My countdown clock says 15 days . . . whoo hoo! Today, I
have the day off for the "dreaded" dental appointment. I must afterall have nice clean healthy teeth while in Spain!
:)
Now that I have my new Spain Cell phone number, I sent out E-mails
to all my lodgings to re-confirm all my reservations and so far I recieved three replies all re-confirming my reservations.
I'm still organizing my notes. I just have a couple more things
to organize and then it's on to packing! Told you I was an early packer.
My electronic cords are all labled and I'm just rechecking everything
to make sure they are in working order. I think I'm going to run over to the Apple store to get an extra charger for
my i-Touch (I'll use my $100 rebate coupon for that).
Let's see what else? Oh yes, I'll contact all my banks to advise
them of my travel dates and ask that they make a note of it so I won't have any problems. I'm a little worried about
my ATM use in Spain so I will probably spread all my money into 4 different cards as an added security.
What else, oh yeah. I need to put a Vacation Hold on my mail
during my travel dates.
What else! Oops, almost forgot to get my international Drivers
License. I don't plan on driving, but you just never know and I like to be prepared.
Whoo hoo . . . .I just got my new SIM card for Spain in the mail today!
Now when I start to send my e-mails out to re-confirm all my lodgings I can give out my new Spain Cell phone number to
them in addition to my US cell phone number. Which reminds me, I need to add the cell phone number activation instructions to my new handy dandy iTouch.
I just checked my tickets for my luggage requirements:
- I am allowed 2 checked luggages 23 kg (50 lbs) each (I'm
only taking one).
- I am allowed one handcarry. It cannot be larger than
55 x 40 x 20 cm and may not weigh more than 8 kg (17 lbs). I'm taking my usual backpack. In addition to my
one handcarry baggage I may take the following items into the cabin: a personal item like a
handbag and a jacket or something like that.
I also noticed that I will arrive in Madrid around 4:oo pm which means I probably
won't get settled into my hotel room until maybe around 6 pm. I guess since Madrid is a city that doesn't really
get started until 10:00 pm that might be considered still early! I think all the museums will be closed by then so I
think I'll go check out the plazas and find someplace really great to have my first dinner in Spain. Maybe do
a little tapas bar hopping too.
I wonder if I can orient myself enough to try to find my way on the metro to
the train station to buy my tickets to Toledo and Sevilla. It would be nice to get that out of the way. Maybe
I'll do that the next day when I'm more alert and not so tired from the long flight. I'm actually looking forward
to seeing that train station. I'll probably go to Toledo on Monday. My Prado visit is scheduled for
Saturday and other than that I can decided what to see and do once I get there. I think a majority of the sights
are within walking distance from my hotel. And if it's too far, I think the metro system looks pretty easy to figure
out. I've been studying the information on it and it seems pretty similar to the one in London and Paris.
Today, I took my iTouch to the beach. I thought it had a camera built in to
it, but found out that it doesn't. Oops! But when I looked at the documents I loaded on there it worked
fabulously. I think it will really help me when I am visiting all my must sees. It will give me some background
information about what I'm seeing (in case I forgot some of the details).
I just purchased my SIM for Spain through ST's link for Cellular Abroad.
I got my phone last year for my Venice trip, but I needed to get a SIM card for Spain. Once I get my phone number I
can use it to give out when I send my confirmation e-mails to all my lodgings so they know how to reach me.
I think I'm going to have to re-do my food pocket mod which includes
a list of Seville Restaurants. I was looking at that link that Shannon posted a while back of this fabulous Seville
Tapas Bar Blog. It has a great list of Tapas bars listed on there that I need to explore more and add more suggestions.
I have a whole week (the only really Slow Travel part of my trip) and if I do all my must see's in a day or two the rest of
my time can be pretty open. Oh, and I still have my one day trip to Cordoba. I have to see the Mesquita there!
Oops, lost track of time....gotta run! I think I'm back to the Whoo hoo stage
again. I really getting very excited! Whoo hoo! I'm going to Spain ...
Last night, I finally booked my Prado Museum and Alhambra tickets. For
the Alhambra I booked the gardens, the palace, general life and the evening entrance too. Doru recommended to visit
the Alhambra at night. I might even book a second night (my arrival day). I didn't even know this when I initially
did my itinerary, but they only have night visits at the Alhambra (during the winter months) on Friday's and Saturdays and
my luck has me arriving in Granada on Friday. I'm staying at Hotel Americana up on the hill and it will be very
convenient for me walk over in the evening. I bet it will be amazing. So cool!
