First, I would like to thank everyone who helped put this trip together. Honestly, so much of why the trip was great was due to all the little hints and advice that everyone gave. Of course, a great thank you to Maribel, whose files are fantastic. They are truly better than any guide book.

Day 1 - NY to Madrid
Flight over was quick 5 hours and was nice to arrive in warm weather after snowy cold in NY. Stayed at Crown Plaza Hotel on Gran Via across from the Plaza de Espana, which we found to be very clean and comfortable. They fulfilled our request to have two rooms next to each other (we are a family of 4). Got the rooms from Bancotel for 2 coupons per night, which was definitely worth it. Went directly to pick up phones that we ordered from OnSpanishtime.com. We were very glad that we had phones. It was a plan that was 55 Euros a week for 2 phones, and that worked out really well for us. When we split up (which happened at least once a day) we were able to call each other by simply pressing one button. Also, with all that was going on in Spain, we were able to leave a number for anyone to call us, as they give you the phone number before you leave. I originally got it so I could keep in touch with work, but I was having such a great time, I didn't want to call work!! We then headed out to Museo de Jamon for our initial plate of ham. We also hit Casa de Abuelo on Calle Victoria which only does shrimp, but they were scrumptious! They also serve their own house red, but we pretty much stuck to beer for our tapas. After lunch, boys went back to hotel for naps while girls checked out very good shopping on Calle Preciados.
Later, we all took a walk to the Palace (closed) but found the Plaza de Oriente nice and just sat and took in a beautiful sunset (love how the day seems to end in Spain in a "burst" on strong sunlight!). We continued walking down to Plaza Mayor, had some great octopus racions at a tapas bar at the end of the street of Botin, right before Cava Baja starts (can't remember name). Headed back to hotel and grabbed some more tapas on the way.

Day 2 - Day trip to Segovia
We were able to walk to bus stop (with great directions from Maribel) and easily get tickets for Segovia. Unfortunately, it was a holiday, and EVERYONE was leaving the city, so a ride that usually takes 1 hour took us 2. Segovia was mostly shut down for the holiday, but we did take in the beautiful scenery at the acquaduct and the Cathedra and in the town. I had made reservations for lunch on the internet before we left at Jose Maria, which was FANTASTIC and one of the best meals we had
on our trip. We had baby roast pig and baby roast lamb, and they were equally unbelieveable. Fresh asparagus and the best ruveltos we had on the trip. All topped off with homemade sorbet and some other kind of delicious dessert. Not cheap (over $100.00 for lunch for 4 without wine) but well worth it. We were the only tourists in the place- all families eating these huge meals. We took a much needed walk to visit the Alcazar, and then took the bus back. Note that you buy a two-way ticket when you leave Madrid, but when you want to return, you should arrive 20 minutes before the bus leaves to get another ticket for going back. That night, we had tapas on Gran Via at a chain called Cana y Tapas, and it really wasn't bad - we were surprised...again - no tourists.

Will continue with next part. If I am too wordy, let me know..

Not too wordy. I'm enjoying every minute.We're going to be in Madrid, Segovia, etc. end of next month, and your report is making my mouth water! Love all the details. Can't wait for next installments.

Going to madrid, barcelona, seville and costa del sol in June - please keep it coming!

Part 2:

Message: Day 3- Madrid to Seville
Took AVE train. Was not nervous about going to Atocha, but was very sad to see the hundreds of red mass candles in front of the part of the station where the commuter trains are (The AVE leaves from a different part of the station). It really brought back a lot of memories for my family about 9/11, as we remember our entire neighborhood with candles). The trip to Seville was a breeze, and Maribel was right - there is no need at all to pay for first class tickets. We were very comfortable and happy with our seats. Again, I ordered them from the internet site and was able to request the exact seats I wanted. We were lucky enough to get 3 nights at the Alfonso XIII Hotel for 3 Bancotel coupons per night which was really a bargain considering all that we got. We loved the hotel- gorgeous and well kempt. The service was great. The concierge was one of the best I have ever encountered in all my travels. My son wanted to go to a soccer game while we were in Spain, and I found out that there would be one in Seville while we were there. However, it was not possible to buy tickets on the internet, and it seemed the only way to get them was to go to the stadium the day of the match. This seemed a bit intimidating to me as I don't speak Spanish and I imagined trying to go to Yankee Stadium on the day of a game to get tickets and not speaking English!! Anyway, through faxes, I was able to get tickets through the concierge of the hotel. (Another benefit of staying there).

