Olive you, and I love Spain too

“Your Spanish is getting moldy,” my Duolingo reads. My favorite green owl patronizes me with “WHO” as in “who’s going to get your ass around this foreign country?” Thankfully, Brennan is graciously taking the position as translator for our first international trip.

As fans of Money Heist (no dub-overs please), we were incredibly excited to visit Spain. Although I won’t be revealing our plans to rob the Royal Mint, I’ve noted our top highlights during our visits to Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.

*"There Are No Right Sides In Hell, Major" - Palermo, S5 E6*

If you’ve done your research, you’ve likely found Madrid and Barcelona are top cities to visit in Spain. Meanwhile, Valencia and Seville are tied for third. You couldn’t really go wrong with either though. We chose Valencia because it’s a closer to Barcelona and Madrid, but both are coastal cities with great food and year-round sunshine.

Madrid

Our travels began in Madrid, the capital of Spain and the city with the highest population. You’ll want to spend at least 2-3 days in Madrid to get a true feel for this place. It’s considered a World Heritage Site and has beautiful boulevards and colorful buildings. The Royal Palace, Prado Museum, El Retiro Park, and Plaza Mayor are just a few of the many attractions.

Similar to San Francisco, Madrid has different pockets of neighborhoods, each with a unique and charming vibe. We stayed in the melting pot of Madrid called “Lavapies,” just south of Centro. Sol and Centro are considered two great central and romantic neighborhood to reside in, while Malsaña is the best place to stay for nightlife.

Madrid is not only the capital of Spain, but the capital of Flamenco. For our first night in town, we booked a flamenco show at Flamenco de Leones. It would have been a very good first night activity, but we napped and missed it... Pro-tip: don’t trust your ability to wake up from a nap while jet lagged.

Thankfully, we rebooked for another night and were able to enjoy the beloved art form that combines dance, music, and storytelling influenced by Gypsy, Jewish, and Moorish traditions. The passion exuding from any flamenco show will surely be a hit you won’t want to miss.

The next day, we did a walking tour of the Royal Palace, one of the largest palaces in Europe with 3000 rooms. Although the royal family does not live there anymore, it’s visited by tourists every day. The tour began at the Plaza Mayor, and we strolled by notable sites such as the La Almudena Cathedral, Casa Botín (oldest gastronomy in the world), and Plaza de la Villa.

We also saw the art exhibits in the Prado Museum, which is a phenomenal art museum holding 8,600 paintings and 700 sculptures. You’ll need about 3-4 hours to cover solid ground.

Brennan’s take on Prado Museum: “There’s a lot of Jesus here.”

If you’re looking to try a variety of foods, visit the Market of San Miguel which is open until 12 am Sun-Thurs and 1 am Fri-Sat. It has a variety of stands selling seafood, tacos, churros, and olives, and they will absolutely have you coming back for more. If you want a less crowded atmosphere than the markets, there are also diverse cuisines lining the streets of Madrid (Lavapies isn’t the melting pot for nothing).

Looking for a solid brunch spot? Check out Adorado Bar, a trendy breakfast restaurant with classics like Huevos Benedictinos, Tostadas Jamón y Queso, and Avocado Toast. I’m not proud to say I’ve had an avocado toast in every country I’ve been to - seriously. Paris, Spain, Amsterdam, and Mexico City. You could say it’s a comfort food. We also enjoyed an elevated dinner with an African twist at Aarde, conveniently located by Flamenco de Leones.

If you’re looking for ways to walk off those tapas, spend some time roaming around the shopping district of Sol. Sol is famous for having a clock that’s at the radial center of its city’s roads. Also in the city’s center is the busy and popular street “Gran Via.” This street is known as the “Spanish Broadway” and is a commercial district with high end shopping. You might want to take advantage of Zara’s low prices here (last I checked prices are 36% lower than in the United States). If you ever wondered why every tourist goes to Zara when in Spain, now you know.

Our final memory of Madrid was spent at the famous Retiro Park, or El Retiro, one of the largest city parks in Spain. You’ll admire gorgeous winding paths with surprise statues tucked in hidden nooks, benches to people-watch from, bridges arching over streams, and the beautiful Glass Palace standing tall by a shimmery pond.

