Made a decision
 

I found and booked a dog sitter an hour ago....I think we landed on Madrid and Granada. Now I need to book a trip. Thank you for so many great ideas. I really want to take advantage of all of them over the next couple years.
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur.../#post17449831

Neighborhood in Madrid / Granada
 

What is a good central neighborhood in Madrid? Restaurants but not crazy bar scene?
And where is a good location to stay in Granada? Any suggestions would be helpful. Will probably AirBnB it.
Sorry I meant to post this here: https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/itinerary-help-madrid-and-granada-1713900/#post17450047
And can't delete it.

In Madrid we stayed in a lovely Air BNB near Plaza España, the location worked great for us, walking distance from just about everything we wanted to see. We took a cab to/from the train station on arrival and for our day trip to Toledo.

On our first visit, we'd planned to stay at the Hotel Rui Plaza España, also in a excellent location. Turns out this hotel is massive.

In Granada we stayed in an Air BNB in the center, mere steps from the Granada Cathedral. The location was great, on a pedestrian street, although rather noisy.