One of the major reasons I decided to travel to Barcelona this spring was the possibility of flying directly and non stop from Miami to Barcelona in Iberia’s newly inaugurated luxury service with fully horizontal seats. Not sure of what to expected at the sometimes overcrowded airport in South Florida’s largest city I arrived at the Iberia counter three hours early. Check-in was speedy and I was pleased to discover I had been assigned an aisle seat as I had requested.
This trendy hotel, part of the large Sol Meliá chain, was located in a 37 story tower building. Its target audience were luxury oriented travelers, especially celebrities and those with a penchant for music, design and gourmet meals. It had a penthouse VIP lounge (a favorite) for Level upper floor guests, meeting space, two restaurants, nightclub, pool area, fitness center and spa. The name Me was designed to convey that Me equals you “because Me becomes you.”
We drove to Figueras from Barcelona with the express purpose of visiting the famous museum, home of the largest Dali collection in the world. It was time well spent. After parking on a nearby street we walked a couple of blocks bypassing the main entrance straight to the Jewels Gallery which had a dedicated ingress.
As a lover of fine foods and wines including bubbly, one of my favorite libations, I was excited to visit Wines and Cavas Eudald Massana Noya, a Spanish wine and cava estate within easy driving distance from Barcelona during a weeklong visit to that northern city. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon on a sunny spring day. After welcoming our group warmly Eudald Massana Noya, the owner, and Ester Tous Font, his wife, walked us out to the vineyards where, with the help of an English language interpreter, he told us, in Catalan (the language of the region) about the vineyards, winery and the property’s organic and biodynamic farming practices.
A family friendly Big Five property Thornybush is in the heart of the Thornybush Nature Reserve, a private 11,500 hectare game reserve near Kruger National Park. The small lodge faced north onto the dry riverbed of the Monwana River and offered spacious and comfortable rooms with a riverbed view, modern amenities, meals and twice daily game drives.
