Research on Making a Trip to Spain
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Supervisor’s Name
Spain is one of the best tourist destinations in the world. Therefore, visiting Spain is one dream that many people exhibit. There is curiosity as to what really makes Spain one of the favorite travelers’ choice. Therefore, this has led me to come up with a plan that will assist prospective visitors to Spain have an easy time when it comes to planning (Ruíz, M. D. C. C. 2013). It has taken about six months to come up with a plan and the crucial details about what to expect once the trip comes to the fold. This plan in place will be put in action in the month of November. The travelling will take place on the 1st of November and the stay in Spain will last for up to 10th of the same month.
A trip from the United States of America to Spain ranges from $1500 to $2000 dollars depending on the traveler’s location in America. The trip costs entail the return fare from Spain. This is made possible by the fact that we already know the return date (Gonzalez-Alegre, J. 2020). For instance, to travel from Los Angeles to Barcelona, the airfare to travel by Iberia company is $1753 which entails the travel to and return fare. The airline itinerary to travel from Los Angeles to Spain is as shown below (Nenem, S., Graham, A., & Dennis, N. 2020).
Flight Booking Information
Today’s date: 1st November
Reservation ID: 001/IAL
Passengers: 1. Student Name (Adult)
Los Angeles to Barcelona 01 November, 2020 (+1)
Flight: Los Angeles to Barcelona Sunday, 1st November, 2020
Departure 7:00PM Los Angeles International Airport
Arrival 7:30AM Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport
Confirmation number Iberia 001/IAL Non-stop
Flight number Iberia IB0010
Flying type Economy Flying time 12hours 30mins
Status Confirmed
On arrival in Spain, the traveler has so many options to chose from in terms of hotels and accommodation. Some of the best and affordable are Mercer Hotel Barcelona, Boutique Hotel Casa Volver, Mandarin Oriental Barcelona, Almanac Barcelona, Monument Hotel, El Palace Barcelona, Hotel Casa Luz, Hotel Casa Camper, Hotel Neri – Relais & Chateaux, Duquesa de Cardona 4* Sup, ICON BCN by Petit Palace among many others (Sthapit, E., & Jiménez-Barreto, J. 2018). Mercer Hotel Barcelona is the preferred choice in place as it is positioned in central Barcelona. It is very close to Jaume I Metro Station which is about a five minutes-walk to the station to obtain transport. Ciutat Vella is also within the area. This place is well known for its sumptuous food as well as tapas.
Surrounding the hotel are several restaurants as well as drinking joints that a traveler can easily quench their need. This hotel also has a swimming pool situated in the rooftop of the hotel which is a good feature to relax after a long day of excursion. To spend the ten days in this hotel would cost 80 Euros per night and a total of 800 Euros after the ten days. In terms of dollars, it would cost $87.35 per night and a total of $873.34 after the ten days.
To move from one destination to the next across Spain, Renfe rail network comes in as the best as it is distributed across the whole country. Rail-passes could be a bit expensive in such cases and therefore, obtaining promo and ticket is the best cheaper alternative. Train reaches all the major towns in Spain and thus its very important. Cars, subways and buses come in handy when connecting the various main towns to the areas of interest. A traveler can also book a flight from one of the main cities to the next as an alternative to the ground carriages. Purchasing tickets online comes with a discount. The earlier the bookings are made the more a traveler makes more savings. The traveler should also buy the tickets directly from the dealer for instance, Spain’s Spain, Renfe railway network company to eliminate additional costs incurred through the purchase from third parties.
By planning early, one is able to have options. The slower trains are cheaper and therefore, one can leave for their destinations earlier according to their plan and still arrive on time (Tussyadiah, I. P., & Pesonen, J. 2016). The cross-land buses such as Sagalés are a lot cheaper than the subways and the rail transport, they can also access regions that otherwise the train can’t. as for the long-distance visit areas from the residential hotel, early bookings of either the plane or the faster trains online are the best options that a traveler could get. One has to book in advance to travel to and back. Cars, flights and buses at times don’t reach the traveler’s intended destination, rideshare cars come into full usage under such circumstances. They are cheaper, easily accessible and as well flexible as compared to taxis and cars for hire.
Dressing is an art. Spain is one of the countries in the world that has its unique test and fashion specializations. Different dressing codes are applied at different times of the year. Our main focus in this case will be holiday and vocational occasions majorly in the summer. In most cases, weather and culture are the main dressing determinants (Constable, O. R. 2017). Despite that, there is changes towards one culture across the world due to the influence of the internet. The dominant dress code is mostly light clothing which consists of sandals, shirts and blouses, shorts and vests. As a souvenir to adapt to the Spanish culture, one should at least have espadrilles as well as flipflops. For females, skirts, light jeans, flat sandals, shorts and short sleeved blouses seem to be their favored selection. Men on the other hand, t-shirts, sandals, tops that are short-sleeved and occasionally a baseball cap.
Spanish language is an interesting feat to learn. It isn’t a complex language to grasp (Cobb, K., & Simonet, M. 2015). Some of the easy words that can be easily encountered are;
Hola Hello
Amor Love
Sí Yes
Felicidad Happiness
Adiós Good bye
Gracias Thank you
Lo siento I am sorry
Sonreír Smile
Me gusta I like
Bien Well
Grande Big
To familiarize one with the Spanish culture, there are major factors we will consider. Among them are the holidays, food, ceremonies, festivals, sports and religion. Spain is vastly a catholic nation with most of her population subscribing to it. When religious events are taking place, participants wear a capirote to signify togetherness with the fraternities. They are situated in parts of Spain with the significant mark being the church.
