By ChristinaChristina writes and edits Travelling Companion. Her writing covers expeditions, food, and culture for the blog. Trip Overview: European Adventures 2018 Flight Review: American Airlines A330-300 Economy CLT-LHR Hotel Review: London Marriott Regent's Park Food in London Flight Review: British Airways A319 Economy LGW-BCN Hotel Review: AC Hotel Irla Barcelona Train Review: Renfe Clase Turista Barcelona-Valencia Exploring Life in Valencia Exploring Life in Barcelona Flight Review: American Airlines 777-200 Economy BCN-JFK Flight Review: American Airlines A321T Business Class Seats JFK-DCA  Ramon and I spent a few days in Barcelona and a full day in Valencia. Our first full day in Spain was in Valencia. As Ramon said earlier, I have a cousin, who lives in Valencia and she was our wonderful tour guide for the day. Since we had to catch our train back to Barcelona, we limited our exploration to the oldest parts of town, but there is definitely enough to see if you wanted to spend a long weekend in this beautiful coastal city.  During our walking tour we saw Torres de Serranos, Mercado Central, and the Valencia Cathedral. It is obvious Valencia has so much to offer walking within the city’s ancient walls. There was beautiful artwork, history, and craftsmanship on every corner. It is the ideal city to get lost in. The thing that stuck in my mind over everything else was the food in Valencia.  The paella was absolutely unbelievable. My cousin had done her due diligence asking various restaurants about the quality of their paella, the typical meal in Valencia. She went to eight different restaurants requesting “paella de Valencia” which is a specific type of paella. When she found a restaurant that suited her requests, we sat outside and began the Valencian meal experience. Our meal consists of a first course, a second course, and a desert all for the price of 12 euros. This is considered a normal sized meal in Valencia. Gloria informed us that lunch in Spain is at 11:00am, but they eat again at 2:00pm. It puzzles me how Valencian's can be so petite. 
The second course was paella de Valencia. This was paella with chicken and other goodies. I’m not sure how they cooked it, or what exactly was in it, but it was perfect. Warm, flavorful, and filling, this paella was a new culinary experience for me. Despite the fact that Valencia is a port city their traditional paella does not seafood, however, they do offer other paella dishes with seafood. I found the traditional paella de Valencia to be delicious.
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By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight reviews, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further. Train Summary Our train ride on Renfe was comfortable but could use a refresh and was similar to an Amtrak coach experience. Pros- Good leg room, comfortable seats, good recline, and solid food options for purchase. Cons-Old train interiors, slow train equipment, no power outlets, hot train cars, and dated entertainment system. Trip Overview: European Adventures 2018 Flight Review: American Airlines A330-300 Economy CLT-LHR Hotel Review: London Marriott Regent's Park Food in London Flight Review: British Airways A319 Economy LGW-BCN Hotel Review: AC Hotel Irla Barcelona Train Review: Renfe Clase Turista Barcelona-Valencia Exploring Life in Valencia Exploring Life in Barcelona Flight Review: American Airlines 777-200 Economy BCN-JFK Flight Review: American Airlines A321T Business Class Seats JFK-DCA Check In During our stay in Barcelona Christina and I took a day trip from Barcelona to Valencia Spain to visit Christina's family living in Valencia. We decided to take Renfe which is the national train system of Spain and bought advanced tickets in Clase Turista (economy class). I was excited to take an intra-European train for the first time. We walked from our hotel to the Barcelona Sants Station located in the northwestern section of Barcelona. This is the main train station in Barcelona and I found it to be crowded as we rushed to catch our train. I would recommend that you arrive at the station early because Barcelona Sants station is large and can be confusing for a first time rider. We ran to our gate and handed the check-in agent our boarding passes and we able to make our train.  Barcelona Sants Station Train and Seats  Renfe Train The train departed Barcelona Sants right on time and we made it on board with only a few minutes to spare. Renfe's Clase Turista does not have assigned seating so we grabbed two of the seats on the left side of train hoping to catch a view of the ocean for our over three hour journey.  Renfe Clase Turista My initial impression of the train was that it was similar to Amtrak's older regional train cars. The train seats were laid out in a 2-2 seat layout perfect for travelling companions. The seats were old but very comfortable and had very good recline. The seats featured a mesh pocket, tray table, and a foot rest similar to premium economy seats on airplanes. The seats had no power outlets at all and we resorted to charging our phones using a portable power brick. One of my biggest complaints about the train was that it was too hot and did not have individual air vents. The lack of air conditioning seemed to be a recurring issue in Spain and I think points to different expectations for travel amenities in the United States versus Spain.  Renfe Clase Turista Seats One of best parts about this train ride was the views of the sea and the Spanish countryside. The views made me want to come back to Spain during the summer to try out the beaches and explore the rest of the country.  View of the Spanish Countryside Entertainment and Food The train featured overhead entertainment on circa 1990 screens similar to old American Airlines in-flight entertainment monitors. Near the start of the train ride Renfe employees came through the aisle to offer earbuds. The entertainment provided was Spanish only movies and the screens had poor resolution. Because of our early departure time Christina and I were hungry and I went up to the Cafeteria car to purchase breakfast. I ate an Iberian ham and cheese sandwich which was delicious! Christina's enjoyed her coffee but did not like her cold sandwich.  Iberian Ham Sandwich Even with the views out the window I found the train ride to be very slow. This was due to the fact that the train itself was slow and that it made numerous stops at cities and towns throughout eastern Spain. Towards the end of the trip I found myself wishing for an express train with limited stops between Barcelona and Valencia.
