Recently came back from Spain. Wasn't too impressed. So many ppl told me how beautiful and awesome Spain is and how much they loved it. But I felt that it was just a smaller replica of Vienna and Paris (depending on who designed a particular area - Hapsburgs or Bourbons). Granted we only visited Madrid, Toledo and Barcelona. I guess next time we should venture into more authentic Spanish territory, like Seville or Grenada.

Out of the three Madrid was my favorite. Toledo was too boring and Barcelona too dirty. Madrid is a very pretty and lively city. Great nightlive and restaurant scene, very clean and good shopping. Toledo is very small (I think it stopped developing as a city, as soon as the capital was moved to Madrid) and every house and cathedral look the same. If not for El Greco collection, would have been a complete waste of time. Barcelona has not been "touched" since the Olympics. There was garbage on the streets in the historical center and tons of graffiti everywhere, plus it seemed as there were sewage problems the whole 3 days we were there. And that's the reaction of someone from NY.