I'll order my SIM card for Spain tonight.
I will probably send out e-mails out to my lodgings re-confirming my reservations next weekend.
I'll work on my notes tomorrow and Tuesday. What else. I'll call my banks the
following weekend to make sure that they know I'll be traveling. Then I have to transfer my vacation money over to my
ATM cards . . . .
Need to get all my electronics in order, plugs, memory cards, iPod playlists . . . . I have
a packing cube that will carry all my cords, which I never check in my luggage. They go where I go!
Do a couple more pocket mods with a short list of my must sees (just as back-up)
. . .
My countdown clock tells me that I only have 27 days until I leave for Spain,
that's only 3 weekends (including this weekend). Yikes! :) I knew I was going to experience another Yikes episode!
Okay, I need to get myself in gear. This weekend I'll have an extra two
days off (Monday & Tuesday). I need to take advantage of it. Except for Sunday and a quick ride on Saturday,
I have nothing big planned so I'm going to finish off my City entries to Granada, Malaga and my two day trips to Toledo and
Cordoba! Once that's done I can finish my Google Map Itinerary!
Now the not so fun part . . . logistics! Checking and double checking all my
confirmations, moving all my notes to my iTouch (I need to really accomplish this project this weekend). Don't
get distracted! I'll probably still print my train schedule connections for each city to city transportation.
I find that it very useful to be able to show the ticket booth workers the train ticket I want to purchase.
It worked really well for me on my last two trips.
In about a couple of weeks, re-confirm all hotels, check on my airline tickets,
start to decide when to reserve my Prado Museum visit and my Alhambra visits. And just in case my plans may take a detour, I'm
going to get an international driver's license. I'll run to the auto club on Tuesday for that. I'm pretty confident on
my logistical plans, but sometimes you just never know! Always be prepared for the unexpected.
What else! I'll pull out my luggage, review my packing list and start
organizing and thinking about what I want to take. I waited until the night before last year and that was way too stressful
for me. Early packing...definitely!
I'll be posting more on this blog as I tackle all my logistics. I'm nervous but yet at the
same time very excited!
Under 50 days to go . . . and I'm feeling the pressure! I know
that I like challenges but dang what was I thinking!
Okay, I'm done venting. Actually, I've been enjoying reading then
blogging about where I'll be going and seeing and it is really helping me in organizing my thoughts.
- Most lodgings (hotel/apartment) are within walking distances to major
sights. I have some undertanding of the Metro. I'm taking taxi's upon arrival and departure from and to the airport.
- List of cool souvenirs (Thanks to Maria!)
Things I've partly done:
- Transportation (still missing some city connections)
- Need to work on Tour Information and Museum entrances (ex. reservations
for Alhambra and Prado Muscum) and operations times for all my muesums must sees, especially in Madrid where I don't have
much time.
Need to do:
- Need to create pocketmod with all my hotels info and US Embassy and
Emergency Contact information. Can't leave home without it!
-Still need to organize all my City information
- Week or so before departure - re-Confirm all hotels and apartment reservations
ask for best way to get to their hotel (ie., approximate taxi costs from airport and train stations, etc.)
- Call Banks to notify out of travel dates for my ATM cards.
After some thought, I have decided to add a day trip to Cordoba from
Seville. After reading Marta's comments, I just have to see the famous Mezquita (and hopefully some beautiful patios).
After watching this video and reading my guidebooks on Cordoba . . . how could I not take the quick train ride over!
I love the background music . . .
I've been pouring over my guidebooks and making notes on everything from
tapas bar and restaurant recommendations, sightseeing information, food/drink tips, souvenirs, train information . .
. that's a lot of information!
So the question is how can I organize all this information in a way that I won't
have to carry loads of paperwork. I thought about making these PocketMods. I did a sample which I posted on my Resource page. It looks great, but it does take some time to create.
On Slow Travel Roz talked about a new software that is being offered for the iTouch that will allow me to transfer all the information
that I have on my computer and without any conversion onto my iTouch for easy retrieval. I think this is a wonderful
device and I will probably blow all of my Costco Gift card on one!