As my jet lag is starting to hit me, I will need to finish this in a little while...

(Pasting sections) Part 3:

Message: Day 3- 1st day in Seville (Continued)
Before our arranged tour of the major sights of Madrid, we grabbed a quick lunch of jamon iberico (our first of many many plates) and cheese at a bar near our hotel called Las Lapas on Calle San Gregorio. We couldn't believe how expensive a plate of ham was, although we also couldn't believe how good it was. Unfortunately, we were hooked on the expensive stuff and there was no turning back after that! My 16 year old son developed a tremendous need for that particular ham at least twice a day and if the plate arrived in front of him, we were sure not to have enough for the rest of us!!
After lunch, we met with Antonio Doblas, an official guide of Seville who I found on the internet. He gave us a wonderful private tour of the Alcazar, the Cathedral and the Santa Cruz Quarter (with a quick rest stop at Casa Roman for some beer and some croquetas de jamon). I would highly recommend him. The tour was about 3 hours and cost 140 euros (worth it!!). I think there is a tremendous difference walking around someplace "just looking" and having someone explain all that is there, why it is there and how people lived in it. Especially good when you are travelling with teens..He was great with them- engaging them, picking topics that might interest them, etc. After our tour, we walked to the shopping district (a place where we would spend a lot more time) to look for a soccer jersey for my son, but we decided to wait until the next day when we would be in the stadium.
For dinner, I had planned to do a tapas crawl through the Santa Cruz district but everyone was pretty pooped, so I asked the concierge for a recommendation. Normally, I avoid doing that at any hotel because they usually give you a really bad tourist trap kind of place. However, as I said, these concierges were terrific. He asked if we like fish, and we said yes, and he said that he had a place that was 8 minute walk from the hotel. It was in Triana, just over the bridge from the hotel. He promised it would be "local" and casual. It was exactly that. The name of the restaurant was Pleamar, and it was located on a little side street Calle Gustavo Bacarisas no 1. We had a great meal - coquinas, (small clams), gambas a la plancha (grilled shrimp) camaron (fried shrimp pancakes)fidelos with clams and shrimp, sole with clams and hake a la plancha. Very low key, family run, very nice with a nice glass or two of sherry.

Day 4- Seville
Let everyone sleep in late. Grabbed some breakfast down the street from the hotel. Had interesting kinds of pates they made for breakfast, although was not into eating what I understood as chorizo pate that early in the morning. Around 11 am, we all started a long walk along the water. We stopped at the bull ring and a tour was just starting so we jumped in. Was very interesting as we had been watching bullfights on tv while we were in Madrid (the season had just begun). We were trying to make the flea market Alameda de Hercules, but we missed it. We taxi'd over to the Basilica de la Macarena to see Seville's best known madonna (her tears are made of diamonds). A service had just let out and we hit it perfectly as we mingled with the crowd outside (beautifully dressed in their "sunday best" and us in our tourist jeans), and then went inside and just took it in. Incredible chapel. 100s of long white tapers burning in front of this gorgeous alter and behind it the macarena. It is really a jewel box and if you can get the chance to go in, you should do so. We then pushed on, exhausted and hungry, towards a restaurant recommended by our tour guide, El Rinconcillo. I called ahead (on my rented cell phone -yeah!!)and reserved a table just 30 minutes before we arrived and I am glad I did. Place was packed with people standing at giant wine barrels eating copious amounts of ham. This restaurant has been run by the same family since 1670 and was really a fabulous place to go. We tried the salmorejo, which is like thick gazpacho, almost hummus-like in consistency and it was great. We also ate fried anchovies (the waiter told us that the place was known for fish), cheese and ham. (By the way, very few people we met in Spain spoke English. They would patiently speak to us in Spanish and listen to my absolutely awful Spanish and somehow we'd communicate. I speak French so I would somehow pick a word that was close enough or understand enough to get us by).

