Thanks zeppole! You have been very helpful. Yes, we just need to book our tickets to Madrid, take a deep breath and start reading. As with everything in life, what is one person's joy is another person's annoyance. I guess I have been to enough museums in my lifetime and am at the point where I just want to enjoy the country, the people, the food, etc. I spent two days in the Uffizi and I cannot remember much. But, I can tell you about the best Italian meal I have ever had, ha, ha.
Thanks to all.

I'm a museum hound and I heartily encourage others who are not to skip them. I happen to be very, very down on the Uffizi, and you probably didn't forget the paintings, but rather didn't see them. It's so crowded and the paintings are so badly obscured by the framing, it really is a forced march.

I have not been in the Prado since its renovation and I dearly hope they didn't ruin it. If you find yourself in Madrid, you might prefer the ham museum (yes, they have one!). If you are in the neighborhood of the Prado, stepping in to see the Velasquez and only the Velasquez might take away all the bad taste of your Uffizi visit, and then if you still trust me, take a peek at Heronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights -- which bears no resemblance to posters you've seen of it, and if you are still having a good time, check out the Goyas -- but then split.

Unlike Italy, it is possible to be in fantastic parts of Spain, enjoying fantastic food, and have not one ounce of guilt that you haven't done any cultural sightseeing all day. The monuments and churches aren't as densely packed in, geographically. So it might be miles and miles before you feel obliged not to miss the great sight. It's fun to travel that way.

Have a great trip.

kakiebell,

you should also be using the Slow Travel website, which has apartment rentals and trip reports from people who spent a week or more in the areas you are considering.

kakiebell writes: "I guess I am drawn to Andaluca because I lived in Morrocco for six months and have fond memories of their architecture, food, etc."

Years ago, I also lived in Maroc but that's a whole 'nuther story. I speak a little Moroccan Arabic.

" ... Oh, Nedsireland, my mistake about the distance but when you live in the United States and it takes you seven hours to get from Dallas out of the state of Texas, none of these drives seems much of anything."
You apparently refer to west from Dallas on I20 (then I10 to ElPaso). Not to Oklahoma! I drove many times OKC-DAL, some years to see Oklahoma vs Texas and other times south from Dallas on I45 to Houston. I lived in Fort Worth & went to Oklahoma U.

Kakiebell, glad to hear that you've revised your original plan to stay one week in each of three places. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with doing it that way - why not? But if you don't plan on going to Spain again in the near future it's a waste of a great opportunity!

Read up for sure. That's the way.

Just for starters, I'd stay 3 nights in Madrid; take a bus/train to Toledo and stay overnight to enjoy the place when all the day trippers have gone. Return to Madrid - take train south to Andalusia - or north - or east, or west.

Hire car in whatever the next destination is; work out where you can get to from wherever it is to somewhere else you want to go.

Have you looked at the website of the Spanish rail network?

www.renfe.com

Cheers.

nedsireland--another okie!! Lived in Oklahoma and went to OSU. Wound up living in Plano, Texas for 14 years but have a house in Telluride, Colorado. The drive from Texas, through Amarillo, across 1-40 to Telluride a hundred times. We now live in Denver so do not miss that drive at all.
Go Sooners!!

I hope I have not lost everyone, but have a question about a beach city. If we decide to skip Barcelona and just do Seville and Andaluca, what would be the best beach city close to there to spend a few days?

don't skip barcelona! if you're determined to do a beach, you could go to malaga which is south/east of seville via the pueblos blancos...and barcelona has a beach if you really want to do that.

My favorite city in all of Spain is Cadiz. It's about 2 hours south of Sevilla by train. It is the oldest city (still inhabited) in Europe.

There aren't alot of "sights" but if you're looking for a great town that has atmosphere, character and friendly locals this would be it. The beaches in the old city aren't the greatest but right outside the city they are rather nice.

I visit Cadiz every spring during Semana Santa. Since I rely on public transportation it's a good base for me as there are easy connections to the white villages (Arcos, Medina Sidonia) and the sherry triangle cities (Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar).

http://cadiz.costasur.com/en/

"don't skip barcelona! "

Some years ago I went to Spain for a big tour but did not go to Barcelona.
Took many years to go back to the country and visit Barcelona for the first time.
I was so sorry I did not know earlier what a great city it is.

Ok, will not skip Barcelona. As I said earlier in my posts, it is not that far from one city to another and the train from Madrid to Barcelona is seemingly fast and much improved.
Having never been to Spain, I am unfamiliar with the weather. Since we are leaving the first week in September, I was thinking we should head to the beach cities first such as Barcelona. Although I am not one to spend time sunbathing, I like to just look at the water, walk by it and Barcelona would probably fill those needs.
American Airlines will not let me book my flights until the middle of October for the outgoing and since we are staying three weeks, they may not book entire trip until the middle of Novemeber. Airlines!!!
I think in three weeks, we can do Barcelona, Seville and Andaluca with maybe a few days around Madrid.
I just do not have any experience with the train system in Spain as to how often they run from the bigger cities like Seville to the smaller cities and if they even go to them.
I have a lot of research to do but appreciate everyone sticking with me giving me such good links and information.