• About Amy Welborn
  • Homeschooling
  • Travel
  • Sex & Gender
  • Lent

Charlotte was Both

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Bueno
Driving and Riding in Spain »

Spain: The Basics

July 4, 2019 by Amy Welborn

We’re back!

img_20190624_191508
img_20190624_142412
img_20190626_105441
img_20190627_123825

I’m going to do a recap of our trip, partly for you, but mostly for me. If you’ve ever taken an intense trip like this, you know how weird it is, how time compresses, how the moments you are convinced you won’t forget immediately fade into the fog of memory.

As I usually do, I’ll start with the basics. I’ll outline our itinerary in this post, including how we got around, then follow up with a post on where we stayed, then follow that up with several more detailed posts on what we experienced.

So..why Spain?

I have no Spanish blood in me (WASP on one side, French-Canadian on the other). Son #5 has a strong interest in Hispanic-related things, but from this side of the world: Mexico and Central America.

But.  I do find Spain an interesting place – well, everywhere in the world is interesting to me, so that’s not helpful. I wanted a fresh destination for us and one that was easy to get to, closer to the US than say, Poland, and that would be a good spot for not only us, but for one of my older sons and his family (wife and son), who would be joining us for the first part of the trip.

So what evolved was a Seville-centered trip for the first two weeks, and then the three of us exploring for the rest of it. I had a general sense of what we’d do – ending up in Bilbao for a flight out, but I left it basically open until we were actually in Spain. I made some refundable hotel/hostel reservations, but I didn’t make the final decisions until we were actually there, and that included renting a car.

It turned out, I think, to be an excellent choice. For me at least! The one negative was the weather – as you know, Europe was in the midst of an intense heat wave during the last part of June and although almost everywhere we went had air conditioning, it made walking about outdoors not the most pleasant of experiences – in Bilbao, the temperatures were in the 70’s, and it was…lovely!

Anyway, here’s a map of our travels, followed by a day-by-day breakdown.

Spainsh-road-map2

June 10:  Fly out of the US

June 11: Arrive, eventually, in Seville, late afternoon.

June 12: Son #2 & family arrive

June 11-June 22 Seville.  One day trip for us &grandson to Cordoba. One two-day trip for Son & Daughter-in-law to Grenada

June 22: Son #2 & family back to US.

June 22: Pick up rental car at Seville train station. Drive to Mérida for the afternoon and then to Cáceres‎

June 22-24 (morning): Cáceres‎ with Sunday afternoon trip to Trujillo.

June 24 (Monday): Drive to Guadalupe. Spend night in Guadalupe.

June 25 (Tuesday): Drive to Toledo, with stop in Talavera de la Reina.

June 25-27: Toledo

June 27: Drive to Madrid – stops in Chinchon and Mejorada del Campo , stay in airport hotel.

June 28-30: Fly RyanAir to Lucca, Italy (via Pisa)

June 30: Fly back to Madrid, get car, drive to Sad Hill Cemetery outside of Santo Domingo de los Silos, late afternoon in Burgos, see the Burgos Cathedral, drive on to Bilbao

July 1: Day in Bilbao, evening, return car.

July 2: Back to US – fly into NYC, spend night, visit with Ann Engelhart  (follow her on Instagram, too!) who picked us up at JFK and took us to the hotel in Astoria, and then with Son #1, who lives in NYC.

July 3: Back to Birmingham!

And how did we get around? In Seville, we walked, with a couple of cab and bus rides here and there. We took the train to Cordoba. Son and DIL took the bus to Grenada.

After Seville, we drove. I’ll probably do a post on driving in Spain later, but just know that it was absolutely fine. Even navigating in towns and cities, while a little fraught, was problem-free. I have driven in Europe before – in Sicily in 2009,throughout France in 2012, then in Italy in 2016 – so, for example, the whole concept of the roundabout is familiar to me, and I really am a fan.

The car was a Citroen Cactus,rented from Hertz for about $200 for the 11 days – very cheap, it seems, especially with pickup and dropoff in two different cities.  I usually go super small (last time in Italy, I drove a small Fiat and it was great fun), but I knew this time we’d be driving on some questionable roads (to get to Sad Hill Cemetery) and a small car was…not advisable for that. It drove very well, and came with GPS, which I’ve never had in a car before, but was invaluable this time.

Well, I started this about 5:30 AM – I’ve been awake since 4, with my body still on Europe clock – and I expect others to start awakening soon, so…more later on exactly where we stayed and what all that was like.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Amy Welborn, Amy Welborn's Books, Catholic, Catholicism, Christian, Faith, Family, Family Travel, history, Jesus, Joseph Dubruiel, Matthew 25, Michael Dubruiel, pilgrimage, Reading, spain, Spain 2019, Travel, travel with kids | Tagged Amy Welborn, Amy Welborn's Books, Catholic, Catholicism, Christianity, family travel, Italy, Michael Dubruiel, Spain, Spain 2019, travel, travel with kids |

  • Header Image

    Rome, 2016

  • Coming March 2023




  • Books on Saints
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 9,695 other subscribers
  • It is what it is


    stories
    opinions
    observations
    photos.
    reviews

    Seeker Friendly.

  • Check out the new Substack
  • Fiction

    A short story about mothers, daughters, and why we believe what we say we believe…or not. 

    "amy welborn"

    Finalist for the J.F.Powers Short Story Award. Read on  Wattpad. 

    A novel

  • My son's novel
  • Hola.

    Amy Welborn
  • Follow Charlotte Was Both on Facebook. Get new posts in your newsfeed. Save wear and tear on the Internets.

    Follow Charlotte Was Both on Facebook. Get new posts in your newsfeed. Save wear and tear on the Internets.
  • In the past

  • Follow Charlotte was Both on WordPress.com
  • Copyright Notice

    © Amy Welborn and Charlotte Was Both, 2007-2022 Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

  • amywelborn.net

    amywelborn.org

  • INSTAGRAM

  • "It is interesting to take a close look at this entrance of the Child Jesus into the solemnity of the temple, in the great comings and goings of many people, busy with their work: priests and Levites taking turns to be on duty, the numerous devout people and pilgrims anxious to encounter the Holy God of Israel. Yet none of them noticed anything. Jesus was a child like the others, a first-born son of very simple parents. Today's the memorial of St. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines.  Today is the feast the Conversion of Paul. Some related images from my books. The Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories, the Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, and the Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs and Symbols. More:. https://amywelborn.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/the-conversion-of-saul-in-poetry/ St. Francis de Sales, whose feast is today, invites us to focus first, on the reality of the present moment. How is God calling me to love here, now? From St. Francis de Sales, whose feastday is today: It's coming! For more: Pages from an English-language, but Belgian-originating Mass book for children from the 50's.  More at All right, here's another one. I'm trying to get better and more efficient at video for this app, so I'm practicing by doing reels and such related to this year's travel. Last time - my trip to Mexico in October. This time, our trip to England and Scotland from this past June:  Oxford, York, the Hadrian's Wall area, Lindesfarne, Edinburgh and London. Phew!

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Charlotte was Both
    • Join 454 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Charlotte was Both
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: