Review: Luxury Spain Vacation, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Ronda, Alhambra, Sagrada de Familia, Cooking Lesson

We had wonderful private tours of Madrid, Toledo, Ronda, Seville, Granada, and Barcelona.  The Alhambra in Granada, the El Tajo Gorge at Ronda and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona were truly breathtaking.   We also enjoyed a wonderful flamenco show in Seville (our agent arranged front row seats and a horse drawn carriage for transportation), a private cooking class in seville (including a visit the farmers market where we selected our ingredients), a private tapas tour in Madrid and a wonderful private bicycle tour through wine country outside of Barcelona.

Possibly the most memorable event was attending a bull fight in Madrid.  Going in, we had no idea what to expect. The seating on the tickets were cryptic, so it wasn't until we arrived that we discovered that our seats were second row center with as up-front a view as one can possibly imagine.  When I originally mentioned to our agent that we wanted to attend a bull fight, he warned us that the fight was bloody and the bulls would die.  However, knowing that the bull is going to die is different from watching it actually happen.  The fights were very brutal and there many shocking moments, including two instances when the bull tossed a matador and another instance when the bull flipped a horse.  On later days, our tours took us to a ranch where the bulls are raised and through the original bull fighting ring in Ronda.  The combination of these additional tours helped put the original spectacle in historical and cultural context.

Beyond the tours, all of our hotels were wonderful.  The hotel in Seville was beyond spectacular.  The Granada hotel was perfectly located and had an incredible courtyard.  The rooftop bar and infinity pool at the hotel in Barcelona was breath taking.