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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 0:32:46 GMT
1 ~ Spanish Wonders 19 April - 27 April 2008 ~ Matha531
Just returned from my Spanish Wonders tour and will give my report. Tour was okay...have become very interested in the history of Spain and its constant changes from Moslem to Christian and felt this quick one week tour would help me understand this history better. Well here goes the report.
GROUP: Unfortunately, the group was a complete 49 which meant the rotation became difficult to do and somebody was stuck on the uncomfortable middle seat in the rear of the coach for some very long trips...of course 49 are too many but business is business I suppose. Unlike most of the other Trafalgar Tours I have been on, the tour was almost completely American, one single Canadian lady a couple of Irish people, one Australian couple but the rest were red blooded Americans.
TD: Tanya Csmos (watch the spelling of the last name or you can get into trouble with the censors here)...she was good...seemed a bit disorganized at times but really knew her history of Spain.
COACH DRIVER: Sebastian Pires...as Tanya said when we first met him, it seems like all Spanish tours get a Portuguese driver as they are much calmer than Spainiards...he was fine and handled the bus real well. No complaints from me. |
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Post by Owen on Sept 10, 2014 9:43:41 GMT
2 ~ Spanish Wonders ~ April 2008 ~ Matha531
HOTELS: Were very good with the possible exception of th eone in Madrid....I know one thing the miserable porters there broke the handle on my case on the first day...I put it in the coach myself and the handle was fine...when it reached my room, this jerk had broken part of the handle and when we left Madrid, they deliberately broke off the other half...it was a real pain for me to drag it from the coach to the airport termknal upon departure...of course they denied responsibility...it was obvious they just dropped it and didn't give a damn but what can you do..sue those idiots.
Also the hotel in Madrid was located in the middle of nowhere and since there was one non included dinner nor optional on day 2, it was a pain to find a place to eat lunch when they brought us back to the hotel after the included excursion to Toledo for a 90 minute "lunch" break (I ran off to the nearby train station as nothing else was open) and then after the included site seeing they left us downtown. More later...rest of hotels were very very good and the one in Barcelona on the last 2 days of the tour was great...an insight tour was styaing there at the same time.
FOOD: Well, here was the weakest part of the tour...not a big fan of Spanish food and it lived down to its reputation for the most part. One of the included dinners, the one in Vallencia was simply inedible...paiella with a couple of pieces of boney chicken...ugh..also the optional tapas dinner much of the food was awful IMHO. About the best meal I had, I treated myself to on day 2 in Madrid when I ran off to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up the mandatory T-shirt I buy in every town that has a HRC...had a great American dinner of a rack of barbecued ribs, fries, beans, cole slaw...best meal of the whole trip! Breakfasts were fine although bacon was raw, the European way of course...with the breakfast at the last hotel in Barcelona particularly good with omlettes made to order, some sushi, spring rolls, whatever. No complaints there.
Tour included a farewell dinner which turned out to be a buffet and while there was plenty of food, a small complaint is that there were no placards usually found at buffets telling you just what you were eating (I mean I recognize shrimp when I see it but some of the meats...was it beef? or pork? or whatever...just should be a part of every buffet.
Most lunches were at cafeterias on the motorway and for the most part there wasn't much of a variety...almost always chicken...very scrawny salads..well I'll tell you, it will help me appreciate the autogrills on my upcoming tour of Italy in June.
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Post by Owen on Sept 10, 2014 9:44:03 GMT
3 ~ Spanish Wonders ~ April 2008 ~ Matha531
OPTIONALS:]
Day 1 - Madrid - Welcome Dinner and illuminations...food okay at best...certainly not worth €51.
Day 3 - Seville - Flamenco Show...we had it before included dinner in hotel and was fine..included one free drink.
Day 4 - Seville - Harbor cruise followed by tapas dinner...Seville harbor is no big deal and food at Tapas dinner was mediocre at best...€46
Day 5 - Early Morning trip to Carmona to visit Roman necropolis and a stop at a hotel with a great view and one included drink ...€35
Day 6 - Grenada - Gypsy Night Out...after a terrible highlight dinner at a restaurant which contained the same piece of chicken served at all of the cafeterias we stopped for lunc, we were taken to a gypsy cave, seated with a teeny bopper high school group from NY and saw some gypsy dancers...very touristy but not bad followed by quick ride through Grenada to see illuminated Alhambra Palace...was good and included one drink for €28.
Day 7 Valencia - Nothing
Day 8 - Barcelona...no included dinner so dinner optional which included stop at Magic Fountains...food was pretty good and fountains were nice...€47
Day 9 - Barcelona - Two optionals both very very good...trip to Monserrat Great Great scenery and saw the Basilica Real...very much worthwhile...€35
After a quick stop back at the hotel to let off those not going to the Picasso Museum (no time for lunc) tour of the Picasso Museum..most enjoyable with a knowledgeable guide...don't remember the price as Tanya never returned a duplicate copy of the list of optionals most other TD's do but it wasn't expensive.
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Post by Owen on Sept 10, 2014 9:46:09 GMT
4 ~ Spanish Wonders ~ April 2008 ~ Matha531
GOOD:
1. Itinerary was awesome. Included excursion to Toledo on day 2....visit to Cathedral in Cordoba that was once a mosque...the large (third largest in the world) Cathedral in Seville...they also included a visit in Seville to the Alcazar (not on itinerary but see below)..of course the Alhambra Palace in Grenada
2. Monserrat optional.
3. On the last day of the tour, Tanya mentioned to us on the way back from the farewell dinner that this was the first group she had where there wasn't a single robbery among the clients.
4. The absence of any of the dreaded dragon ladies so popular in Central Europe...and for the most part the facilities were clean all throughout.
BAD:
1. as noted the food...sorry guys Spanish food is not among the world's greatest cusines and I'm afraid on this tour, the opinion of most in the group was the food had lived down to the reputation of Spanish food...too much chicken (including the highlight dinner where the itinerary says you get a chance to sample local specialty...chicken...come on)
2. Hotel in Madrid in the middle of nowhere (although walkable to the Prado Museum) and the unhelpfulness of the staff after they ruined the handle on my bag.
UGLY
1. Nothing in particular but 49 on a bus built for 49 is too many especially with that unbearable middle seat in the back and the inability because of it to set up a rotation..at least the TD didn't decide that only the singles should have the misery of that seat.
2. I'll put this in here...as noted they included a visit to the Alcazar in Seville because Tanya told us there was a good chance they could not get tickets for a group this size to see the Alhambra in Grenada...but suddenly they came up with the 49 tickets...some cynics (not me) felt that maybe this was a strategy to make us appreciate the TD more that she had come through in the pinch...but well it does get you thinking.On the whole, leaving aside the size of the group, the breakage of the handle on my bag, and the horrible food throughout, the tour was very good in terms of what it covered and the itinerary. As long as you know what to expect in regard to the food, you will enjoy this tour.(BTW the opinion of the food is not just mine, it was shared by many on the tour!)
Matha531
This travel tale was written by Matha531 and relates to a Trafalgar Tour. It was originally posted on the Trafalgar forum. |
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