My next installment will continue about the soccer game we went to later same day....stay tuned.

(Pasting sections) Part 4:

Message: Hi everyone:
Thanks so much for your wonderful supportive comments and your patience. I will try to continue where I left off.

Seville - Day 4 afternoon
As I said previously, we were fortunate to get tickets to a soccer game, Seville v Malaga. I don't remember if I mentioned this, but the seats we got were fabulous - like the 45 yard line 12 rows up from the field. Arriving to the stadium was a lot like arriving to any sport game in the U.S. Our first stop was at the club store where we finally purchased the necessary soccer jersey for my son (he was glad he didnt' buy it in El Corte Ingles the day before). We somehow found our seats (with directions totally in Spanish) and we just soaked in the wonderful atmosphere (and unfortunately, a lot of cigarette smoke!!!). The "real fans" are sitting at either goal, and they are quite vocal, to say the least. It was great fun watching them before the game, yelling, singing and unfurling banners that covered row after row. Up in the "balcony" was a contingent of fans from Malaga who took off their shirts and danced a uniform "conga". (And this was just before the game!). Before the start of the game, both teams came out together, holding a sign that basically translated, "Competition yes, terrorism no" (in respect of what happened in Madrid). Then, the other half of the stadium spelled out with placards they were given "No excuses" which I believe is the motto of the Seville team. The game itself was not that exciting, although it was interesting to us as we had never been to a professional soccer game. Seville had a lot of shots on goal, but wound up losing 1-0 on a penalty shot by Malaga (for those of you who understand soccer). For those of you who enjoy "ball park food", the snack of choice and everyone was eating them, were sunflower seeds!! Beer was only served at 1/2 time and only for a very limited amount of time. All in all, it was a great afternoon for us. When it was over, we braced ourselves for the long walk back to town, as we had been told by our concierge that we would never find a cab. It was such a beautiful night, and the traffic was bumper to bumper, so we really didn't mind the walk.
After 30 minutes, we walked straight into the Santa Cruz district, and sat down under the delicious smelling orange trees at a bar recommended by the concierge, Bar Modesto. Ate delicious fried baby octopus and yet another plate of ham and a couple of beers and cokes, and we were pretty happy..After our dinner, we strolled back to the hotel, making sure to stop for some delicious ice cream on the way back. The end to a long but successful day.

Day 5- Seville
We (my daughter and I) dedicated the morning of this day to SHOPPING. There are two major shopping streets in Seville, Calle Sierpes and Calle Tetuan. We decided we would be there when they open and shop until they closed at lunch. We left the boys on their own to figure out what to do. My last suggestion to my husbad was to indulge in the 20 euro breakfast that the hotel provides. He jumped on that and later told me it was absolutely incredible. It basically was all the iberico ham he could eat (not a small amount)and tons of other stuff and he did just that - stuff himself!! Normally, we do not spend that kind of money on breakfast, but it was worth it to keep him busy while we shopped!
Anyway, my daughter and I were succesful - shoes, belt, great earrings, blouses, shirts(Loved the stuff in a store called, unfortunately, "homeless&quot. Loved how the dresses had just a bit of "flamenco" style to them...We watched people getting ready for Easter week, buying all the large and small details for their outfits, from silk flowers to flamenco dresses. We loved the bridal stores. Really amazing gowns, all different and unique. When the stores closed, we had made up to meet the boys at Bar Estrella on Calle Estrella. Great outdoor spot on small street.Hard to describe how cute and charming it was. Had another plate of ham, another bowl of the thick gazpacho, ham croquettes and yet another beer. My husband did not partake as he was still stuffed from breakfast!!
After lunch, we walked over to Casa De Pilatos, which is one of the few places that are open mid-day and also highly recommended by Maribel. What a beautful home- the tiles and the flowers were amazing - it is like seeing your dream home in Seville. Walking there is a trip, in more ways than one. The road(Cabeza del rey Don Pedro) were unbelievable narrow and we felt many times that we would be sideswiped by a side view mirror!
After our visit, the boys headed back and the girls got in just a few more hours of shopping, but we were pretty shopped out and headed back ourselves after awhile.
That evening, we met up with two Fodorites at the bar in the hotel, Todd and Laura. It was great meeting up with fellow Americans and I hope they had a great rest of the trip. The bar in the hotel is a great place to have a drink and I could have made a dinner out of the almonds that were served with the sherry. However, we had reservations at Eduardo Becerra near the Cathedral. I had read a review of the restaurant before we left, and it sounded good. We had another very good meal there -fried eggplant stuffed with shrimp, another plate of ham, revueltos with ham (scrambled eggs w/ ham), swordfish, and lamb. We also had our first salad with fried garlic in it and we couldn't get enough of it. Will try it one night here! highly recommend restaurant. No one speaks English, but like everywhere we went in Spain, everyone works to communicate with you..