Spain also celebrates several secular cultural activities throughout the year. The major ones are New Year’s Day normally celebrated at the 1st day of each year, the epiphany in January 6th, the day of Andalusia on February 29th, day of Balearic Islands on March 1st, day of Castile and Léon on April 24th, Pentecost Monday on May 16th, Corpus Christi on June 15th, Cantabrian Institutions Day on July 24th, Assumption of Mary on august 15th, Day of the Bien Aparecida on September 15th, Columbus Day on October 12th, Fiesta de Todos los Santos on November 1st and Christmas on December 25th (Gold, J. R., & Gold, M. M. (Eds.). 2016). Family is considered as the most basic unit in Spanish society. In the modern era, the extended family support and help has reduced drastically as compared to the olden days as nuclear families fend more for themselves. Furthermore, older people have increased in numbers and are having less children as time goes by.
Geographically, Spain is very vast. This makes it very difficult for all areas to have the same types of cuisines. Spanish food in most cases, contain ingredients obtained from the sea. The most common foods are shawarma costing $3.8 and 3.5 Euros, Sandwich which costs $3.4 and 3.1Euros, a complete set of lunch containing 2 large kebabs, rice, green salad and drink costing $12 and 11.04Euros, Paella which costs $8.2 and 7.55 Euros, Buffet costing $13.7 and 12.61 Euros, carbonara whose value is $9.3 and 8.56 Euros, breakfast buffet which normally costs $16 and 14.73Euros, Steak combined with garnish which is priced at $12.5 and 11.51 Euros, a bottle of wine costing about $19.2 and 17.68 Euros, beef steak 300 grams costing at $16.4 and 15.10 Euros, grilled chicken which costs at $8 and 7.36 Euros, fish dishes $13 and 11.96 Euros, grilled vegetables $13.5 and 12.42 Euros among other several foods of Hispanic culture. Most of the foods cost between $5 to around $15 (Gallar Hernández, D., Saracho-Domínguez, H., Rivera-Ferré, M. G., & Vara-Sánchez, I. 2019). This makes the food quite affordable.
Spain boasts of several festivals within its rich culture. Some of the main festivals in this country are La Tamborrada which is normally carried out in winter. Anyone can participate in this festival as it entails the beating of drums. La Tamborrada is considered among the renowned and well-known Spanish festivals and is undoubtedly the loudest one in the country and may as well come transversely as strange to some people. This festival takes place annually in San Sebastián, Spain on the 20th of January. Another festival is Las Fallas De Valencia which takes place for five days. It is hosted in the city of Valencia as from 15th to 20th March of every year. It is about wearing different colors as well as gigantic mascots as people have fun on the streets. It is a remembrance of the events that have taken place throughout the year. Furthermore, the holy week is another festival carried out in Spain. This festival is practiced in more than three cities which include Malaga, Seville, Valladolid, Leon and Castilla. Is occurs every 5th to 12th April of the new year. It occurs in the Easter where the people carry statue of their local patron loaded with candles (Barrio, M. J., Devesa, M., & Herrero, L. C. 2012).
Spain is a sporting country. It boasts of a variety of world class sporting activities. Some of the major activities that can make a traveler wish to return back to Spain are several. Some of the main are Kitesurfing with the main area of practice being Tarifa. From this area, one can also visit the renowned Guzman castle located at the meeting point between the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Skateboarding is Barcelona’s other sport related activity. The skatepark serves well for that purpose. Madrid offers a nice paragliding experience. Flying above the buildings in the capital and then later obtaining a safe landing is what is at stake (Lera-López, F., Ollo-López, A., & Rapún-Gárate, M. 2012). Sierra de Guara also offers a great environment for rafting as Ibiza offers the best diving spots in the country. In Spain’s history, the most common traditions over the years has been bullfights which is carried out across the country. The most common bullfighting in Spain is the renowned Sanfermines in Pamplona. Andalusia on the other hand, boasts of flamenco which is the musical ceremony in the country. Seville is the host city. Another tradition is based in Valencia. It is known as Las Fallas de San Jose. The city is in full party mood during this time as well as the inhabitants are treated to fireworks.
Spain is also home to various historical sites. The Spanish forts of Havana is dated to more than 400 years ago. They were majorly constructed to thwart the attacks from French corsairs as well as English privateers meant to protect the fleets holding treasure belonging to Spain. Castel de la Real Fuerza is one of the oldest forts in the world today. Mezquita of Cordoba is a church with a lot of history to the new churches today. It was constructed in the 6th century. It also has hosted several varied religions in the process (Iglesias, A., & Quiroga, S. 2007). The temple of Augustus is the oldest treasures held by the city of Barcelona. Its construction was motivated to honor Emperor Augustus. There are several battlefields that are held dearly in the Spanish history. The major ones are the battle of Ciudad Universitaria and the battlefield of Ayacucho. Spanish ways of construction are varied. Some of the main outstanding sites are Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Guggenheim Museum situated in Bilbao, Alhambra in Granada, Plaza de España based in Sevilla and La Sagrada Familia with its location in Barcelona.
References
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Constable, O. R. (2017). To live like a moor: Christian perceptions of Muslim identity in medieval and early modern Spain. University of Pennsylvania Press.
del Barrio, M. J., Devesa, M., & Herrero, L. C. (2012). Evaluating intangible cultural heritage: The case of cultural festivals. City, Culture and Society, 3(4), 235-244.
Gallar Hernández, D., Saracho-Domínguez, H., Rivera-Ferré, M. G., & Vara-Sánchez, I. (2019). Eating Well with Organic Food: Everyday (Non-Monetary) Strategies for a Change in Food Paradigms: Findings from Andalusia, Spain. Sustainability, 11(4), 1003.
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