Valencia Joaquín Sorolla Train Station On our journey back we arrived several hours early at Valencia Joaquin Sorrla train station. One note of caution is that if you buy the "Promo" fare which is the cheapest fare you cannot change to a different train. Because we bought this fare we ended waiting around at the train station for several hours. However, during our wait I was impressed by the modern train station which featured many restaurants and stores. The design of the station was very sleek and impressive for a relatively small city such as Valencia. Take Away When I thought about European trains I envisioned high speed and modern trains whisking people from place to place in Europe. This train was more akin to an old regional Amtrak train with slightly better food but perfectly comfortable for our trip to Valencia. If I needed to explore cities in Spain I would take Renfe again. However, when possible I would opt for the high speed train and hope to get a more modern train car. By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further. Trip Overview: European Adventures 2018 Flight Review: American Airlines A330-300 Economy CLT-LHR Hotel Review: London Marriott Regent's Park Food in London Flight Review: British Airways A319 Economy LGW-BCN Hotel Review: AC Hotel Irla Barcelona Train Review: Renfe Clase Turista Barcelona-Valencia Exploring Life in Valencia Exploring Life in Barcelona Flight Review: American Airlines 777-200 Economy BCN-JFK Flight Review: American Airlines A321T Business Class Seats JFK-DCA Introduction Christina and I headed to Europe for our longest and furthest trip together yet, a 9 day vacation in February. This was my first trip ever to Europe and Christina's first trip to the United Kingdom and Spain. Our plan was to spend three days and two nights in London which would give us a chance to see some of the tourist sights and visit friends in the city. We then planned to spend five days and five nights in Barcelona with a day trip to Valencia to see Christina's cousin. We booked this trip back in July so our excitement was building for months. I was especially looking forward to checking out La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona which I remember studying as a child, but it was even more stunning than I imagined and I would recommend anyone visiting Barcelona to get a ticket in advance for a tour.  The interior of La Sagrada Familia Basilica Booking Flights and Train I was able to find a deal for two tickets departing out of Washington National (DCA) to London Heathrow (LHR) through Charlotte (CLT) and returning from Barcelona (BCN) to DCA through New York John F. Kennedy (JFK). These tickets cost about $616 each a great fare for a full-service carrier to Europe and it even allowed us to begin an international trip at our home airport DCA. This fare was part of a trend of fare sales to Europe in 2017. Full service carriers such as American Airlines lowered their transatlantic fares in order to compete with low-cost carriers such as WOW, Norweigan, Icelandair, and AerLingus. The competition is making transatlantic travel accessible to more people. The down side is that the unbundling of airfare form ancillary charges such as baggage fees, meals, and seat selection can result in higher overall prices. American Airlines announced this month that they will be introducing their own version of a "basic economy" fare on some flights to Europe starting in April. When booking your ticket on any airline, take into account these additional fees because the airfare is only one aspect of the cost. American Airlines did not offer basic economy on this route so we did not have to worry about any of these fees. After booking our tickets to London and our return from Barcelona we looked at our options to get from London to Barcelona. The route had a choice of Ryan Air, Norwegian, EasyJet, Vueling and "full-service" carrier British Airways. Because British Airways and American Airlines are both part of the One World Alliance, we chose British Airways so that we could get free seat selection in advance and earn miles. We paid 52 pounds each (about $66 at the time) for the one-way tickets which included one piece of checked luggage each. British Airways also offers cheaper tickets which include carry-on luggage only. We needed to check luggage, so the more expensive fare made the most sense. In total we earned 9168 Elite Qualify Miles, 570 Elite Qualifying Dollars, and 3,984 Award Miles for all of the flights. Below is a map of our final routing.  European Adventure Flight RoutingMap generated using the Great Circle Mapper-copyright Karl L. Swartz Finally, we booked our train tickets on Renfe from Barcelona to Valencia using Loco2. I tried to book the fare directly on Renfe's site and found the website difficult to navigate . After spending a long time navigating and numerous unsuccessful attempts to pay, I booked the tickets via Loco2. I recommend that you save yourself the hassle and use Loco2. Renfe offered two classes on our train to Valencia Clase Turista (Economy Class) and Clase Prefente (First Class) which cost nearly double Clase Turista. We booked two tickets in Clase Turista for 33 euros each (about $38 at the time). Booking Hotels In total we needed seven nights rooms, two in London and five in Barcelona. We only looked at Marriott hotels since Christina needed nine more nights for the fast track to Marriott Gold status promotion. London has numerous Marriott hotels but the city is also notorious for high hotel prices. The prices were high during our stay even though it was the off season. In order to save money, we ended up booking a pre-paid hotel reservation at the London Marriott Regent's Park at a cost of 228 pounds (about $302 at booking) for two nights. We planned to stay at an AC Hotel in Barcelona, as I mentioned during my review of the AC Hotel New Orleans. Originally, we planned to stay at the AC Hotel Barcelona Forum but we ended up changing our reservation to the AC Hotel Irla. I will detail why it was a decision we would later regret.  London Marriott Regent's Park During this trip report I plan to review four flights, two hotels, and for the first time a train.This trip report will also include my first time ever in a lie-flat seat (though it was for only about one hour). Christina will also be joining Travelling Companion and blogging about our experience with food in our destinations. We plan to post reviews over the next two month so please subscribe by clicking the subscribe button at the top of the blog so that you can see our latest post. Hope you enjoy coming along on our adventures!
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