Back to the Aquarium, it was an average city aquarium, not amongst the best we've seen, but not terrible either :)

shark eggs

Part of the collection:

a good sample of paintings from Salvador Dali

yeah, many religious paintings, felt like too many by the end of the trip

We didn't see all of Barcelona in 3.5 days, but we saw a fair amount:

Day #1

Day #2

Day #3

Day #4

Here are the pictures:

Day #0

weird pigeons

Day #1

la rambla is mostly a tourist trap now, but it had some fun stuff :)

funicular up to Montjuïc

Once we were up by Montjuïc, we went to check out Joan Miro Museum which was part of our BCN pass (sadly a waste of money as museums were free that day due to the holiday). I'll just say that we were not big fans of Joan Miro:

any artist who thinks they can get away with this, and call it 'valuable art' is not one I'll take seriously

don't love this, but at least there is a bit of work

great art indeed

I should also take balloons, fill them with paint, throw them on a canvas, and get rich and famous

this was ok-ish I guess

the mercury fountain was likely the only cool piece for me

On the way to the art museum, we walked by the former olympic stadium complex:

And we eventually got to the Art Museum:

awesome view from up there:

the bullring turned mall

Sagrada Familia, still being built

Pictures of the Cataluna Art Museum are on their own page.

Once done with the Art Museum, which took a while, it's not small, we walked back to the Montjuïc cable car and took it up there:

good views from up there too

After seeing the castle, we went back down to the fountains, but were not able to approach them since they were getting ready for the festivities and fireworks of that night, so we walked to the bullring museum which had good views too:

while the inside looks like a round-ish regular mall

We then took another cab to go to the Aquarium, have dinner next door and find a reasonable spot to view the fireworks.
You can see the Aquarium Pictures here

Day #2

We then went to Picasso Museum:

yeah, he did pottery too, oh boy...

We finished it quickly enough that we had time to stop by a market before catching a train to Figueres (on its own page, mostly to see the Dali Museum:

Day #3

Gaudi was a one of a kind architect, definitely check out the page I made for his buildings. Got a few nice pictures from the roof:

We then walked to the cathdral:

Nice views from the top of the cathedral too:

no one was able to tell me what this was

Next door was Barcelona History Museum, with a nice tour through the roman streets that were found below ground level in the old town:

I made the call to leave the museum a bit early (we finished it the next day) and grab a cab to Barceloneta to check out the beach, and barely, so barely get a ticket to the cable car that picked up from there back to Montjuic, as they closed the ticket sales 30mn before their published closing time:

people working out on the beach

the ride from the beach starts from a high tower

Day #4

We then went back to downtown to finish up the history museum, do the gaudi museum, and the quite interesting Museu Frederic Mares on its own page.

And we finished the (partial) day with the Gaudi Museum and Guel Palace. From there, we had to head out to the airport to fly out to Granada, our next destination.

Dali definitly was an interesting artist, who actually did all kinds of art all the way to jewelry. One thing he said though "I don't need to take drugs, I am drugs" :)

Next door to the museum, was an easy to miss separate entrance that showecased his jewelry, which was super nice:

The place was definitely interesting to visit with little rooms in all directions and easily worth 2-3h. Thankfully when we went, it was not too busy, but at times it can take an hour or more to get in.

After a morning in Madrid, we took the train to Figueres for a half day, mostly to see the Dali Museum but it also had nice Castle Ruins (Castell de Sant Ferran). With the fast AVE train, it was less than 1h ride:

the train station made it clear what the main attraction was :)

Castell de Sant Ferran is better appreciated from the sky and was worth an hour visit:

The town also had a more minor toy museum that we saw quickly while waiting for our next hourly train:

And then it was time to take the train back home to Barcelona:

Next was Casa Mila which also had stupid waits, even in end of September, but as good capitalists, they sell skip the line (expensive) online tickets:

one of the building's arches has a view on the unfinished Sagrada Familia

Gaudi used an interesting engineering principle of suspending structures upside down and using gravity to help see ideal building shapes

Down the street was his Casa Batllo, another expensive visit with more expensive skip the line tickets I was able to get:

Another of his buildings was Guel Palace, which we saw just before leaving Barcelona:

another nice roof

And for good measure, the city also had a Gaudi museum:

poor thing :)

The inside was beautiful and colorful in ways that the other cathedrals we've seen, were not:

We did the tower tour, which had decent views, but it was still work in progress (top is still being built):

the stairs were truly bad ass

The museum attached to the cathedral gave lots of details on the history and the build, as well as Gaudi's life:

Gaudi used nature for many of his designs

Guudi also used a gravity upside down model

Definitely one of a kind, worth the visit.

