Saturday, April 3, 2010

Roaming Toledo

After we got settled, we were too excited to get more rest. We have little balconies off of our rooms and we discovered the ladder (and unlocked door) that went to the roof – we took many pictures :)

























We left our room for lunch and to explore the city. We ate at the Restaurante Arrabal – I ordered paella de la casa, forgetting what I had learned in Spanish class about all it included: rice, squid, oysters, and whole shrimp. Most of it was good, but I left the shrimp alone. I don't like to eat food that's looking at me.













The pensión and restaurant are both on a lower section of town than the main street. We climbed the stairs to the upper road and checked out the Bisagra Gate, the old entrance to old Toledo. The Moorish architecture famous in the region is evident in this construction. We were able to climb to the top of the structure and get a great view of the city.



















From there we took the plunge into the tiny, twisting, stone streets of Toledo. We got lost a few times even with our map and resident iPhone carrier. Our original intent was to find an ATM to get cash (the banks are closed Saturdays and Sundays), and we ended up finding the Cathedral or Catedral (and touring it – it was beautiful!) and the Plaza de Zocodover (the main plaza). The plaza has plenty of ATMs and a plethora of activity. There are restaurants, banks, and clothing and knick-knack stores.


























We finally got our cash and made our way back to the pensión for our siesta – the time change finally caught up to us.
Everyone slept (except Ella) for three hours, and by the time we woke up, we were hungry again. Rick Steves' guide book suggested a yummy, fairly priced vegetarian option, so we decided to try it (Mary-Margaret is a vegetarian, but it meat is a specialty here and every time she gets a salad, it has meat on it, so we wanted to find a place that would cater more specifically to our tastes).


The place is called Madre Tierra Vegetariano Restaurante and it was delicioso!!! I had campera pizza: your average 10 inch pizza with mushrooms, red peppers, onions, and other stuff that I couldn't translate from the menu, but it all tasted good. The only downside to the place (in my opinion) is that it's a little hard to find. It's away from all the touristy centers and tucked down a little alley that could only be described as sketchy. The place itself was very classy and we had a very good, much deserved supper (albeit it was 10:00 o'clock at night – must note to take siesta more seriously).

And so ends our first day in Spain. Happily we have beds to crawl into at midnight; however, the local crowd doesn't yet seem so sleepy. I will report how the night went. Buenos noches…

¡Buen Viaje!

We're here! At last, the dream has become a reality. We arrived in Madrid this morning (Spain's morning) at 9:30am after a long, cramped nine hour flight. It was only 3:30am Atlanta time. All slightly dazed from the time change, we went to retrieve the van and headed down the expressway toward Toledo!

Those of us who weren't driving dropped off as soon as the car started moving. The drive in reality (from Madrid to Toledo) is 40 minutes to an hour, but it seemed only 15 minutes.

There are two parts to Toledo, the new and the old. We're staying in Pensión Arrabal, a little inn/hostel type place ("pensión" is the word for a cheap inn). The people who run it also operate a little restaurant (Restaurante Arrabal). The pensión is inside of old Toledo, which is surrounded by a giant stone wall. Old Toledo was once a large fortress as it is prime land for military stronghold (on top of a hill, surrounded by a river, you get the picture).

So, as we were arriving, there was some confusion about where the pensión actually was. The main control for traffic in Spain appears to be traffic circles and we circled around a couple of them many, many times before realizing we'd passed the place (and parking) twice. However, we made it, and are now safe, sound, and sedentary.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Waiting...

Okay, so here we are waiting at the airport and in the airplane - though you'd like to see :)





Sunday, March 14, 2010

Lodging

My parents found the price of gas on their own and just gave me a total transportation cost of $110 - not bad considering the van (we had to go with a more expensive one because the rest were already reserved) and the gas will be pretty spendy!

I'm happy to announce that I have confirmed all three places we will be staying while abroad so that we won't have to all sleep in the van :) Here's the rundown:

Toledo: Pensión Arrabal - $20.53/night/person
http://www.pensionarrabal.com/ES/HostalHTM.php

* It's your general "pensión," a cheap inn-type lodging. We have a room with one double bed and one twin bed. The pensión has a small, local restaurant connected to it, and it's pretty much in the center of town.
* Here are pictures of the outside:




This is the restaurant :D The stairs to the left go up to the upper street.





