Spain #1: Barcelona & All Things Gaudi

Barcelona and Gaudi are almost like the same word. The Gaudi structures were the attractions I wanted to see most in Barcelona, and they’re the items Barcelona markets the most.

Antoni Gaudi was a Catalan architect in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a practitioner of Modernista architecture and heralded in his lifetime. Today, he is an artistic hero in Barcelona. Gaudi (and the modernista architecture movement that he is known for) is everywhere.

Of course, the Modernista movement was bigger than Gaudi. There are many beautiful homes and buildings built by Guadi’s contemporaries or students. As we walked throughout the city, there were constant traces of Modernista architecture: A lamppost, the distinctive curved doorway, the soft bowed windows, not to mention the merchandising in every single gift shop.

The Gaudi structures are also insanely expensive. Twenty euros for Guadi’s most famous houses. A whopping 29 euros for La Sagrada Familia. Even Park Guell charges seven euros now. Luckily, M was able to wrangle a press card that let us in for free in some of Barcelona’s biggest draws so we could experience Gaudi without selling one of our kidneys.

Our first stop was CasaBatlló, a Gaudi home built for Mr. Josep Batlló i Casanovas and his family on Passeig de Gràcia. The home was built between 1904 and 1906, and the family lived in it until the mid-1950s.

Walking down the street, it’s impossible not to notice the façade. It is, in a word, weird – in a whimsical and fantastical way. Walking into Gaudi’s homes feels is like into a fantasy world – the stuff of movies. But it is very much real.

As I first walked in and took stock of the curved walls and wavy staircase, I was struck by the notion that Gaudi sought to defy gravity. Where traditional walls are straight and box-like, he insisted on warping them. Everything is turned on its head.

The house is narrow and tall, climbing many floors. The curvy staircase lets out onto a rooftop with views of the city below and more of Guadi’s unique creations.

Only a few blocks away you can find another one of Guadi’s famous houses – Casa Mila. We didn’t go inside, but the exterior is a site to behold.

Gaudi is probably most famous for Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia – the famous sprawling church that has been under construction for nearly a century. More on those to come and the rest of Barcelona’s Modernista sites.

Spain, Here We Come!

In less than a month, M and I embark for Spain. This is our first international trip together and M’s first business class experience. We’re both very excited to see all the traditional sights, but I’m also over-the-top excited about the hotels I booked.

Madrid

I booked our Madrid hotel first. I knew I wanted lodging close to the Prado art museum in the center of the city. With its five nights for the price of four policy and central location, SPG was an obvious choice. It came down to choosing between the Westin Palace (category 5) and the The Principle Madrid (category 5). The Westin was 12,000 points a night while the The Principle was 16,000 (despite both being category 5 hotels) and M preferred the Westin’s traditional decor. I booked six nights at the Westin for 60,000 SPG points.

Granada

Next, I booked our single night in Granada. There is a dearth of points hotels in Granada so it came down to a choice between the Marriott’s AC Palacio De Santa Paula, Autograph Collection and non-points options. For 35,000 points, I splurged on the AC Palacio even though it’s a bit removed from the center of town. I’m even more excited about this decision now that I’ve achieved gold status with Marriott after completing a status challenge this fall. Turns out, there are some benefits to living out of three star hotels in suburban Pennsylvania. With gold status, we’ll get free breakfast and hopefully, a sweet upgrade.

I’d love to get upgraded to this gorgeous suite.

Barcelona

Barcelona was my biggest dilemma. I was sitting on a nice pile of Hilton points, but the Hilton of my choice – the Alexandra Barcelona DoubleTree cost 50,000 points a night vs. 113 euros. That is not a great points per dollar value. In contrast, there are several good value Hiltons for 30,000 points a night, but they are farther from the center of town. Thus began the great debate of 2016:  Stay father away and save some of my points, fork over $600 for four nights at the DoubleTree, or bite the bullet and hand over 200,000 Hilton points. After much agonizing, I decided on the latter option. I love the idea of staying in the center of Barcelona and decided to save our money for other trip expenses. Plus, as a diamond Hilton member, hopefully we will score a nice upgrade. The DoubleTree boasts a couple of spacious suites that will make my day.

