Barcelona Local Gems: Fiesta de Gracia Fiesta de Gracia, one of Barcelona’s iconic neighborhood events, is one of the city’s best-known Summer Fiestas: a Definite Don’t Miss. The summer fiesta has been around for 200 years and celebrated its bicentennial in 2017. Starting mid-August and lasting for a full week, the fiesta transforms some twenty … More How to Barcelona in Summer: Fiesta de Gracia in Images
Barcelona celebrates the shortest night of the year in big style! The night of June 23 to 24, San Juan is celebrated across Spain in a most festive way: there is music in the streets, firecrackers and fireworks everywhere, and lots of people in the mood to party. Since the entire city will be full … More Spain Midsummer Fiestas: How to San Juan in Barcelona
On foot Through Barcelona: El Born Quarter I’m wearing glasses and a green jacket. OK! I’ll be waiting next to the Carmela. Interested in testing out CityUnscripted and find out if they’re true to their promise to turn travelers into discoverers, and after several failed attempts (blame the rain, the allergies, and office work in … More Exploring Barcelona’s El Born Quarter with City Unscripted
Remember Fifty Weeks of Spain? Remember how you found out all about sleeping in a 9 Century Castle where to see Europe’s Best Million Cherry Tree Hanami Spanish Fiestas you didn’t know existed and more? As I delve deeper and deeper into Secret Spain, summer comes with an even more promising collection of hidden gems you should … More My Fifty Weeks of Spain & What to Expect This Summer
Best Barcelona Bar Crawl Discover Barcelona’s Best Gin Tonic Bar Crawl as vetted by Damia Mula, professor of cocteleria at CETT. While my list is much longer, the selection below will make sure you get your gin fix (or otherwise finely crafted cocktails) and make the most out of your trip to Barcelona, and still get home in one … More Guide for the Ultimate Barcelona Gin Tonic Bar Crawl
Madrid in one day and it rains? So it happens. Rain happens to all of us, when we travel, whether we like it or not. It doesn’t have to botch your trip though, especially if you’re in the indoor gem rich Madrid. We recently had a 12-hour layover when coming back from a weekend in … More Madrid in One Day: Seven Things To Do When It Rains
Spring in Extremadura: Planning Your Next Best Trip This is Secret Spain. With only 1.5 million tourists in 2015, of which less than 250 000 are foreign visitors, Extremadura is virtually unknown to the outside world. And even though Game of Thrones has contributed to making this Spanish province a little better known, Extremadura still remains … More Chasing Spring in Extremadura : Spain’s Best Kept Secret
We added Montfrague birdwatching to our trip just one day before we got to Plasencia, not knowing exactly what we’ll be getting: it was, mostly, just a better way to kill time before heading to Valle del Jerte’s million cherry tree hanami. To be fair, I did have a vague idea about the abundance of birds … More Extremadura’s Paradise for Birdwatchers: Monfragüe National Park
Parador Spain: The Experience Having had a great time at another 9 Century Castle turned Parador recently, we decided to repeat the experience and enjoy our rather rainy weekend in Extremadura with a stay at a XV century Gothic style monastery-turned hotel. Paradores was the initiative of Spain’s King Alfonso XIII. Created as a means … More Secret Spain: Time-Travel Sleepover in a 15 Century Monastery
Imagine two millions of cherry trees, all budding in snow white unison every year, late March.
Covering over 50 square miles, Valle del Jerte, sitting in Spain’s Extremadura region, is the largest area in Europe covered with cherries. Extremadura is bigger than Belgium, or Switzerland – and yet it remains Spain’s least known region.
This is raw Spain, unspoiled by tourism. … More Spain’s Hidden Cherry Valley: How to Visit The Million Tree Hanami