Stay tuned for next post, hopefully tomorrow.

(Pasting sections for continutity) Part 5:

Message: My apologies to everyone for the posting in bits and pieces.

Day 6- Seville to Granada
Luckily made plans to travel to Granada at noon instead of my usual wanting to leave at the crack of dawn and not waste any vacation time. We really didn't realize how late people ate in Spain and how late we would all get to bed (no earlier than 1:00am). We also had one more stop to make in the morning - the shop Agua de Seville. There they carry perfume that smells exactly like the smells we were lucky to have been smelling all through our trip - organge blossoms and jasmine. We picked up a bottle before we left (located across the street from the hotel). Really good price (40 euro) for a nice sized bottle. And the best part was that we get to keep that smell with us all the time! (Now, if we can only figure out how to sneak a leg of ham back, we'd be set....).
We had breakfast with all the university students down the street from the hotel, and then a quick cab ride to the bus station. The cab driver ripped me off for 5 euro as I gave him a big bill, and by the time I had counted my change, he was long gone. Lesson learned...don't give cab drivers bills that are much bigger than the amount of the fare...
Before we left, I couldn't decide between the train and the bus, but chose the bus as it was leaving at more convenient times and also was faster by a 1/2 hour, believe it or not. The bus ride was easy - smooth as can be, although I did pick assigned seats up in front (can do it right on their website). They played Matrix 2 movie all the way there (in Spanish) so that was perfect for my 16 year old son who had already memorized the dialogue having watched it 10 times. Got to Granada and took a 15 minute cab ride to the hotel the AC Hotel Santa Paula. This was the only hotel we did not use the Banctotel coupons and the most expensive place we stayed in (190 euro per night per room including a very nice breakfast). The place was stunning - a converted monastary with all modern conveniences. It was perfectly located for us - we wanted to be in the center of town and not up at the Parador. We like the feeling of walking out of our room and being in the city. As lovely as the place was and as helpful and nice as the people were, I would not recommend it. The problem was that the place was not soundproofed at all. Unfortunately, we had an American family above us with young children who were running around and yelling into the night. (I had to call to complain) We could also hear them using the bathroom, and I don't mean only when they were flushing!! Maybe it was only our room, as our kids said they didn't hear anything. My husband was also not too fond of the fact that there was no door on our bathroom (I told him it was b/c the decor was "cool and hip" and he wasn't!!). Lastly, the tv in my kid's room didn't work the whole time we were there (although they offered to move them). I think for a five star hotel (and after the Alfonso) I was quite disappointed.

More on Granada on next post...

