Spain trip - Tentative Itinerary - Comments Please

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Nov 23rd, 2002, 01:59 PM

Myer

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Spain trip - Tentative Itinerary - Comments Please

Attempting to reconstruct last year's victimized Spain trip. Hope to do this in late May or early June. Constructive comments are welcome and appreciated. 1) Arrive in Madrid plus 2 more full days. In addition, mix in a day trip to Toledo and another trip as follows: keep hotel in Madrid and go to Avila for half day. Then continue on to Salamanca for late afternoon and evening. Sleep over and spend most of the next day in Salamanca. Return to Madrid in the evening. (6 days). 2) Train to Seville in AM. Plus 2 full days. In addition, a day trip to Cordoba. (4 days) 3) Train to Granada in AM plus next day for Alhambra. (2 days) 4) Sleeper from Granada to Barcelona. Two full days in Barcelona. (2 days) Would somehow like to take a day trip from Seville to villages but it may not work unless we add a day. Also, I'm a bit concerned about possibly running around too much. Keeping the hotel in Madrid while we go to Avila and Salamanca should take care of this. The plus is that we only pack up 3 times to move (excluding return home) and never stay in one hotel less that 2 nights.

Nov 23rd, 2002, 02:10 PM

Myer

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Hate to respond to my own post but I've just thought of another option. The possibility of moving Barcelona to the beginning and flying from Madrid, spending a couple of days in Barcelona and then fly back. That flight is about 325. for two. Also, if I can fly into Barcelona instead of Madrid at the start I would do it that way.

Nov 23rd, 2002, 04:57 PM

Maribel

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Hi Myer, I'd fly into Barcelona and start there, if you could, or depart from Bcn. Don't know where you live, but Delta has a non-stop JFK-BCN, if that could work for you. I like the Spanair Bcn-Madrid shuttle. Took it in July, Madrid-Bcn, and it was great, plus it landed on time! Good service and low price. About the Salamanca addition to your new itinerary: Since you have frequent T.R.D. trains from Avila to Salamanca, this addition should work fine for you. I'm assuming you plan to do this trip primarily by train, correct? Re sightseeing in Salamanca: Since you mentioned on another thread that you're not an avid museum fan, I think that just an overnight will suffice quite nicely. Salamanca is a great walking town. The great beauty of the city lies in its harmonious architecture: the lovely sandstone buildings in the Baroque, ornate Churrigueresque and lovely filigree Plateresque styles that take on that lovely glow around sunset. I'd do the following: First pick up a good map (indispensable) of the city at the tourist office in the gorgeously plateresque Casa de las Conchas building or on the Plaza Mayor. Then take a stroll around the University buildings, (during the Golden Age, Salamanca, along with Oxford, was one of the 4 European academic points of light), stop at the Plateresque facade of the main University building (Escuelas Mayores) where you can search for the famous scuptured frog ("la rana&quot

resting atop a skull. It's tiny but can be found to the right and above the busts of Ferdinand and Isabella. Luck supposedly accompanies those who find it unaided. Students who find it pass their exams and marry within a year. If you can't find it, there will be young men there with lasers who will eagerly point it out to you, for a tip, of course. Then take a look at the Convento de las Dueñas and its exquisite and quite famous double-decker cloister, one of the most beautiful in Spain, also the altarpiece, another creation of Churriguera, of the Convento de San Esteban, then visit the New and Old Cathedrals (the latter whose glorious 15th c altarpiece has been recently restored), walk down to the Roman bridge built in the 1st c A.D. where you'll have a great photo op of the city and where you'll see the famous headless stone bull (toro ibérico) and statue of Lazarillo de Tormes of the famed 16th c. picaresque novel. Then at sunset sit at one of the outdoor cafes, like "Novelty", on Spain's most beautiful Plaza Mayor, have a "mosto" (unfermented grape juice-everyone orders it here) and survey the conservatively well-dressed salmantinos go about their ritual evening paseo and be serenaded by the "tunas", the university student musicians in medieval troubadour costume. You'll probably hear an imromptu performance of "Fonseca" ("triste y sola, sola se queda Fonseca...&quot

. Also around the evening "tapas" hr, (9 p.m. and on), head straight to the new Bar Momo, one of Castile's most fashionable wine bars, on pedestrian Calle San Pedro 13, south of the Plaza Mayor, for inventive Basque-inspired tapas from bald chef Miguel Reguera García (like red pepper, leek, anchovy and cream cheese tarts) and a 150 bottle wine menu (featured in my "New Tapas: culinary travels with Spain's top chefs" cookbook) or the very dependable "La Tostita" on Plaza San Marcos (up pedestrian Calle Zamora, due north of the Plaza Mayor) for delicious canapes (try the "solomillo&quot

and fine wines from all regions (the owner is extremely knowledgeable about his vinos). I also like "Real" on the Plaza Mayor. I never have a formal restaurant meal in Salamanca; I always just graze.

Nov 23rd, 2002, 04:58 PM

Maribel

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Me again Myer, About the rest of your itinerary, it look fine to me. If you want to see the "pueblos blancos" you'd need to add another night after Sevilla to see picturesque Ronda. You could take a "Los amarillos" bus from Sevilla, but it's a 2 1/2 hr. ride, not a quick day trip. Bus service is quite dependable and comfortable in Spain. I consider Ronda to be a "must do' on any Andalusian itinerary by car, BUT when traveling by public transport it's not so easy, so maybe you should forgo it. Hope this helps a bit.

Nov 24th, 2002, 03:01 AM

Myer

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Maribel, Thanks for the Salamanca tour. You're amazing. You must put everybody's comments into a computer and link them together to get a profile. If you read about my Italy trip of this past spring, my wife and bus travel have some problems. At least she did on the Amalfi coast and now stays away from it. This trip she spent the day in Sorrento while I took the bus. Might try the same thing from Seville. It does seem like a lot of travel (2 1/2 hr bus) to get to Ronda for a few hours. Yes we do travel mostly by train. Getting closer to renting a car for a future trip to Italy. We live in South Florida. Just south west of Ft Lauderdale (20-30 minutes from the beach). To Europe we fly out of Miami. To NY would fly out of Ft Lauderdale (much much closer). Last Thanksgiving we went to NY and flew Jet Blue. They were great. On the return they checked-in (I counted it) 6 (rows) x 150 yards of customers in 20 minutes. They had 25 ticket clerks working. I'm starting to look at different flights. That will ultimately determine the makeup of the trip. Thanks again.