Spain 2018 - Day 1 - Barcelona

[Cousin Orville]

France. Vietnam. China. Australia. Ireland. Germany. Switzerland. South Africa. China.... Spain.

I'm Kevin for those who don't know me. This is my 11th ABD and now 10th trip report. Every year I take my oldest son, Gavin, on an ABD. I have 2 younger children that are not quite ABD age, but we're all planning to do Japan next summer. We travel around as a family throughout the year (actually heading out on a family trip tomorrow), but this is just Gavin and Daddy time. I've been interested in doing Spain since it was announced a few years ago. We've been to Barcelona three times, but we had never seen any of the rest of Spain.

The ABD was wonderful. The weather was fabulous and unseasonably cool. There were a lot of hotels for an 8 night ABD, but I preferred it that way in order to see a lot of the country. We started in Barcelona, flew to Madrid and Segovia, and took the high speed train south to Cordoba. From there we bussed to Sevilla, Ronda and the southern coast. Since we have been to Barcelona before, we just stayed one pre-night, and we flew back immediately after the trip.

We arrived in Barcelona in the morning. Thankfully our room at the Hotel Casa Fuster was ready. The hotel was not designed by Gaudi, but has that same Catalan Art Nouveau architecture style. Very organic - the building looked alive. We went up to the rooftop bar for lunch. It was pricey as expected, but had a good view and good food. I had a tapas platter and Gavin got the pizza.







After lunch we had planned to simply roam around, although there's certainly a lot to do in Barcelona. We've done the popular activities and day trips that most people do. Then I saw on Instagram a photo taken of this Art Exhibit presented by the Disney Animation Research Library. I'm into that sort of thing, and have had a chance to tour the library a couple times, but it's always a treat to see these works of art presented.











The museum was about a 10 min taxi ride from the center of town. So afterwards, we took a taxi to the Gothic Quarter and strolled around mid afternoon.

Next up - the Gothic Quarter and dinner

If anyone has any questions about Barcelona or the rest of the Spain ABD let me know.

 

[Grifdog22]

Thanks Kevin for another report - you always do such a great job of bringing these trips to life. Looking forward to living vicariously through you again on this one!

 

[Chirple]

Looking forward to reading your report, Kevin. Gavin looks so grown up!

 

[acndis]

Gavin looks so grown up! Always love your reports...

 

[tink1970]

Looking forward to another Cousin Orville (and Gavin) trip report

 

[Jess_S]

I don't know when I'll make it to Spain, so I am looking forward to travelling vicariously with you again.

 

[sayhello]

I, too, have only been to Barcelona in Spain. I'll do this ABD someday! Meanwhile, I'll be looking forward to your report with your decidedly teen-aged Gavin!

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

I, too, have only been to Barcelona in Spain. I'll do this ABD someday! Meanwhile, I'll be looking forward to your report with your decidedly teen-aged Gavin!

Sayhello

Barcelona is still my favorite part of Spain. We've done the Disney Cruises out of there and tend to arrive a couple of days early. It's just such a beautiful city. It's a little tough for families with young kids as dinner is so late. Otherwise, it's wonderful. Like London, Paris, Venice and Rome, it's a must visit city.

 

[CaliKris]

Really looking forward to another Cousin O trip report! We are trying to decide between Morocco and Spain for 2020. We wish ABD went to Morocco. I have a couple questions.

Would a couple pre-days in Barcelona be sufficient?

i am jumping to the end of the trip, but I can't help asking how you got the heck out of Malaga. Did you fly back to Barcelona? I have been checking flights (even though we won't be gong until 2020), since my daughter has very limited vacation time. I want to make sure we can get home as quickly as possible. Every flight I look at is a circuitous route.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I'm in (of course!). Love your trip reports and it's so fun watching Gavin grow through the years! He's such a cutie! I've been to Barcelona as well for the start of a DCL cruise, but that's it.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Really looking forward to another Cousin O trip report! We are trying to decide between Morocco and Spain for 2020. We wish ABD went to Morocco. I have a couple questions.

Would a couple pre-days in Barcelona be sufficient?

i am jumping to the end of the trip, but I can't help asking how you got the heck out of Malaga. Did you fly back to Barcelona? I have been checking flights (even though we won't be gong until 2020), since my daughter has very limited vacation time. I want to make sure we can get home as quickly as possible. Every flight I look at is a circuitous route.

A couple of pre-days is sufficient. ABD will take you to Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and the Picasso Museum. You'll want to visit Casa Batllo, the Gothic Quarter, and La Boqueria (the Market on Las Ramblas). On a 2nd trip I'd add Casa Mila. The Magic Fountains are impressive due to long they've been running (since the 20's) but they're not on the same level as World of Color or the Bellagio.

