Still in Iowa!

Hi Everyone!  Still in Iowa but making big plans!  Jerry and I have been researching for weeks. Our trip this time is Spain and France!  We have never been to Spain, and are looking forward to seeing this ancient and exciting culture!  The weather in Iowa has been so cold and miserable this winter, Sunny Spain sounds like a great place to be right now.  And France....ah la belle France!  As you all know, we love France.

Our itinerary starts in Madrid Spain.  We have a beautiful apartment rented in the central part of Madrid right by the golden Tapas area of  Puerta del Sol.  We found this apartment on Flipkey.com.  Our process is when we decide to stay in a location to research apartments rather than hotels. So much less expensive.  We are committed to apartment living because we can live like locals in a neighborhood.  We can eat from the daily market, we can meet neighbors and local vendors, and find local treasures and sites. The Prado is a top European art museum and is walking distance from the apartment.   We will be in Madrid for 5 nights and 6 days, some of that will be "jet lag"  recovery but also just exploring this wonderful city.  A side trip to Segovia might be in the works.

Our next stop will be the Mediterranean city of Valencia, Spain. Another wonderful apartment in the city center through Home Away.com.  Jean was totally determined that since we have been all around the Med we were going to see the "sea" this trip.  So, even though Valencia is a fabulous city with many things that we want to see, it also has a great beach.  It is the home of " Seafood Paella" and the site of the largest Aquarium.  Excited to see it!  We will be in Valencia for 7 days.  We are hoping to have some "beach" time and eating nothing but fresh seafood.

Our last stop in Spain will be everyone's favorite Spanish city, Barcelona.  We will be there 4 nights walking up and down the Ramblas, eating Tapas, drinking Spanish wine, and seeing the amazing Gaudi architecture and Picassos.  We will be in a hotel here since we will be here only 4 nights.  I am sure we will have a great time.

From Valencia we will be taking the train to France.  More about that in later posts.  If you are wanting to receive email alerts of future posts you can enter your email in the section that says " enter your email here" to the right below the picture on our home page.  It takes you to a different website, but it is secure and you will  receive an alert when we have a new post.

Thanks you for reading.  Looking forward to the trip that starts on February 25.  I will post again next week about France.....ahhhhhh la belle France.  We will be there another 3 weeks after Spain.  I can't wait!!!!! Ciao!