Thank you Lesli so much for cutting and pasting. And I also wanted to thank everyone's words of encouragement!! As I have said before, it is sooo much easier reading the posts than writing them, but I know I learned a ton from everyone else so it is my pleasure to give back whatever I can.
Anyway, I believe I was on day 6- describing our arrival in Granada from Seville. We left our hotel and searched out a place to go for lunch. Following a recommendation from the hotel, we headed to the area around the cathedral, and wound up in front of Cunini, which I had chosen as the venue for my daughter's birthday celebration the next day. I went in and made a reservation and explained to the captain that it was to be a birthday celebration and I was looking for something "special" (now, this is all in my bad Spanish and his good Spanish!) From what I understood, he said basically, "don't worry". We wound up next door for tapas at Olivers which was great. It was a bit late (4:00), but they still served us. We had fantastic potato salad (a huge plate) made with homemade mayonaise (is there any other kind in Europe??), which no one else in my family appreciated, so I wound up (happily) eating the entire plate myself. Another plate of ham, fried monkfish, fried squid, and octopus. They had a mushroom special that we saw others eating, but they were gone that late in the day. We were very very happy....We walked around for awhile, waiting for stores to open at 5:00, and then enjoyed the "souk-like" environment. We also visited the cathedral and the tombs of Isabel and Ferdinand. That night, still full from potato salad, I tried to find a falafel or middle eastern type of restaurant for a quick bite, but we couldn't find one in which you could sit down. We wound up at the first place we could find (tired, some of us hungry, some of us not) at a not so memorable taverna. In fact, the food was so "bad" that we couldn't even eat most of it, to the consternation of the waiter. We went back to our hotel and our very noisy room, took an Ambien, and passed out!!

Day 7- Granada
We had early reservations (9:00) at the Nasrid palace. We quickly downed the lovely breakfast at the hotel and jumped on the shuttle bus up to the Alhambra. We rented audio tours for each of us, but I really regretted not getting a private tour (although I think my family was grateful!!. At least they had some input as to what they did and did not want to see). The audio tour was very minimal, imo, but it was better than nothing. I can't even imagine walking around this immense area with only a guidebook. Anyway, I think a guide would have brought more of the Palace "to life" for my kids. (My son's additude was more like, "you walk from one room of tiles to another room of tiles, and your parents actually think that there is a difference!). My husband and I were amazed by what we saw, but I might have built up the Alhambra just a bit... We spent 3 hours there, deciding not to visit the Generalife as not everything was in bloom). We did stop at the Parador to see what we missed, and we all decided we were happier in town. We took a taxi down to the Plaza Nueva and searched out the newly built Bain Arabes. Friends of our who had been to Granada told us about this place. It is a recreation of an Arab bath, and you can go in without a reservation, but need one if you want a massage. I had brought all our bathing suits in anticipation of our find this place, and luckily we did (there are signs at the Plaza). It was really fun actually doing what we had just seen "empty" at the Alhambra, and I think the kids enjoyed it as well. You can't really go there with young kids as there is a "code of quiet" . There was a cold dip pool and one steam pool in which you could lie down. When it got hot, you would go to the room with the cold dip pool and either jump in or just cool off in the room. There was the constant smell of cinnamon...The steam pool felt really good to all of us after all the walking and climbing we had done in the morning. We did not have massages, but we still found the whole experience interesting and relaxing and I would highly recommend it. The exact address was Calle Santa Ana 16. They have a website where you can check it out at www.grupandalus.com
After our "bath" we were pretty hungry and in the mood for Moroccan food. The bath does have a restaurant (and a tea house) but they did not open for at least 1 1/2 hours, so we headed into the Abacin in search of an open place for lunch. Although it was very picturesque (narrow street and white houses), we could not find a restaurant. So we headed back to the Plaza, checked our guide (Time Out) and searched for a recommended restaurant, Arrayanes on Custa Maranas 4. We found it, but they did not open for 1 hour, so we loved the way it looked (big pillows, candles) and the way it smelled, and they spoke French (hooray, a language I can speak!) so we made a reservation for when it opened. We satisfied our hunger with some pastry we found in the neighborhood and then checked out the neighborhood, filled with little stores like a "souk". Finally, lunch time and we arrived on time to find the whole restaurant was ours. No one else came the entire time we were there. We had delicious hummus, saldas, couscous, tangines, shish kebabs followed by wonderful mint tea. Service was gracious and welcoming and it was a very nice change of pace from Spanish food. We wandered around a bit more after lunch, then split up. My son went to internet store to keep in touch with his friends at hom, my husband went back to the hotel with my daughter, and I went shopping all by myself. (again, those two phones really worked for us.
Will stop here and next installment will be about great birthday dinner at Cunini!