El Retiro covers more than 125 hectares and was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There’s free entry to the park, and it’s a great spot to picnic or take a stroll. We even got tickets to Real Jardín Botánico, the botanical garden located inside the park - perfect for simple plant lovers (and killers like me).

Barcelona

During our 3 day visit to Barcelona, we stayed in Ciutat Vella, which means “old town.” It’s located between the Gothic Quarters, which is closest to Barcelona’s most popular attractions and ranked highly for stays, and La Barceloneta, which borders the Mediterranean Coast and is favorable for beach lovers.

We took the Eurail from Madrid to Barcelona-Sants station, arriving on Monday night, and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Perikete. Perikete is a tapas bar in Barceloneta that had jamóns upon jamóns stylishly hanging from the ceiling. If you’re in Barcelona, I’d recommend trying their tomato toast, croquettes, prawns, and “jamón.”

Oh, and the olives? Out of this world.

The next morning, we visited the Mercado la Boqueria for breakfast. Mercado la Boqueria is a famous public market in Barcelona located on the equally famous street “La Ramblas.” You could come to this market 20 times and still not try everything. Vendors selling anything from cups of jamón to steak skewers will tempt you to try everything (which you should).

As you walk through Barcelona, don’t forget to look up. You will start to notice some jaw-dropping architecture that makes you feel like you’re either on a Disneyland theme ride or tripping on mushrooms. That would be attributed to the beautiful work of Antoni Gaudí. Our first day in Barcelona was truly dedicated to this phenomenal Catalan architect and designer. We did a walking tour inside the Casa Batlló, Basílica de la Sagrada Família, and Park Güell.

The Basílica de la Sagrada Família, or Sagrada Familia, is the peak of architectural sites in Spain and is still being worked on today. It began construction in 1882 and is expected to be completed in 2026. This Catholic Church is located in the Eixample district. Step inside to see vast ceilings, forest-inspired columns, stain glass windows, and the burial site of Antoni Gaudi, who would not live to see his work finished.

All of Gaudi’s work is astonishing, but if you miss the Sagrada Familia? Unforgivable.

*A photo can’t even capture the beauty of Sagrada Familia*

“GOAAAAAL.” If you’re thinking fútbol, you’re correct.

If you ask Brennan, watching the soccer game Barcelona v. Napoli (Italy) at the Lluis Company’s Olympic Stadium was the highlight of our time in Barcelona. Indeed it’s a rowdy environment where you’ll truly feel the love and passion for fútbol in ways you may not in America. Brace yourselves if you’re in nosebleed sections; the stadium will shake.

Calling all wine lovers. Now for my highlight of Barcelona. Picture a day trip to Montserrat, a magical and iconic mountain known for its religious significance, where you see the countryside from the 2,400 feet above sea level. On our Monterrat and tapas tour, we visited the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, ate bread baked by the Montserrat nuns, learned about the revered Black Madonna, and ended with a lovely wine tasting at one of the oldest wineries in Barcelona, Oller del Mas Vineyward. This tour offered a break from the city to a gorgeous countryside, unseen from the city streets of Barcelona.

After our tastings and tapas at Oller del Mas, we returned slightly wine drunk and took our siesta early.

Well rested and ready to finish strong, we headed to our last stop: Valencia.

Valencia

Valencia holds a special place in my memory, as it stood out to us as incredibly unique compared to it’s sister-cities. We also happened to arrive during the biggest festival in Valencia, Las Fallas. “It’s basically like unexpectedly arriving in New Orleans on Mardi Gras,” Brennan said. During this festival, which occurs from March 1st through 19th, there are spectacular sculptural monuments made of wood and paper mache placed in the city's streets and squares to be admired before they’re burned to the ground in flames - all for our boy, Saint Joseph. It was quite an eventful few days.

Our admiration of Valencia didn’t stop there. Since Moors had arrive in Valencia long ago, the city had a unique Islamic influence that we didn’t expect. The city had beautiful architecture holding traces of Roman, Gothic, and Arabic culture from years of layered history.