Malaga is not easy to get out of. One of the more challenging flights I've had to arrange with ABD. Plus there's restrictions on ABD's site on how early you can leave. I finally caved and asked my DU agent Kevin to work on it. Problem solved. They allowed me to depart first thing in the morning. We weren't the only guests leaving early either. We rode to the airport with another family and there was someone else that left about an hour earlier than we did. I can give you times later if curious. but it was before dawn. They drive you to Malaga and from there we flew to AGP->JFK -> ATL -> IAH> I arrived the evening of the same day. So, I didn't have to spend the night anywhere in Europe. The other option was to leave after ABD's recommended time and stay overnight in AMS. So, I had 3 flights. For Houston that's par for the course when departing from a smaller city in Europe. Same thing happened to us over Christmas leaving from Porto.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Have a great time on your pending adventure with your family!

 

[CaliKris]

A couple of pre-days is sufficient. ABD will take you to Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and the Picasso Museum. You'll want to visit Casa Batllo, the Gothic Quarter, and La Boqueria (the Market on Las Ramblas). On a 2nd trip I'd add Casa Mila. The Magic Fountains are impressive due to long they've been running (since the 20's) but they're not on the same level as World of Color or the Bellagio.

Malaga is not easy to get out of. One of the more challenging flights I've had to arrange with ABD. Plus there's restrictions on ABD's site on how early you can leave. I finally caved and asked my DU agent Kevin to work on it. Problem solved. They allowed me to depart first thing in the morning. We weren't the only guests leaving early either. We rode to the airport with another family and there was someone else that left about an hour earlier than we did. I can give you times later if curious. but it was before dawn. They drive you to Malaga and from there we flew to AGP->JFK -> ATL -> IAH> I arrived the evening of the same day. So, I didn't have to spend the night anywhere in Europe. The other option was to leave after ABD's recommended time and stay overnight in AMS. So, I had 3 flights. For Houston that's par for the course when departing from a smaller city in Europe. Same thing happened to us over Christmas leaving from Porto.

Thanks so much for the info! I will put these sites on my Barcelona list.

Good to know you can arrange to leave earlier. The restriction of having a flight after 12pm was really making it difficult to find a decent flight.

 

[BluesTraveler]

Always enjoy your trip reports!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Good to know you can arrange to leave earlier. The restriction of having a flight after 12pm was really making it difficult to find a decent flight.

Yeah, I'd check with ABD, but you're likely ok to ignore that time restriction.

 

[christannj]

Now we’re talkin’, another Cousin Orville report! Enjoy time with your family. We’ll be looking forward to the next installment.

Chris

 

[Cousin Orville]

We continued our 1 full pre-day taking a taxi to the Gothic Quarter. It was an area I've been before, but it's been several years. We wandered about in the Quarter stepping into candy stores and souvenir stores starting our hunt for gifts, but mostly we were killing time. We noticed someone carrying a Disney Store shopping bag. So, I Google mapped it, and it wasn't too far. Disney Stores are pretty much the same the world over. Barcelona's had a few unique touches including a painting of silhouetted Cinderella in front of Sagrada Familia. The Barcelona specific merch was pretty minimal. A mug. A water bottle.














We took a taxi back to the hotel. The Casa Fuster is in a nice location. It's not down by Las Ramblas where I'd prefer, but it is close to Casa Batllo and several tapas restaurants. I forget the name of the avenue, but it's beautiful. It's the high end shopping district of Barcelona.

We chilled a bit in the room, then changed for dinner and went down to the lounge for about 45 min. It's a beautiful lounge with that Gaudi-esque design. It was designed by one of Gauidi's contemporaries. Gavin got a soda. I got a specialty coffee. Gavin played his Nintendo Switch and I read my new book about Walt Disney's European travels.









Next up, fancy dinner....

 

[SingingMom]

A couple of pre-days is sufficient. ABD will take you to Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and the Picasso Museum. You'll want to visit Casa Batllo, the Gothic Quarter, and La Boqueria (the Market on Las Ramblas). On a 2nd trip I'd add Casa Mila. The Magic Fountains are impressive due to long they've been running (since the 20's) but they're not on the same level as World of Color or the Bellagio.

Malaga is not easy to get out of. One of the more challenging flights I've had to arrange with ABD. Plus there's restrictions on ABD's site on how early you can leave. I finally caved and asked my DU agent Kevin to work on it. Problem solved. They allowed me to depart first thing in the morning. We weren't the only guests leaving early either. We rode to the airport with another family and there was someone else that left about an hour earlier than we did. I can give you times later if curious. but it was before dawn. They drive you to Malaga and from there we flew to AGP->JFK -> ATL -> IAH> I arrived the evening of the same day. So, I didn't have to spend the night anywhere in Europe. The other option was to leave after ABD's recommended time and stay overnight in AMS. So, I had 3 flights. For Houston that's par for the course when departing from a smaller city in Europe. Same thing happened to us over Christmas leaving from Porto.

We took the high speed train back to Madrid, stayed two extra night at the Marriott Princesppsa touring the city as a local with DD's friend from her Disney internship, who took us to all his favorite spots, then flew back to NJ from Madrid. Only glitch was a taxi strike, so we had to take the metro with our luggage to get to the airport. Makes you appreciate Tinker Bell of ABD even more! lol

 

[sandhya]

We stayed at Westin Palace. I am surprised their Chinese restaurant
Asia Garden was very good, especially after a week of Spanish
food.

 

[Donalyn]

I love your trip reports!