I am considering a holiday trip to Spain and would appreciate any thoughts on locations that are active at that time of year and destinations that you might suggest as best choices. Have best airfares to Madrid and would be willing to travel a bit outside the city. WIll have two teenage sons along, both Spanish students in school.

If you are staying for New Year's, you can always eat some grapes at the clocktower in Sol (in Madrid).

I think I posted "some" about Christmas once on this thread.... http://www.madridman.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000217

It may seem a bit obscure of a destination but in Jerez de la frontera there are a lot of organized "christmas caroling" on the streets, though nothing like what the word traditionally suggests, its a gypsy still gqthering where people sing, dance, clap, drink and celebrate the christmas season until well into the night, takes place from about the beginning of December until christmas eve. A good website talking about Jerez and its surroundings is www.houseinjerez.com

I just read the thread about Christmas season traditions. It all sounds so nice. It reminds me a lot of our family traditions from when I was a child living in Chicago. All that snow...

For the past 7 years I have lived in south Florida. Normally on Christmas day we go for a boat ride with bathing suits on! It doesn't even feel like Christmas anymore. Sure, bringing a christmas tree home in the convertable is conveinient, but it is just not the same.

I wish I had close friends in Madrid to be able to share that experience sometime. when I go in April I am going to work on that....

sparkalina wrote: Thanksfully I do have close friends (practically family!) in Madrid so I'll be spending the holidays (just AFTER Christmas day) assuming I can still get a ticket to Madrid from the USA, now, 2.5 months beforehand. Hehehe.. When I go back to Madrid in April I'll be working on that and more! Good luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

Are you trying to make me cry????

It is a little weird for me to make close bonds, because I always travel with my dad and people assume that he is like the "sugar daddy". I don't know if there is an equivalent term in spanish for that. I don't see a lot of older men with younger women in Spain like we do here in south Florida. We spend a lot of time explaining that we are not together!

My dad and I are both CRAZY about Spain, and my husband stays home. He is not a traveler. I have been slowly getting the hubby warmed up to the idea of Amsterdam/Munich in 2006. It is going to take 2 years of subtle hints and a lot of booze to get him on an 8 hour flight!!

Meanwhile, I love to travel so much, I once flew 8 hours to Santiago Chile for an 18 hour stay!! It is a lot easier travel, though because I stayed in the same time zone.

P.S. MadridMan, check Iberia\'s website for a flight. Yesterday I saw roundtrip specials from JFK and Chicago for $299-$349 if you travel by March 15th I think.

Sparkalina: Iberia also has specials from Miami and Los Angeles during that same period. Maybe they'll make you a deal you can't afford to refuse ...

Many years ago (1983) I spent the whole week before Christmas in Barcelona. We had a room just of Plaza Boqueria and the whole city was electric. The Christmas lights were bright, the people were out and the circus was in town. You would walk down Las Ramblas and there would be acrobats, men on stilts, clowns with monkeys and even a tiger on a leash!

I was amazed that almost everything remained open through Christmas day. I would love to do it again! The day after we boarded the train to Valencia with a heck of a hangover!