria San Gines. In the afternoon we visited two of Madrid’s famous museums, the Prado and the Reina Sofia museum.
Day 7 – Segovia (Thursday)
We took the next drive to a town called Segovia. There, we visited the still intact 1st century Roman aqueduct, one of the most impressive monuments in Spain. We also visited some Jewish sites like the Sinagoga Major, House of Abraham Senior, Jewish Gate, and Plaza Mayor. We also visited the Alcazar de Segovia, a reconstructed castle.
Day 8 – Toledo (Friday)
For our last trip, we went to Toledo, this time with a guide. We walked through the old Jewish quarter, visiting old shuls (some converted to churches), the El Greco painting, and some other sites along the way.
Day 9 – Madrid (Shabbat)
On Shabbat, we took the kids to play in El Retiro Park, and saw the glass house. After lunch we went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (free with our tickets to the other museums – of the three, skip this one). After Shabbat, we went out for one last round of churros and hot chocolate to cap off the trip.
Our flight home Sunday was uneventful, until we landed home and started hearing about this strange disease in China called the Wuhan Flu…
