This is the trip that literally saved my mental wellbeing. When the pandemic began in America in March of 2020, all travel was halted. Our trip to Paris in the summer was cancelled, and there was no hope of rebooking it any time soon. For someone who needs travel to keep their head space in check while living a mostly ordinary life with a stressful day job, the toll of not being able to plan a trip for so long…
After visiting La Sagrada Familia and having lunch, we took a taxi up to Parc Guell. The park is a relatively compact 12 hectares, as it is not super wide, but instead just goes higher and higher up the hill. It is a beautiful area, and was actually not mega crowded when we went around 3pm. I also booked tickets in advance for this experience to avoid waiting in lines. You can do so on their website, and you can…
We were originally planning to have a free day to simply walk around and get lost in Barcelona on our most recent trip, however instead I decided to book a tour up to Montserrat to see the Basilica, the cool views, the weird mountain, and check out a winery. I booked through Castle Experience Tours. There are about a billion tour companies offering different tours from Barcelona to Montserrat, however I chose this one due to the winery stop for…
One of the highlights of sightseeing in Madrid is its excellent art museums. We purchased the “art walk” ticket (in advance, of course), which would allow you to gain access to the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofia museums in one day for a pretty decent discount. Purchasing regular priced tickets for all three museums would cost a total of 40 Euros. The Art Walk ticket costs 32 Euros, and you can purchase it off of any of the…
Anyone who does even the most remote amount of research before visiting Barcelona, Spain, knows that the city swims in Gaudi architecture. The crown jewel is La Sagrada Familia Basilica (The Sacred Family). Like any other massive tourist attraction, I highly recommend booking tickets in advance, and you can do so without worry of scams or upcharges through the Sagrada Familia website. There, you can choose whether you just want base level tickets, a tour, tickets to go up into…
Everywhere you go in Europe, there’s a central plaza that is super jam packed full of tourists and surrounded by rip off cafes and restaurants. You’ve got Piazza Navona in Rome, Piazza de San Marco in Venice, Praca do Comercio in Lisbon, and the Grand-Place in Brussels to name just a few. In Madrid, you’ve got Plaza Mayor. This massive plaza is actually in its fourth iteration as it had previously burned down three times. It used to host executions…
Prior to our trip to Spain, I booked a tour through Gourmet Madrid to sample some tapas around the city. I picked the “Madrid Wine and Tapas” tour because it took place in the neighborhood where we were staying, and there was a lower price for the kids who would not be drinking wine. For Adults (age 13+) the price was 80 euros and for 12 and under, the price was 55 euros. I kind of find the price difference…
Boy, did I get a lot of raised eyebrows when I told people we were taking our two littlest kids, then ages 8 and 9 to Las Vegas, Nevada, but Las Vegas has a lot to do for people of all ages, and I’m here to dispel the myth that Vegas is only for adults. The first time I was there was when I was 16, back in the mid-90s, when Vegas was going through a whole, “this is a…
The Palacio Real in Madrid is literally the largest palace in Western Europe with 3,418 rooms. The number of rooms that are open to the public are …. 29! But, while you are seeing barely fraction of the place, you can really get a good idea of how ornate and beautiful the rooms were and continue to be. We purchased the audioguide, which was very well put together with about 1.5 minutes of explanation in each room, which was…