WillTravel

This trip report has been much delayed. I have very good excuses, of course, like moving, heavy work responsibilities, etc. But I wish I had written everything down like I did for my Italy trip report, because already a lot has slipped my mind.

So to start with the logistics.
I found an SEA-MAD (routed through Newark) ticket for $458 USD total in February, for August dates. As anyone can tell, this is a fabulous rate for summer travel. I think it was a fare mistake which had something to do with the Air Europa codeshare with Continental.

I quickly worked out that with cheap flights, we could visit Amsterdam and London, my daughter's most preferred destinations. She wasn't crazy about Madrid, but really looked forward to seeing Guernica. Every year we visit the Bumbershoot Festival, held over Labor Day weekend in Seattle.

So the plan was this. Leave Vancouver for Seattle, stay overnight at an airport hotel obtained via Priceline, head out for the airport to catch our early flight to Newark, hang around in Newark for five hours until we board our flight to Madrid. Stay in Madrid one night, then head via Transavia to Amsterdam, stay in Amsterdam for five nights, and head via EasyJet to London. Stay in London five nights, and head via EasyJet back to Madrid. Stay two nights in Madrid and head back to Seattle. Stay five nights in Seattle, taking in the Bumbershoot Festival, and head back to Vancouver on Labor Day evening.

This plan worked exactly as executed. However, I do have to say that a two-leg flight to Europe, with a five-hour stopover in Newark, is pretty exhausting. Coming back was even more tiring, as our EWR-SEA was delayed significantly. By the time we got to our Seattle hotel room, we had been awake for 24 hours.

WillTravel

Our flights in the US and to/from were on Continental, on a Boeing 757 for SEA-EWR and a Boeing 777 for EWR-MAD (and then reversed, of course). Although I didn't care about the seatback inflight entertainment system on the legs to and from Madrid, my daughter did entertain herself with games of chess and what not. I had my books. Service was very good. Food was not terrible. My daughter had ordered vegetarian meals, but through some mixup possibly related to the codeshare, this wasn't recorded on the outbound flights. Lucky for her, they had extra vegetarian entrees. TravelCuts (where we bought the tickets) fixed this for the return.

I had arranged that both of us would get aisle seats, across from each other. When I was boarding the EWR-MAD leg, a Spanish "gentleman" feigned ignorance of what his boarding pass said, and made a courtly "after you" gesture intended to sweep me into the middle seat. This went on for a while, but I stood my ground and got my aisle seat, but I felt a bit nervous of the guy after that (who didn't speak to me), wondering if he might go in my purse if I fell asleep or something.

WillTravel

I'll add more to this as I have time. Luckily for us, there were no tales of woe or hardship, so I'll eliminate that suspense right now .

WillTravel

We landed in Madrid, went through immigration, walked a LONG way through the airport to the metro station. We changed lines twice, got out at Gran Via, and went to our hotel, Tryp Cibeles. The metro trip is very cheap (we bought the 10-trip ticket for 5 Euros or so), but it is slightly arduous to go up and down the steps with luggage first at the airport, then at the two change points.

I had posted about staying at the Hostal Marlasca, or at one of the Tryp hotels. But I later got an offer for Tryp (which is one of the Sol Melia brands) that was just too good to pass up. The rate was 68 Euros per night, including a very good buffet breakfast, for a 4* hotel right on Gran Via. With tax, it was just over 72 Euros per night. The rooms were very nicely appointed, with a good-quality bathroom, the biggest towels I've ever seen in a hotel room, and a TV with a lot of channels. The building itself had a lovely spiral staircase. We didn't have a view in our room, but stepping into the hallway we could look out over the rooftops of Madrid. This hotel has very good reviews on TripAdvisor, and for good reason. The Gran Via location was not seedy, but if you walk a few blocks you can see a prostitute stroll between Gran Via and the Puerta del Sol. But we were very close to El Corte de Ingles department store (which also had a grocery store), two metro stops, and zillions of restaurants. We had no noise in our hotel room. My daughter did complain the beds were hard (which they were). We had requested a twin room, and got one with the two beds pushed together and with the same headboard. This might be a bit too close for two non-family members.

I recommend getting on the Sol Melia email special offer list at http://www.solmelia.com . I've seen some excellent prices in numerous cities.

WillTravel

We were allowed to check in right away when we got to our hotel. We lolled around for a bit, but headed out again to get something to eat and to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid's premiere modern art museum.

