Just Back from Spain
 

Just back from Madrid & Seville.Thanks to everyone who provided so much helpful information.Please let me know if I can return the favor.

Henry, <BR> <BR>So tell us more....where did you go? What did you see? Where did you stay? What was good? Any surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant? What do you recommend to others? Maria

Maria,We flew to Madrid took the AVE to Seville for 3 days then back to Madrid for 3 days.Ave was great, rode tourist,would not spend xtra $ on 1st class.It was our 1st time to both cities so we did all the major sites.Went to Los Gallos for flamenco show and thought it was one of the highlights.Before going to Spain throw your diet out the window.The food was consistently excellent and inexpensive.Went to Casas- Paco,Botin and Vallejo in Madrid.No one should leave Madrid without eating the shellfish bisque at Casa Vellejo.Casa Robles in Seville was superb.Stayed at Casa de la Juderia in Seville very nice.Stayed at Tryp Ambassador in Madrid also vey nice.Booked Tryp room through central reservations save 3,000 pesatas/night.I loved being able to enjoy a cigar after dinner but non-smokers beware Spain is planey earth's smoking section.Highly recommend Spain.

I leave in a week. Do you have any restaurant recommendations (price range)?

I'm just back from a week in Madrid too and had a wonderful time. I would also wholeheartedly agree that the food in Madrid was faultless. We went to all the highly recommended restaurants on Fodor's list and ate fantastically and reasonably. I would highly recommend El Pescador (about £25 a head, depending on what you order) and El Canador (less than £20 a head). I would also suggest bringing a dictionary if you're not familiar with the language as most of the menus are only in Spanish. Tapas bars are also highly recommended but it does take some guts to start if you're a "tapas virgin". Angie <BR>

We are going to Spain from July 24-August 7 and will be staying mainly in San Sebastian, where we have a small hotel booked. However, we need a hotel in Bilbao for a few nights, and would also like to drive from San Sebastian to Burgos, through Navarra (Estella, Pamplona, etc.) and up through the French Basque area and back to San Sebastian along the coast. We are looking for clean, inexpensive small hostels/hotels all along this route, preferably around 10,000 pesetas (more or less). We are having to spend 15,000 pesetas a night for the San Sebastian hotel and would like to save a bit of money elsewhere. Any suggestions? Thanks very much. Will be glad to share any good tips we have when we return. <BR> <BR>Mary <BR>

AMG,Most resturants post their menu on their exterior.So you can wander until you see something you like.Would also agree with the previous comment advising the use of a dictionary.The more food words you know the better able you will be to explore spainish cooking.

Henry: <BR> <BR>I thought I just read somewhere in one of the posts in the Spain section that to use an ATM card in Spain, the PIN number must be a numeric word 4 characters in length. Now I can't find the post. Can you comment??? My son is leaving for Spain on Friday, so I'd like to tell him for sure. Thanks.

Hi Maria:I used my ATM card throughoutSpain and never had a problem.I beleive you are correct that your pin must be entered as a numeric.I also believe,but not tested,that you can not withdraw from a savings account overseas.Checking only.ATM's were widely avalible in Madrid and Seville.Enjoy.

I was able to withdraw from my savings account using my ATM card in Barcelona. I never had a problem using Caixa Cataluyna but there was one bank that I couldn't get my card to work (how quickly we forget what doesn't work - I can't remember which bank). <BR> <BR>4 digits are what is accepted at most ATM's. You just need to check with your bank to see if there have been any reported problems using their cards in the area your son is going to visit. Small town banks seem to be the ones that don't work. <BR> <BR>