We chose to stay in B&Bs wherever possible. (Ronda was the exception.) We hoped that having a personal connection would give us access to information and suggestions that were out of the way or had local flavor. That proved to be true in every case. Seville B&B Case Alfareria 59 Alfareria 59, Triana, Seville, 41010 ES The Good: Location in Triana, an easy walk to Real Alcázar, Seville Cathedral, ceramics shops, the old city (Santa Cruz) Hosts Carlo and…
…it’s time to leave. Tomorrow morning we head to the Madrid airport to begin a two-day journey back to Montana. (We decided to break the trip up in Charlotte for some rest.) Here are some final thoughts. I want to come back. Or live here. I said it before and I’ll say it again. The buses and trains in Spain are a delight. The stations are clean and modern (even the ones occupying buildings that predate Columbus), they’re fast, they…
We made it. Here’s how: Drive 20 minutes to the Kalispell airport. Fly to Seattle; 1.5 hours Train to the Philadelphia departure gate; 1o minutes Fly to Philadelphia; 5 hours Walk two miles to the Madrid departure gate Fly to Madrid; 7.5 hours Walk forever to find the train to the exit of the EXTENSIVE Madrid airport; 20 minutes and 15 minutes Bus to Madrid’s Atocha train station; 1 hour Kill two hours in Madrid waiting for the Renfe AVE…
Made it this far….
Bags are packed. Euros gathered. Train tickets and passes to Alhambra printed. Leaving early Wednesday morning for an 18-hour flight to Madrid followed by a three hour high-speed rail trip to Sevilla where we’ll be for four days. The Itinerary post (see Previous Posts) has been updated with travel dates. Throw any suggestions for activities our way, and watch this space for images and commentary.
OK. Travel starts in a couple of weeks. Found my European outlet adapters. Have all of Rick Steve’s books on my iPad. Registered with Smart Traveler (STEP) and told my credit card company when we’d be traveling. Been refreshing my Spanish with Duolingo. What am I missing?
If all goes as planned, we’ll be visiting the following places in this order. Any suggestions? Seville (after landing in Madrid and taking the high speed Ave train) – 20 October Cordoba (day trip from Seville) – Date TBA Ronda (by bus) – 25 October Granada (by train) 26 October Madrid (by train) – 29 October Toledo (day trip from Madrid) – 1 November Home – 4 November
I’m going to try to keep an annotated record of travel apps that were useful. Suggestions and comments are welcomed. Here’s the pre-trip list. Annotations to follow as things progress. Google Trips: Promising app that collects all of your trip information in one place–flights, hotels, etc. Tightly integrated with Google Maps and works offline if you download the trip elements before you leave. TripIt: Collects all trip info–flights, hotels, cars, tickets, etc. Reservations include confirmation numbers. This has been my…