Seville

Seville has no points hotels in the old quarter where we want to stay. Since we’re not traveling in peak season, there are many afforadable options. My major priority after location was space. While we’re not planning to spend a lot of time in our hotel, I hate walking into European hotel rooms that are essentially a box. Is it too much to ask for some space on either side of my bed? In the end, I settled on an apartment-style lodging that is affiliated with a nearby hotel. Apartamentos Murillo gives us 300+ square feet for two nights, and it’s a short stroll to the Royal Alcazar.

Cordoba

Cordoba was the least stressful decision. We will only be there for one night, and there are only a handful of decent options in our price range within the city walls. For $70, I booked Eurostars Conquistador, a four star hotel next door to Mezquita.

Spain, Here We Come

Finally.

I finally have a big trip booked and placed on the calendar. With the crazy election cycle this year, I haven’t taken a big trip since Vietnam in November. There was a short jaunt to southern Utah over Memorial Day weekend, and a few weekend trips planned to various U.S. cities revolving around work. But you know that adrenalin pumping, saliva watering sensation when you book the flights for a big trip? I finally have that feeling.

I asked M where he’d like to go and he picked Spain. Being the art aficionado that he is, that makes perfect sense. He’s dying to spend hours (if not days) in the Prado in Madrid. We are both fascinated by religious history and can’t wait to hit up Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, and Granada. And I can’t wait to see the crazy modern Gaudi houses in Barcelona.

We will start in Barcelona, make an oddly shaped U down to Andalucia, and end in Madrid. The map below shows our basic itinerary with potential side trips included.

I booked an amazing business class flight from Washington, D.C. to Barcelona on American Airlines. It costs 115,000 miles (57,500 per person) and a mere 11 dollars. Even better, we fly out of DCA – only 10 minutes from my apartment. There are no direct flights to Spain from DC (who knew?), so we have a short stopover in JFK.

M has never flown in business class so I am over the moon about sharing this experience with him. That American has an amazing business class product will make this trip that much sweeter.

Our flight home is less than ideal, but we were dealing with mileage constraints and limited award inventory since it’s Christmas week. I booked two economy seats on Lufthansa for 60,000 United miles and $142 via Frankfurt. Not the best flight, but pennies compared to what a ticket would cost.

And now comes the fun part – the planning. The hotels, the trains, the sights, the little off-the-beaten track stores and markets – I love the process of putting a trip together.

There are so many things we want to see and so many parts of Spain we had to leave off the list. We are not so young that we can hop from city to city every day, and we both like to travel at a more leisurely pace – getting to know the nooks and crannies of cities apart from the major tourist attractions. And so I crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and a ferry to Morocco off of our list, and M begrudgingly acknowledged that we probably won’t make it to Aragon. We will just have to come back a second time!

Update on Trips

We still haven’t settled on our Thanksgiving trip yet, but I’m hoping we’ll make a decision this weekend and actually buy tickets. Right now, it’s down to Panama, Montreal and Chicago. I have valiantly attempted to send hypnotic signals to The Boyfriend in favor of Panama, but gosh darn it, this long-distance relationship really puts a damper on my hypnotism skills.

I’ve also been thinking about our Christmas/New Years plans. Since we’ll only have a week and it’ll be freezing cold in much of Europe, I’m leaning toward Spain. Barcelona is an obvious choice (because it looks freakishly awesome – duh), but given our mutual interest in European history, I’m partial towards a tour of the major medieval cities: Madrid – Seville – Cordoba – Grenada Granada. My obsession with maps resulted in this:

What do you think? Is it better to spend a relaxing week in Barcelona or an on-the-go week trekking through Andalucia?