Because of Valencia’s old roots, it also holds many old time traditions like bull fighting. Despite initially being excited for this once in a lifetime show, I was shocked to find the tradition still included the actual stabbing of the animals. I thought we came to Plaza de Toros to see some red flags waved around, but the old ways of bull fighting (ie. kill-ing) still exist in Valencia. I’ll leave it to you to decided what you can stomach.

*Bullfight at Plaza de Toros de Valencia*

Despite being smaller than some of its neighboring cities, there is so much to do in Valencia. We only had a 1.5 days here, but we toured the Silk Exchange, ate at the Central Market, strolled through Plaza de la Virgen, and indulged in the art exhibits at Museum Belles Arts Valencia.

Next door to the Plaza de la Virgen is another beautiful sight is the Valencia Cathedral. This Gothic Cathedral was built over a mosque after the 1238 reconquest and sits at the heart of the city. It features a tower called “El Micalet”, which is one of the symbols of Valencia. Inside the Cathedral you can get tickets to a museum that is home to several relics like the Holy Chalice.

I’ll also mention, Valencia is the home to Paella, so a paella cooking class might be a fun hands-on activity for you. And if you don’t feel like making paella, be sure to enjoy it at one of the many restaurants around town. We had olives and seafood paella at a restaurant called “Tapeando.” Muy bien.

*Museu Belles Arts Valencia, courtesy of Brennan*

We concluded our vacation overlooking the Font de la Plaça de l'Ajuntament from a cozy and nostalgic spot: Taco Bell.

On the second floor of Taco Bell, we watched fireworks for the La Falles festival go off and indulged in tortilla chips (my favorite) and beer (Brennan’s favorite). Like us, you might just get tired of tapas and ham sandwiches during your time in Spain. Only a savory Chicken Burrito will hit the spot on a night like this.

Live más.

Travel Tips

Fly in and out of Madrid - it’s cheaper!
Book Eurail tickets to easily travel between cities.
Uber is available in Madrid, but as there are relatively few drivers, it’s usually easier and cheaper to hail/order a local taxi.
Book Skip the Line tickets ahead of time!
“Going out” starts later in Spain. The night starts at 11 pm or midnight.

Other recommendations

Madrid:

To Do:

Foods

Casa Botín, founded in 1725, is the oldest restaurant in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records and a benchmark of Madrid's best traditional cuisine.
Levaduramadre Bakery is a delicious bakery with desserts, pastries and fresh bread.
Chocolatería San Ginés Café is perfect for chocolate enthusiasts and for a midday churro with hot chocolate.
Aarde is an upscale eatery with African twist, located by Puerta de Alcalá.
Adorado is a breakfast spot with American classics, perfect for when you’re craving brunch favorites.

Barcelona

To Do:

Soccer Game at Lluis Olympics Stadium
Barceloneta Beach
La Rambla Street

Food

Perikete tapas bar is located in Barceloneta and has excellent shishito peppers, tomato toast, croquettes, olives and basically every tapas dish you need to try in Spain.
Mercado la Boqueria is a public food market with vendors selling both produce and meals. Pick up meat skewers, ham sandwiches, oysters or a little bit of everything for lunch!

Valencia

To Do:

Valencia Cathedral
Silk Exchange
Museum Belles Arts Valencia
Central Market (closed Sundays)

Cataran Sailing Cruise
Paella Workshop
Bull Fighting at Plaza de Toros

Food

Salt in Cake Bakery and Desserts has the most drool-worthy cinnamon rolls, cakes, and cookies. Would recommend stopping here for dessert or coffee after a meal.
Tapeando is a reliably good tapas bar where you can enjoy grilled artichokes, seafood paella, and olives. Their outdoor seating arrangement is perfect for enjoying meals while taking in the hustle and bustle of the city.
Ma Khin Café is located in the Mercat de Colón, and fuses a variety of decolonial Asian cuisines. Favorite dishes were the Pakora with courgette, pumpkin and watercress raita and duck vindaloo.

Olive you, and I love Spain too

My Big Fat Greek Girls Trip

Big Ben(der) innit?

Kaja Girl