Well, there is only one week until my family and I leave for Spain. It seems weird to write about how I am feeling, but I have so enjoyed everyone else's post, that I thought I had to share how I feel with you guys. It has been 12 years since we have been in Spain for more than 1-2 days. I AM SO HAPPY TO BE RETURNING! I cannot wait to show my daughters the Spanish life! We leave on July 9th on Iberia (Please God may there be no strike) and go to Alicante ( a small town nearby) to spend a week with some good friends. We are planning on being there for a week, going to the beach, eating Paella, seeing "Tierra Mitica" (for the kids) and just enjoying. Then we are fly (another Iberia flight!) to La Corun~a on the 17th. We are staying with my cousins in a small town near a beach. We will be there for fiestas, so we are thrilled. Then we take a bus to Vigo and hang out for two weeks in Cangas de Morrazo(which is so picturesque) with more cousins. Then we are off to Santiago de Compostela for 2 nights where we hook up with my husband( who could not take more than about 2 weeks from his job--aren't american vacations horrible?) We are staying at the Casa de Huespedes as Artes in Santiago. Then we are off to the coast of Lugo to a town called Viveiro. From there we go to Asturias coastline, to a town called Cudillero. Then we head to Leon where we will stay at the San Marcos. We stayed there on our honeymoon years ago---which is AMAZING! So beautiful. From there we go the the Parador of Zamora. (I hear it has a pool for the kids!) Then we head to Segovia. We'll be staying at the Hotel Infanta Isabel. I heard (From this board)that it is a good place. I am looking forward to eating at the Meson del Candido again! Then we are off to Toledo where we will go to the Parador. We love the vista from the Parador and then being able to walk the Toledo streets at dusk...it is magical! From there we end up in the MOST MAGICAL city of the world--Madrid. We will be staying (at your recommendations) at the Hostal Dulcinea. So, That's the trip! Isn't it wonderful? I will try to let you all know about the places we will be going to...again thanks for all of your help and inspiration in the planning of this trip. This board is amazing...I couldn't live (happily) without it. Hasta pronto. Esperanza

Have a WONDERFUL time in Spain, esperanza!!! I'm SO excited for you and am sure it will be "an awakening" like no other. Please say hello for me to the very sweet owners of Hostal Dulcinea in Madrid! Enjoy!!!

Saludos, MadridMan

just a little hello to everyone from Alicante...My girls and I were lucky not to be affected by the pilot strike and our Iberia flights from NY to Barcelona and Barcelona to Alicnte were on time and just fine. My girls even got kids meals that were edible. THe stewardesses were okay, not friendly, yet not too obnoxious. It is so wonderful to be back in Spain! I can´t get over the over use of cell phones here. Out last time in Spain was 12 years ago, so things are quite different...yet so gloriously the same. It is Sunday and everything is closed in the small town where we are staying..it is delightful to walk and hear your shoes clip-clopping down the cobblestone streets. My daughters are happy, they love the ice cream and the pace of the life. (how could they not?) I just invited our hosts out to lunch (sopa de fideos, tomate relleno, emperador(swordfish),flan y cafe con cervezas y vinos )and it was amazingly reasonable...13,000pesetas for 9 people...I was happy to be able to invite them. Anyway, just wanted to say it is great to be back...will write soon. Esperanza

I was in Alicante with my daughter last week. It was her first time in Spain and as I had hoped, she fell in love with the country (just as I did). We spent 2 days in Madrid where I studied one summer and except for the increase in cell phones, nothing has changed. We stayed at Hotel Mora thanks to the message board and were pleased with our accomadations. We also visited friends in Murcia, Cartagena and Azohia. If anyone wants info on any of those places, I'd love to talk more

