Krista would like...

I went to the library last night and took out 3 travel guides on Spain, then I read for about an hour and between that, the emails from my godmother (Aunt Mary), and talking to my French co-worker, I have a much clearer picture of where I'd like to go. But whether or not it jives with Tom's plans and his family's plans remains to be seen.

Here's my idea though:

Arrive August 10th in Madrid. Spend time with Tom's family, walking around Madrid, helping prepare for the wedding. There is a section of town here that people walk 24 hours a day, so I'd like to be out most of at least one night, walking around and taking it in at night.

And of course we will be touring around the neighbourhood that Tom and his family used to live in, the school Tom and his brother went to, etc.

My Aunt Mary told me that car rentals are cheaper if booked here, and can always be cancelled once we arrive there. I think we should get a car for while we are in Madrid and Barcelona, but rely on buses for the remainder of the time.

August 13th: Wedding in a small town west of Madrid.

As soon as politely possible, leave the family and Madrid and go south to Toledo, which is apparently a great old city and is very easy to walk around.

From there take a bus to Barcelona--I'd like to check out the Picasso gallery, if this is where it is.
Then down the coast to the west, into the Moorish part, stopping in Grenada and Seville. Visit Alhambra in Granada, which my Aunt Mary said is "a must see for Moorish art, architecture and gardens!". I think we have to get tickets ahead of time, though... and with our arrival date near, I wonder if we will be able to get in.

In Seville we have to see the cathedral which is the heralded to be the largest Gothic building in the world. I'm sure that one will jangle Tom's chimes--he's always into checking out architecture. And, there is a grave in Seville that could possibly hold the remains of Christopher Columbus--I definitely want to see that!

(Funny... I always thought of Columbus as "American". Probably because he's a prominent figure in US history. I remember also the first time I realized that Presidents and Prime Ministers eat. I knew they ran countries; it never occurred to me that they'd stop and eat like regular folk.)

And of course, I'd like to spend at least one day on the Mediterranean--I don't know if it's warm enough to swim in, but I'd like to anyway...

Then somehow dip down to Morocco, and then probably back to Madrid... or, time permitting, we could to into Portugal for a bit.