Thanks everyone... just the type of advice i'm looking for...

 

Spain is the home to some of the best classical guitar players in the world. Be sure to see at least one live performance from a top level classical guitar player while you are there.

I am so jealous. Have a great time.

 

Spain has a great culinary scene. Also, I may suggest San Sebastain, its all the way across to the top side of spain, very close to the french border, and about an hour flight from Barcelona(I think its an hour, but I drove in from France when I went). Its the culinary capital of Spain IMO, and I had a great time there.

 

One of the best spanish guitar schools is in Cordoba... the students all come out at night and just hang out and play on the streets... its so fun to just walk around and hear the different styles. I've always told my wife about it which is one of the reasons we'll be in Cordoba for 2 days.

I lived in Cordoba for almost 8 months and loved every second of that city.

 

have some very close friends in Spain from San Sebastian... wish I could make it but not enough days on this trip. Maybe will try and make it their when we go to Paris next spring.

 

I know where we are going when my wife and I finally do make a trip to Spain!!!!

 

I've been to all three places as well back in '07, but we stayed in hostels when we went...

All of the sites you need to see have been mentioned already. Just to set your expectations though, the people in Rome tend to be very rude... Worse than any other place I've been in Europe. That being said, the most impressive things I've seen to date were there, so it's definitely worth it.

Florence is great, and there's a bus you can catch that will take you to Maranello, where you can catch the Ferrari Museum and Factory. I would buy tickets for the Ferrari factory tour ahead of time, as we weren't able to buy any when we went. I highly highly recommend going to Maranello if you get a chance, as soon as we got off the bus you can hear the high-revving motors being tested pretty much non-stop all day long, it's beautiful.

Barcelona- We saw Sagrada Familia at night and it was very impressive, but of course we weren't able to tour then... Definitely a great sight to see. I also recommend planning a night to go bar-hopping down the strip and checking out as many Tappas places as you can fit into your schedule. We also went to the Aquarium there which is the largest in Western Europe, definitely very cool to see. The most important thing I'd say about Barcelona is make sure you allocate a lot of time there, I had the most fun in that city than any other place in the world. The beaches are nice and it's a wonderful place to relax.

Hope that helps.

 

Also did that on my trip, the day after riding in the 288 GTO.

 

Have a blast....I am planning the same type of trip maybe next summer.

 

Don't know if you've found a hotel yet in Barcelona, but the Ritz Carlton there is out of this world.