Hi everyone, I am back in the States after our glorious 6 and a half weeks in Spain! It was such an amazing trip! Our girls LOVED the Spanish lifestyle and adjusted very well to chocolate and churros in the morning and "bocadillo time" at 6pm and enjoying the paseos.
Galicia was so wonderfully cool after our week in the heat of Alicante. Visiting the new Aquarium in La Corun~a was a high point for my daughters. It is quite large and modern. There is a great touch pool. I was surprised by the Paseo Maritimo there in La Corun~a. It is lovely.
Oh, those pimientos al padron and the tarta de Santiago! Yum. Also the empanada de manzana! WHat an amazing dessert!
We went to Santa Tecla also, passing thru Baiona, which is so picturesque. Santa Tecla was great! The girls loved imagining themselves thousands of years ago in the celtic village .
I fell in love with Pontevedra. I had never been there before and it has a casco viejo that is very charming...reminding me of Salamanca a bit. We stayed in Santiago in Hotel As Artes a few meters from the cathedral. It was a perfect location. Santiago is such a magical place. Thinking of Calibasco, Casa Manolo has moved and supposedly is more modern. (we didn't get there this time though). We ate at EL Asesino, which is a really wonderful restaurant( I had a great merluza a la gallega).
From Santiago we drove up to the norther coast, stopping at the Sargadelos ceramic factory...It was great!
Asturias is also so beautiful...and the coastline was spectacular.
We then went on to Leon, Toledo and Zamora. (I will write about them on another thread about Paradors.)
We stayed in Segovia at the Hotel Infanta Isabel on the Plaza Mayor. It was a perfect setting. We loved looking from the balcony on to the plaza. Just perfect! We ate at Meson del Candido (of course) and the cuchinillo and cordero asado were excellent! There was a small, yet lovely exhibit of Sorolla's landscapes in Segovia which was a nice surprise. Our daughter's loved the Alcazar! It is so spectacular.
Then we were of to Madrid!!
It had been 12 years since we were there!
WOW cell phones are REALLY all over the place! That is the biggest change. And there is a bit more graffiti too. It was so great to go to our favorite places and relive some of our happiest times. And to share them with our children was very special.
We weent to our Favorite restaurant El Espejo on the Paseo de Recoletos and I had the most delicious Merluza con salsa de puerros. The atmosphere was enchanting! And our girls were welcomed there very nicely.
My younger daughter really wanted to see a flamenco show, so we did go to Casa Patas for the 9pm Sat. show. It was quite good!
All in all it was a memorable trip...my daughters are now in love with Spain, and they are so proud of their Galician heritage.
I am so thrilled we were able to go for such a long visit...Maybe we can swing it again next year...ojala'
recuerdos, Esperanza

Sigh, I wish I could just flip my fingers and turn up at El Espejo...

I would give my little finger for that right now .

I am happy to read someone's report on their trip that didn't include Ronda or Nerja or Arcos de la frontera. For me, Galicia, the Principality of Asturias and Cantabria are the real Spain. Did you go by Covadonga? It's too bad you didn't continue eastward from Oviedo (or Gijon) to sample the scenery & culinary delights of la Montaña or even further east to Bilbao & its Basque cuisine.
It reads like you had a great time, though. You can save those places (San Vicente de la Barquera, Comillas, Santillana del Mar, Santander, Laredo & Limpias, and Bilbao) for your next trip.
BTW
There's a Cangas on the north side of the ria de Vigo - we took a ferryboat there from the port of Vigo (in front of the Bahia Vigo where we were staying on a weekend special) a few years ago. Is that where you stayed? Ferries run all year to Moaña & Cangas but only in the summer months to Islas Cies.

[ 08-26-2001: Message edited by: Eddie ]

Esperanza,What a great trip you had.I'll admit I'm smiling through my tears as I too had a wonderful trip with my daughter this summer that included Cantabria, a night at Casa Patas and many other beautiful experiences. Your post just overwhelmingly brought back all the great memories.

Just a note to Eddie: We were staying right in Cangas de Morrazo and took the ferry right from there into las Cies. It was great! About the places we visited up north: We have done el Pais Vasco, Santander, Santillana del Mar (las cuevas de Altamira too)Covadonga (!!) San Vicente de la Barquera, Comillas, Castro Urdiales, etc. on past trips, and we ADORE that whole northern coast. This time we shot down from Oviedo (there was a very small but interesting celtic village nearby that we enjoyed exploring) into Leon, (we saw the caves of Valporquero there---quite impressive!!) Zamora, Segovia, Avila, Toledo, etc. because we had little time and we wanted to show our girls some of Castilla and its sights. But I agree with you completely that Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and el Pais Vasco are amazingly beautiful areas that people on this board hardly mention. Anyway thanks for sharing this with me. Hasta luego. Esperanza