Granada still has city walls:

Downtown Granada is also worth walking through:

The next morning, we drove by the Monasterio de San Jerónimo for a quick visit and then did a quick visit to La Ronda:

It's a nice city on top of a hill, separated by a bridge, with ruins, a Bull fighting ring and bull raising farm:

We had enough time for the bull fighting ring and museum, and dinner:

The next day, we went to visit the 2 halves of town:

the arab baths are all the way down, where the water is

We then thought we'd do a quick stop at Mondragon Palace, but it was a much bigger museum than planned. We ended up spending multiple hours there:

We then checked a wine "museum" which was also about selling wine:

Another small museum on the way out:

traversing the bridge back to new town

On the way out, we drove by Pileta Cave, a privately owned with caveman engravings. As usual, no pictures allowed, even without flash:

After that, we had a drive to La Línea de la Concepción. We tried to stop by Castillo del Águila on the way, which was a huge mistake. You can't really drive to it and we got stuck in an old town where driving out was "challenging"

didn't look like much

reasonable scenery

driving out, OMG!!!

finally making it to the Mediterranean coast

We arrived the previous evening in time for sunset:

The next morning, great breakfast, and we then walked to the Gilbraltar border across the border:

Once the border was crossed, we took the bus to the botanical garden and wildlife park under the cable car:

the bus drives across the airport runway

Speaking of runway, it's probably the only major international airport with a stoplight to allow people and cars to cross the runway in between plane landings. Spooky...

cars released right after the plane landing

fun to walk it and see the runway like this

We then took the cable car up:

great views from the top

Gibraltar has many monkeys running around:

There are several military installations you can visit, including: O'Hara's Battery

lots of tunnels

We then did a lot of walking down to the different attractions:

Next was the suspension bridge, world war II tunnels and city under siege:

the british dug out a lot of tunnels, impressive

great view of the airport (and where the enemies would attack from)

long walk down and back up

We then walked down to walk around town:

much lower taxes, so people buy cigarettes and alcohol and take them back across the border

view of the windows in the rock

sunrise over Tarifa from our patio

we then took one of the fast 1H ferries to Tangier

Our private guide met us at the ferry and took us around:

We then went for a camel ride by the sea:

Next we went to Hercules Caves:

From there we went back to the old town (Kasba) and its markets:

lots of cats

our knowledgeable and multilingual guide

nice views:

Then, we took the ferry back to Tarifa and walked around the old city a bit:

sadly the city walls were closed

we started with the Alcazar at opening time for our timed tour. Very nice palace:

Next, we took a cab to the Archeological Museum:

After the museum it was then a beautiful walk in the park and towards Plaza de Espana:

From there, I had a quick look at the Military Museum before it closed:

The Catedral de Sevilla and El Divino Salvador were next:

From there, we went to the flamenco museum. Never really loved flamenco, but it was fun to see a bit of it:

we watched enough to get a feel, but without being stuck for the whole performance

Still had more time to walk through town (long days):

So we went to the local bullring, which was less interesting than the one at Ronda:

Next was a cab to the north of town to the Basílica de la Macarena, they host a Shrine of the Virgin that get paraded through town at the right time of the year:

feels like the ku klux klan was there :)

shrine

A few views:

The next morning, we took a cab to the Conjunto Arqueológico de Itálica, some half preserved roman ruins, which incidently I recognized in an episode of gmae fo thrones later:

I had the cab drive us by the bridge

Later on game of thrones, I recognized it:

After the visit we took another cab to the station for a train to cordoba and a day visit

Cordoba was a good stop between Seville and Madrid, we went to Cordoba for its Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, but it has more:

This is what the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba looks like

the mosque was modified and a church built in its middle, quite weird

nice walled garden outside

pretty light patterns from the windows

a chapel in the middle, kind of awkward

Next was the Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs:

We then had a look at Casa de Sefarad to learn about jewish heritage (which was also mostly wiped):

Last but not least was the archeological museum:

And it was eventually time to take a train to Madrid, our last area to visit for the trip:

A nice section on money

Madrid was the last city went to for our trip, but we used it as a base to hit a lot of nearby, or not so nearby cities (Segovia & La Granja, Toledo, Aranjuez, El Escorial Valley of the Fallen Avila, Salamanca, and Zaragoza).

