If you missed them, here are my previous posts discussing France, England, and Italy. I'll be continuing this series today with Spain (and Portugal). Fear not, I'm working on more practical tips on how to build a great trip.
I had some colleagues from Spain come to visit us the other
day, and over lunch I asked them about travel. I wondered aloud if
Madrid was as kid-friendly a destination as Barcelona was; their reply was that
they’d heard this same thought several times before. Their take was that
Barcelona must have better marketing in the US, because they thought Madrid was
an excellent choice for a family destination.
Perhaps. Marketing certainly comes into play. For those of
my generation, our first exposure to Barcelona probably came with the
1992 Olympics, far and away the best games ever held. Communism was defeated,
and we didn’t have to worry about nuclear war or boycotts. All teams were at full
strength, but everyone was friendly. Barcelona was colorful, sunny and warm, in
contrast to Seoul’s concrete and neon. And the young, fit, and trim athletes
basically spent two hedonistic weeks on the beach, occasionally pausing their
carnal activities to run a race or something. It was the Olympics that featured
The Dream Team and, specifically, Charles Barkley, quote machine,
absolutely owning Las Ramblas .
Barcelona still retains its title as the best destination
for college kids looking to spend an exotic yet familiar semester abroad, or a
boozy summer busking for Euros on the corner and partying well into the morning. But
I can say first-hand that Barcelona is also a terrific destination for a
family. As mentioned in my quick-hitter on cathedrals, Sagrada Familia is a
phenomenal sight, and who knows, it could even be finished sometime this
century. Park Gruell is a charming spot for kids to play. The Joan Miro museum,
overlooking the city, is bound to spark interest in any child, with its funky
and colorful images and sculptures. The Gothic Quarter is mysterious and medieval,
and don’t skip the Food Market (Mercado Central) on Las Ramblas, with all kinds
of unusual meats – organs, mostly -- and seafood.
The Barcelona food is fairly touristy (you can't avoid the "Barcelona Bomba"), but that can be fun
for kids. Meal timing represents a problem, assuming you don’t want to keep
your kids up past 9:00, but then again, you can make a virtue of it, especially
if you have jet-lag. Shift bed-time to 11:00pm, 4:00 CST, and you’ll have less
of an adjustment going to and coming back.
And, if all else fails, spend time on the beach. Seems like
a waste to me, frankly, I find US beaches to be as good as they come.
Barcelona generally has good connections to the US – there’s
a direct from ATL – and if you’re lucky, you may get a cheap fare. I call it an
easy A.
Where does that leave Madrid? For all of Barcelona’s
obvious charms, it has a tourist quality that it can’t easily shake. It’s also
more cosmopolitan, naturally, as a sea port. Madrid is more authentically
Spanish (whatever that may be: perhaps I should say “more authentically
Castillan,” which is what we associate with Spain). The Prado is one of the top
five museums in Europe, and Madrid has plenty of green space to play in.
It also strikes me as more mature. Barcelona is whimsical,
while Madrid is serious. Barcelona can be enjoyed in a weekend; Madrid takes a
month to unfold. If you’re going to Madrid, you’d best know someone there:
you’ll need a key to open this city up. Once done, I’d say it’s delightful, but
subtle. Save it for later. With kids, it’s: B.
Madrid’s kid v. adult issues extend to the rest of the
Iberian peninsula – I include Portugal in on this, which is highly unfair,
but what are they gonna do? They stopped being a naval power 400 year ago.
The major remaining Spanish sites lie in the South,
and consist of the remains of the Moorish rule – Al Hambra and Cordoba, in
particular, along with Seville. The architecture here is colorful and exotic,
and represents the high point of an advanced civilization. You’ll do well here
with your kids; they’ll appreciate just how different this is. I would not take them to a bullfight, but you could. A bit further
south and you reach Gibraltar. Read the tales of Ulysses, Scylla and Charybdis,
before getting there: each was supposed to be perils on either side of the rock. A-.
I shouldn’t skip Valencia, and you shouldn’t either:
in some ways I’d say it’s better than Barcelona, certainly less touristy. It
has beaches, gardens, medieval buildings and roman ruins and all that, and also
the way cool City of Arts and Sciences. As a jaded taxpayer, you may
view these buildings as government spending run amok, and the architecture will
probably look as dated in 15 years as Brasilia looks now, but your kids
will see it as Tomorrowland. A.
Go north to Bilbao if you want better food. It has
the landmark Guggenheim Museum – not quite my bag, architecturally, but a sight
to see none the less, and I certainly understand its importance. I rank this
with Madrid: grown-up pleasures. B.
Portugal. We tend to forget them, hanging out at the
boot end of Europe, but they lay claim to having shaped world history in a way
few others have. For better or for worse (I call in the “better” camp, but
that’s easy for me to say).
Like every “little brother”, Portugal has had to be tough
and scrappy to assert its independence. In this case, big brother is Spain –
Castillan, mostly – who managed to assert peninsular control over the Basques
and Catalans, but not the Portuguese. You’ll see that in the architecture –
plenty of castles like Pombal, Tomar, Belver and Almourol. Many of those are
inland, though, and you’ll really want to be by the sea. Portugal has stunning
scenery – steep cliffs falling to sandy beaches, colorful fishing towns,
luxurious manors. A week in Portugal will cover the main cities of Lisbon and
Porto, both worth seeing, along with side trips to places like Sintra and
Evora. You can drag your kids to a vineyard or two, if you’d like. And since
the water faces west, you’ll get spectacular sunsets just about anywhere. In
some ways, Portugal is too romantic to be wasted on a family trip; save it for
your 25 anniversary. But don’t let that stop you no, you can always go back. A-.
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