Madrid was hot, as you would expect in August. During the daytime during the days we were there, the temperatures seemed to range from the low 90s to about 100 F. If we were inside at an attraction, this wasn't a problem. But it did sap one's energy to walk around in that heat. At night starting around 10 PM, the temperature was absolutely perfect.

I had always thought I would stay away from hot places in the summer, but the cheap airfare got me to Madrid in August. My daughter had a harder time with the heat than I did, and opted to stay in one afternoon rather than go out in it. Our hotel was nicely air-conditioned. So if you do go to a hot city in the summer, do as so many people advise and get a place with very good air conditioning.

WillTravel

This is out of sequence, but I forgot to mention the drama of our trip to Seattle.

We had arranged a ride with a shuttle bus service (which I won't name given how things turned out) that goes to downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac airport. We were standing at the appointed and arranged stop, and we had prepaid for the ride by credit card. We saw the bus coming, and prepared to board, but it doesn't stop!

What could we do now? My husband was forced to give us a ride to Seattle. He had been boycotting trips to the US, ever since they started the fingerprinting policy for all non-US and non-Canadian citizens crossing the border. But given there were no more buses to Seattle, he has little choice.

Our doggie was in the veterinary hospital, which was another concern in and of itself (because who wants to leave a sick dog and go on holiday). But he was clearly getting better by the time he left, and the fact he was in the hospital meant we didn't have to worry about his overnight care. So away we drove down to Seattle, my husband submitted to fingerprinting, and my husband stayed with us overnight at the Doubletree Hotel near Sea-Tac (the one I had won on Priceline). (The doggie is also fine now too.)

The ultimate resolution was that the shuttle bus company refunded our money and gave us a free trip back to Vancouver at the conclusion of our trip. But the lesson from this is never to book the last trip of the day when you have a connection relying on it. (I know this when booking flights, but I had never imagined this would be a problem for our shuttle service.)

WillTravel

Back to Madrid. The Reina Sofia is a gorgeous building, which used to be a hospital. I enjoyed the surrealists in particular, although I don't remember the name of the one I particularly enjoyed (in addition to the Picasso and Dali).

My daughter got to Guernica and stayed there for a long time. She was fully impressed. She said, "Even if I don't like anything else in Spain, seeing Guernica is worth it."

We had gotten audiophone headsets and these were pretty good. But at about 5 PM, my daughter simply couldn't manage any longer. We went back to the hotel and she had a nap for a few hours. I know this is against popular belief, but she got up at 9 PM, we went out for dinner, and she seemed to be on schedule for the rest of the trip.

Artemis is a nice vegetarian restaurant, which was recommended in the guidebooks. During our stays in Madrid, we also went to a Pakistani restaurant in Lavapies (this was pretty good and had cheap deals. We were put in a separate room from all of the Pakistani men who were chatting and smoking. I think we were overcharged, though.), a tapas bar near Plaza Mayor, and a couple others. Madrid is pretty cheap so far as food goes, and everything was pretty good, although I don't recall anything exceptional.

Our second day in Madrid, my daughter wanted to go back to Reina Sofia and see everything again. This put us off our imaginary schedule, but I fully agreed that Reina Sofia was worth a second visit. When we came back, the audiophone clerk remembered us, and asked why we had come back. We explained we had been too tired to take in everything yesterday. So that day she let us have the audiophones for free!

BabsB

Great report. Love to hear about a parent travelling with their kid. It's my favorite way to go. Did your daughter help plan the trip or did she just "go along for the ride"? Can't wait for the next installment.

111op

"I'll add more to this as I have time. Luckily for us, there were no tales of woe or hardship, so I'll eliminate that suspense right now."

I guess I won't be reading this report then.

Just kidding. I'll check in again and follow your adventures. Glad to see that you've finally started to post your report. I've been curious to read it.

WillTravel

BabsB, my daughter planned a lot of attractions for Amsterdam and London in particular, but for Madrid, Guernica (and other surrealist and Cubist work) was mainly what interested her.

I should mention that the buffet breakfast at Tryp Cibeles was wonderful. The dining area was nicely laid out, a waiter came and asked what hot drinks you would like, and there was a variety of delicious healthy and unhealthy foods. It also served from 7 - 11 AM, which was nice for my daughter who loves sleeping in.