Getting around was a mix of walking, subway and taxis, but they also had other options:

you can start from the center

Madrid had lots to see too, so after arriving from Cordoba the night before, we went to visit the west side of the city starting with the royal palace and the Cathedral de Amuldena. It was yet another place were pictures were forbidden, which means I ended up with fewer pictures:

Next, we went towards the navy museum, which sadly was mostly closed for renovation. The paying part of the expo was conveniently open though:

We then went to a building nearby that had terrace views:

And then we walked to the archeological museum and had a good vidist (which ended up having to be done in 2 days as it was much bigger than planned). See the page on Madrid archeological museum

The next morning, we started with the Prado Museum which was another museum without photos (again!), so I have fewer:

you can't take pictures, but you can make your own slow copy :)

After Prado, we went to see the excellent Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (on its own page, which thankfully allowed pictures.

Then we finished Prado (we had to juggle with opening hours) and finished the long day with Reina Sofia (Modern art, not that great outside of Picasso's Guernica, which they have plenty of people to stop you from taking pictures):

don't ask :)

And that was it for a very long day. After our mostly wasted trip to Aranjuez, we went to Google for late lunch, and got a few pictures from the buildings:

We also went to see Sorolla Museum nearby:

We also had a few nice dinners, including milk fed piglets :)

It was good enough that we went back for more another night:

Some evening/night pictures from various days:

The last day, I started with the Air Museum outside of town (on its own page):

Next, I went to the Basilica of San Francisco:

From there, I had a quick look at Museum Cerralbo:

We then went to Caixa Forum for its interesting architecture:

And last, but not least, was a good walk through the botanical gardens:

Then, it was time to leave and catch a flight home

After arriving in Madrid, we used it as a base to go visit a bunch of neighboring towns as day trips by train. Our first one was Segovia and La Granja:

with a fast train, we got there in around 1H

Segovia is known for its Roman Aqueduct

we followed the aqueduct to its destination where you could get water

Quaint spanish towns have good food :)

We went through the Catedral de Segovia and its viewing tower:

Nice views around town:

The town also had a jewish quarter and some more museums:

After being done with Segovia, we took a cab to La Granja for its Royal Glass Factory:

After about 1H in the museum (which was worth a bit more), we had to leave to go to the Royal Palace of La Granja of San Ildefonso:

I hope they're not about to have sex, this looks questionable

very big gardens

sadly, they sucked and turned off all fountains for the season despite it being Oct 6th

and that was that, very nice palace and gardens. After getting kicked out of the gardens, we had just enough time to get a taxi back to the train station.

Todelo was the next city we went to by train as a day trip from Madrid:

We then went to Museo del Greco:

Toledo has other jewish museums and buildings:

Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes:

More walking through town:

Museo de los Concilios y la Cultura Visigoda

Santuario Sagrados Corazones:

nice views from the top

Alcázar de Toledo/military museum

More random things:

We then went to visit the Alcázar de Toledo:

The Alcázar has a nice church inside:

After a long day in Toledo, time to go home:

Per recommendation from Arturo, we tried to go see the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. Sadly, when we arrived, it was closed without notice, so we only got to see the gardens. Sigh, mostly wasted time (2H going there and back, and 2H onsite...)

We took a morning local train:

It was a 10mn walk from the train station, and we only got to see the gardens, which thankfully were still ok:

Our last excursion from Madrid for the day was Avila. We took a train from El Escorial and arrived mid afternoon. A bit late, but just enough time to visit:

we asked our cab from the train station to take us to a viewpoint

Avila has the best city walls in Spain

By the city entrance, we have San Vicente de Ávila:

We then got a tour in a Tuck-tuck:

Next, we went to visit the main Cathedral:

We then went to walk the beautiful city walls:

We then had a very rushed visit of Convent of Santa Teresa de Jesus and then caught a bus back to the train station for a train home:

Our next excursion from Madrid was El Escorial - Valley of the Fallen - Avila. We started with Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial:

good thing the entire train didn't crash

Quick cab ride from train station, sadly yet another place that doesn't allow pictures. This was getting old by then:

The outside was nice too:

Next, we took a cab to Valley of the Fallen.

After El Escorial, we took a cab to Valley of the Fallen that waited for us there as there is no usable transport.

