Countdown to Spain

Five weeks and counting until we leave for Spain, our starting point. (Random side note: there really isn't an image or building that is instantly, internationally identified with Madrid - no Eiffel Tower, no Big Ben, no San Marco, no Sagrada Familia. The photo above is of Museo del Prado, courtesy of their website, which is one of the best museums ever, but I would guess most wouldn't recognize it without a bit of prodding. Kind of strange.) We'll spend two nights at a "hostel" a few blocks from El Prado, hence the photo. This will be the first of a few hostels we'll be staying at, though I'm not exactly they're hostels instead of hotels, since we'll have private rooms, even with private baths, at both of the ones we'll be staying at. I usually associate hostels with dorm style rooms and shared bathrooms, but neither of ours even have those options.

Something thing I've noticed while making travel arrangements is that staying in Europe (Spain & Italy, anyways) is really pretty cheap - keep in mind we're not staying at the Ritz, just centrally located hotels where we can sleep, shower, and keep our stuff when we're out and about. The "hostel" in Madrid, which is the capitol of Spain and a major city, and located a few blocks from a major tourist destination and Madrid's equivalent of Central Park, is only €55 a night. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere to stay in New York City near Central Park and Museum Mile for under $100, probably even $200. It's pretty amazing, for roughly 29 nights of hotels, our average cost per night is $85. That includes 3 nights in Venice, where there really are not a whole lot of budget deals to be had, and 4 nights in Rome, also a little on the pricier side.

One of the ways I've managed to keep the cost down is going for rooms with a shared bath. Most rooms have a sink and mirror, you just have to go down the hall to use a shower or a toilet. And we will have a few bathrooms to ourselves, some places don't offer shared baths and/or were good enough bargains that I didn't feel the need to look around for a better deal. Plus, we'll be needing to do some laundry, which really is easier with an actual bathroom instead of just a sink.

So, we start with Spain - Madrid for two days, not much planned besides hanging out with friends who live there, visits to a couple museums (el Prado, la Reina Sofia), walking in Parque Retiro and checking out el Palacio Cristal (which is right in the middle of the park and I somehow managed to miss last time), eating some great food, and hopefully getting rid of our jet lag. After Madrid, we head on to Toledo for two nights, to see a stage of La Vuelta (Spain's answer to the Tour de France) which I know is a major highlight of the trip for the husband. After that, we head on to Italy, via a flight leaving at 7AM. Needless to say, that's the part of Spain I'm looking the least forward to.