The building on the right is the pensión - the restaurant is around the corner of the building.



* Here is the address if you want to look at it on google maps yourself: Calle de Alfonso VI, 1, 45003 Toledo, Spain

Segovia: Refitolería Apartamentos - $37.40/night/person
http://www.refitoleriaapartamentos.com/apartamentos.html (it's all in Spanish, but it's the version of their website that has all of the information on it)
http://www.refitoleriaapartamentos.com/flashgallery/flashgallery.html (pictures)

* My friends and I have one apartment, and my family has the other. It's on a small street, walking distance from most everything.
* Pictures of outside:












The cathedral is cut out, but I believe it's on the other side of the wall to the right of the photo.



* Address: Calle de la Refitolería, 5, 40003 Segovia, Spain

Madrid: Hotel La Bañezana - $38.90/night/person
http://www.hostallabanezana.com/IN/index.php
http://www.labanezana.es/ (on the HOME page of this website, it shows some outside views)

* Again, us girls have one room (a triple, three twin beds), my parents have a double, and my brother's in a single.
* Pictures of outside:


Zoomed in so you can see the sign :)







It has a restaurant underneath it.












* Address: La Bañezana, Calle de la Cruz, 26, 28012 Madrid, Spain *note: the red diamonds with little blue rectangles inside of them signify bus/subway stations - if you click on "More..." on the top right-hand side of the map (in google maps) and choose "Transit," the map will display all the subway lines.


Happily, we stayed under budget for each place!!! I had set the limit to $40/night/person, which left us $91 each per day to spend on food and whatever else we feel we might need (or want) to buy :)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Preliminary Itinerary

Ok, I've finally settled on a rough but solid schedule of how the week of this trip is going to turn out:

Spring Break, First Week of April
Friday, 2nd ~ Fly to Madrid from ATL; land in Madrid on the 3rd, drive* to Toledo
Saturday, 3rd-Monday, 5th ~ Stay in Toledo, drive to Segovia on the 5th
Monday, 5th-Wednesday, 7th ~ Stay in Segovia, drive to Madrid on the 7th
Wednesday, 7th-Saturday, 10th ~ Stay in Madrid
Saturday, 10th ~ Fly to ATL


*We (me and the elders of the family who are allowed to drive rental cars :) ) decided that a car would be the cheapest and most convenient method of transportation. Happily, two of my closest friends are coming with me on this trip; however, our party now requires at least a six-seater, which translates to a seven-seater = a van.

If you read the previous blog you would have noticed that renting a van was the most expensive means of travel listed. Luckily, after more research, we have found some better prices:

RentSpain - Standard Premium 7s A/C: $680.92
EasyCar - People Carrier 7s A/C: $1,079.70
Europcar - Seat Alambra 7s: $1,253
Hertz - Full Size Passenger Van: $957.35
Sixt - $795.21





Click on the pictures to see an enlarged view



Obviously we went with the $680 van from RentSpain, which converts to about 500 Euros. Now I've been sent (again, by the chauffeurs - though I'm grateful for their service) to search for the price and amount of petrol we will consume... the next post will be when I find the aforesaid info.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Transportation

I researched train travel vs. car rental last night. I'm excited over the fact that because I know a decent amount of Spanish, I can get my train tickets on Spain's RENFE website 20 bucks cheaper than if I bought them through Rail Europe (which caters to English-exclusive Americans and Canadians). Here's what I discovered:

Rail Europe: Madrid-Salamanca-Madrid-Toledo-Madrid = $99
RENFE: Madrid-Salamanca-Madrid-Toledo-Madrid = $79.72
Car (4-Door, 5 seats) = around $400 (but divided by five people = $80; though this excludes gas)
Minivan (7 seats) = around $1200/6 people = $200 (but my parents are sweet enough to absorb some of the extra costs for this one)


There is also the idea of traveling to Segovia instead of Salamanca, as well as going further out into the country to explore the natural landscape, or spend more time in just Madrid and Toledo. These would alter the transportation plan, so keep in mind the above is not yet concrete - stay posted...

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Official Business

Registered the trip OFFICIALLY with the U.S. Department of State's website today. In return, they were very eager to send me daily updated travel warnings for the Middle East... because Spain is so nearby? Anyway, so far I've listed Julie, Robert, and Nathan as my traveling companions - hopefully I can get Ella in there too!