Travel Review: Family Trip to Spain & England, London, Barcelona, Bath, Cotswold, Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Winery Tour, History

The London tour with our guide was incredible! Our guide is a real storyteller, which made his discussion of the sights and related history an amazing and educational adventure. I will never forget this excursion...seeing walls built by the Romans before Christ, the eclectic mix of architecture in London after its damage from WWII, as well as the city's lovely parks, bridges, shops, and monuments. It was absolutely fascinating hearing the stories of royal executions (glad I live in the present day, and not under a Monarchy!), the interesting details which made everything we saw come alive with the famous characters who lived there centuries ago, as well as dish on the present royals and recent wedding of Harry and Meghan.

Another huge highlight was the tour of the Cottswolds, a lovely area of rural England outside Bath. The regions is more spread-out than I expected, and it was a huge advantage to have private guide escorting us around and providing information on history and past/present lifestyle in this charming, flower-bedecked countryside. He was extremely felicitous, and based his tour on whatever we wished to do, including visiting the shops and coffee houses for snacks!

The other particularly memorable parts of the trip were the tours of the Picasso Museum, Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, and Gaudi architecture in this city, including Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia. Again, seeing the works of these geniuses in art and architecture, respectively, was fascinating and educational. To hear the stories about these artists' lives and endeavors brought all that we saw to life in a very human and authentic way. I felt an overwhelming appreciation of the beauty created by the artists, and got a sense of the values and lifestyles of people who lived in Barcelona in times past.

The visit to the cava winery outside Barcelona was also lovely, informative, and particularly delicious with the wine-tasting offered near the end of the tour.