My daughter never warmed to Madrid itself. She has dyed black hair, and she dresses in a particular style that didn't match the "preppy" Madrid look (maybe another area would have suited her better). She insisted on wearing a holey dark hoodie that she called her "second skin", which wasn't too suitable in the heat. (Note: This second skin has now been abandoned for at least two months, but it seemed to function as a security blanket of sorts.) I should say that she got two separate compliments on her outfit in Westlake Center in Seattle, once we returned, so her style definitely works for some areas, but not Madrid. One odd thing while we were out walking - a man came up to her, stopped on the pavement on Gran Via, and started speaking very angrily to her for a full minute. I don't know if he was assailing her fashion choices or what. She did think the preponderance of mullets was quite funny. This is the sort of thing I never would have noticed but for my daughter.

WillTravel

On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Madrid. The treed area around the Prado is gorgeous. The cathedral near the Banco de Espana metro stop is beautiful. The people were friendly. When I was out by myself the first night (while daughter slept), I went to a restaurant and ordered flan for dessert. The waiter asked me what flan would be called in English. We discussed this for a while, with me mentioning custard as a possibility, but saying that flan was probably what we would call it. Other than English, I probably understand Spanish the best of all other languages (thanks to some instruction as a child), not that that's saying much.

My daughter also liked shopping at El Corte Ingles. We got some excellent prices on CDs - Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Neil Young for her, and Johnny Cash for me, and Joan Baez for both of us. A boxed set of two CDs was 6 Euros. My daughter wanted to get presents for her friends, and found some very nice leg warmers in many different colors for 3.75 Euros a pair.

mvor

Thank you, WillTravel, for posting this report. I, too, was curious how your trip went. I'm especially looking forward to hearing your daughter's impressions of the various museums that you visited.

Carry on when you get a chance!

WillTravel

The Prado museum is of course incomparable. Sadly, as mentioned I didn't write everything down, so I've forgotten a lot of what impressed me. I do remember the famous Bosch painting, and it's just as intriguing as you might expect. With all of the art I saw in Spain and Holland, I got the impression that there wasn't as steep a jump to surrealism as I had thought - that it was presaged by art centuries earlier.

One negative incident in Madrid was when I was going to pay the hotel on our second visit with MasterCard. The first time I had paid cash. I had the transaction voided and got cash from the ATM, but it was not a pleasant affair. They were insistent there was no other way to do it. Use AMEX or cash is my advice, or else be prepared to go toe to toe in a nasty fight.

WillTravel

We missed the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Royal Palace. It would have been nice, but one thing for sure is that my daughter is not cut out for strenuous, nonstop sightseeing. She requires lots of time to sleep and rest. I have a feeling a lot of teenagers are the same. She also wanted to visit Internet cafes most evenings to keep in touch with her friends. She also phoned them with a telephone card. She's very sociable, and that was the hardest part of the trip for her - being three weeks without seeing her friends. She'd love to have a teenage travel companion for future trips, but I'm a little wary of such an undertaking, to say the least, even if the TC could pay her own way.

111op

Why was that incident negative? Was that dynamic currency conversion?

WillTravel

Yes, the DCC incident was very unpleasant. The stay at the hotel was great otherwise.

111op

I think that Thyssen is overrated, but maybe I didn't give the museum enough time. A new wing was recently opened fairly recently and my mom and I went to it last October.

I think that I'd have to go back to Prado again, now that I know a little more about art.

We did see the Royal Palace in 2002, but I can't remember much of it. I don't think that it's especially special either.

111op

How did you get them to void the transaction?

I haven't done that -- fortunately on the past trip this only happened to me once (strangely at Palatina Gallery). It'd have been too troublesome to haggle for less than 50c.

And why would Amex have been better? Don't they charge more than Visa/MC over the wholesale rate (based on what I read here?)? But I guess it's probably still better than DCC.

WillTravel

They prepared a voided receipt when I insisted, and I signed that. I'm sure some Fodorites here could have finessed the situation, but it was beyond me. For my trip to Italy, I did everything in cash, and I wish I had done that here too (although I made almost no credit card charges anyway).

111op

I'm so prone to losing things that I try not to carry too much cash on me. But of course one can easily lose plastic.

Once I lost my ATM card in London. That was interesting. I was taking friends out to dinner and was taking out my card to pay, and ... no card. For some reason, I think that I had left my cc in the hotel, or something. I can't remember why I had to use the debit feature of my bank card.

That was followed by a few minutes of fairly frantic calls to the bank in the US.