It's a Francoist regime monument, Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial which is very controversial as it's equivalent to being a monument to hitler.

It's yet yet yet another place that doesn't allow pictures.

Francisco Franco

we then hurried back to our cab to catch a train to Avila, our 3rd location for the day.

car converted to coal during the war

Salamanca was the farthest yet. Only a single fast train per day at non ideal times, leading for a shorter day in Salamanca. Jennifer used the time to rest in train:

We started with a surprising good car museum worth 2H (follow the link for more):

After the car musuem, we stopped by Casa Lis, a nice art deco museum, and yet another "no pictures" place:

Next was the great Leronimus Cathedral:

oh my, I hope it's not load bearing

La Clerecía, University of Salamanca, Museo de San Esteban and Convent,

Nice Views:

Walk through town:

yum

The visit was not super long due to the 2H train ride each way, and only one direct fast train per day, so we had to head back not too late.

Zaragoza was the farthest city we saw from Madrid as a day trip. 2H fast (expensive) train:

We randomly picked a day that was a huge Christian festival, festival of Pilar. It was fun but also a huge mess, millions of people everywhere:

Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar was beautiful, but it was a total mess with all the crowds:

it's big, but it was packed

We took the elevator to the top, decent views:

Lots of Roman ruins and museums:

they had a nice amphitheatre

lead pipes, yum

Sadly, some things were closed due to the massive festival, which was clusterf a times, not counting all the things that were closed from 14:00 to 16:00 for siesta:

we were forced to stop for a 15:00 lunch

Thankfully a few things were still open:

One of the open things was the very cool Origami Museum (click for its own page):

Eventually we went to the other part of town to visit, we went to Aljafería Palace:

And then it was finally time to take a late 300kph train back to Madrid:

Late september/early oct seemed like a good time to go, not terribly busy or hot, although the main cities were still busy for sure: Séville very busy while Cordoba not at all for instance. Getting tickets for the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona was essential still while some other attractions would have had manageable enough waits, even if it was fine to skip them anyway where possible with advance tickets. Weather was still quite varied between sweating in Barcelona and quite cool in Madrid (down to 13C one day).
And yet, despite the temps that were more than ok, some cities still had stupid and pointless siesta hours that closed most everything from 14:00 to 16:30, really fucking up sightseeing (Hello Zaragoza, get a clue if you want more tourists, especially as a day trip from madrid with quite expensive fast train tickets). On the plus side, this is mostly going away in many cities, or wasn't relevant in October which wasn't considered summer anymore.

History wise, it would take me a while to go through it all, and I wouldn't do a good job anyway, but long story short the muslims invaded part of Spain and stayed a few hundred years until Christian crusades took them all out and destroyed all their mosques except for a select few (and the one in cordoba got an unsightly church built in a very middle, seemingly as a "fuck you"). The Jews also picked the wrong religion apparently and were invited to convert (eh, they only had to accept Jesus, and a few extra books), or were cordially invited to leave. A few remained underground and kept their faith while pretending to be christian and eating pork in front of witnesses.

I can't stay I really support bull fighting, but it was interesting to learn about the history and culture around it, as well as seeing the bull rings, and even a bull raising farm.

Food was good overall. My sampling palate enjoyed the tapas that most restaurants offered, sangria as well, and the many different ways you can eat pig :) (including milk fed pigglets).

The trip, thanks to Rick Steves suggestions (and I'll say that Rick Steves book seem frozen in time and lack really needed updates, as well as in the case of Spain providing a very questionable suggested routing, so we had to work hard to make our own that made more sense, thanks Arturo for the help there), we did go to see UK's Gibraltar which is worth the trip (and unlike what the book said, will happily use your euros if you don't have british pounds), and the day trip from Tarifa to Tangier, while not strictly necessary, was educational, especially with our private guide.
Not unlike France, most of the south is hard to visit with a car, but once you get to Madrid, public transport works fine. Going through smaller towns like Ronda was worth the car, though.

So, that was that for Spain, nice trip, most everything went according to plan. Here is the route:

Half the collection is outdoors and the other half inside hangars:

Multiple hangars with more aircraft:

Nice collection of engines:

The last (or actually first) hangar had world war 1 planes:

I also have to give them credit for recognizing the French inventor, Clement Ader, who made the first heavier than air flying machine (using a heavy steam engine), 6 years before the wright brothers. Sadly that machine didn't work well but it still flew:

The museum was definitely worth at least 2H if you care about flying things :)