Planning the trip w/ Emilie(and others), yeah!

 

Ok. first off- here's the calendrier scolaire -- http://www.education.gouv.fr/pid184/le-calendrier-scolaire.html

 

The Deal

So we're going to Barcelona/Madrid/Perhaps another city from the 26-nov4th.

 

Letter about Madrid Very helpful letter from Emilie's friend with good reccomendations for madrid, check it out madridletter

 

NEW INFO! HOSTELS! (from Emilie)

I found a good hostel in Madrid

It's called the Cat's Hostel (I think this may be where Meredith stayed)

It has very good reviews, it is in an 18th century castle, and it is on a list of Top International Youth Hostels (#1 in fact).

 

I also found us a hostel in Valencia

(I only found 3 hostels there...)

My vote is the Purple Nest. I dont' know if it is open all night. It doesn't say.

http://www.nest-hostels.com/

Apparently there is a Red AND a Purple.

 

But yeah Hostels are set-- just gotta decide on whether we're leaving on the 26th or 27th.

 

*************BARCELONA HOSTEL IS BOOKED (Kabul Hostel www.kabul-hostel.com) *************

I have contacted Kabul Hostel and they are aware that we may be getting to the hostel in the middle of the night.

 

TRANSPORTATION:

__bus booked!__

though we're going to try to get on standby for the train that leaves thursday night, b/c no one's tooooo keen on getting into Barcelona at 2:45am on a friday night/saturday morning...on second thought that could be awesome.

Votre voyage Eurolines :LYON/BARCELONE SANS

Aller : départ le 27/10/06 à 16:00 arrivée le : 28/10/06 à 02:45

 

 

 

• http://www.alsa.es - Busses WITHIN spain, all the Continental Duchere girls give also 2 european thumbs up!

 

• SNCF = expensive and the trains in spain run mainly really crappily - lalala!
• http://www.eurolines.fr - another nod to busses...try the co.uk suffix for english.

Eurolines times

Thursday - leave at 9 get in on 20:15

Night train on thurs - leave at 21:15 get in on friday morning at 6am

-- friday, either the night train to get in on saturday 6am like the thurs night train...or leave at 16 and get in at 2:45am = creepy barcelona and no hostel?

• all for 100 Euro = $127 = not bad at all, and more money for tapas/sangria or something

 

THe trains at sncf.com cost about a 190 euro (238 dollars, euww) and run through the day

 

 

 

 

Barcelona

 

The deal:

We are going to Barcelona b/c its the place to go. Don't know whether or not to stay there through Halloween.

 

Dates:

10/26-10/31 - leaving the day of the 1st for madrid

 

 

Hostel:

www.kabul-hostel.com - i say, let's book it once we know the dates.

 

Sites to see

 

Places to go

• Sagrada Familia
• Barri Gotic
• Mont Juic
• Picasso Museum
• Joan Miro Museum
• Las Ramblas
• umm, Gaudi somethin?

 

things to do

• See muse
• eat tapas
• Dance
• las ramblas
• nightlife?
• some park - citadel?
• Crazy halloween-ness

 

 

Madrid

 

The deal:

We're going to madrid for a day and a night

 

Dates: 11/1-11/2 - leaving the 2nd morning for valencia to soak up la plage

 

Sites:

• Palacio Real
• Plaza Mayor
• Tapas Bars around Plaza de Santa Ana
• Gozeiko Restaurant in the Hotel Wellington
• El Pescador Restaurant
• El Prado and Reina Sofia Musuems
• El Retiro Park.

 

things to do:

tapas

dance

?

 

Valencia

The deal:

Valencia is the beach and we wanna see it.

 

Dates:

11/2-11/3 - leaving the 4th for home, maybe earlier depending on the bus situation.

 

Sites:

the ocean

moorish stuff

 

to do

buy espadrilles?

 

Some helpful Links within the Lori-Wiki:

Itenerary Itenerary - day by day

Ebay Barcelona Help - ebay dude was helpful.

online tips for spain

 

 

Help us out w. your ideas! Ideas for you to post:

your favorite underground bar

your fav. place to dance

best tapas

weirdest area

where not to go b/c its creepy

some good spanish phrases

emails of your friends who are there

weblinks to yahoo travel, websites for hostels, etc... other things

 

Weblink:

Links to articles

Footloose in Spain’s Capital of Style, Barcelona

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/travel/08frugal.html

Gaudí and the Beach, With Tapas for Dinner in Barcelona

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/travel/01KIDS.html

Cheap Flights within europe (article with lots of links)

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0001/steves.shtml

Yahoo travel BARCELONA in 4 days

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip;_ylt=Avj0kAEzpJo44okua.hLQ7T8xmoA?pid=539457&action=viewjournal

Some good question and answers from Yahoo Travel

http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result?mc=396545469&fltr=_en&tab=0&st=1&p=barcelona

A bunch of pre planned trips from Yahoo Travel pre-planned trips ... look for the ones witha good rating

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip;_ylt=AgDq1O_n0hf3ckg0.jjxyL6cItAF?action=search&keywords=&_crumb=&country=Spain&city=Barcelona&x=45&y=12

Spain pre planned yahoo travel trips that include dance

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip;_ylt=Av6eDXLSbnU5gkCF8LskmSKcItAF?action=search&mode=&_crumb=&keywords=spain+dance

 

 

 

3 Cities:

barcelona

madrid

and(choose one):

zarazoga

alicante

cordova

valencia

seville (or save it for later and go to feria - flamenco dress!)

 

I wanna see andalucia.

What do you reccomend?

 

 

 

 

EMILIE'S ADDITIONS:

I looked a bit for flights, and they seem to be rather expensive. Ryan Air and EastJet do not fly out of Lyon. (EasyJet will in a few months...) If we both have a carte 12-25 the train is expensive it seems but still cheaper than flying. SNCF's website isn't working properly though.

The hostel is called Kabul. After reading reviews it seems like THE party hostel.

 

www.kabul-hostel.com

 

It is right by Las Ramblas. I can't find anything about the club, but I guess it is nearby based on my "friend"'s description. It's one of those crazy hostels where there are 20 people in a room!!!! I guess that's cool with me. How many nights are we planning? Oct 26-30??? 20 Euros a night/bed. Maybe cheaper stuff as well... I'll look for sure when we have dates!

 

I'm almost 100 percent positive I will buy the Muse tickets on ebay. They even send us a map and guidebook of Barcelona with the tickets.

I am excited.

 

 

BACK TO LORI:

Help!

Our vacation is October 25th through November 5th (school starts on the morning of the 6th)

So we've got around 10 days if we leave on the 26 and come back on the 4th/5th. Maybe if we book whatever soon, we'll be able to get cheap(er) prices. Every school is on vacay this time of the year, so it could be crunchy.

 

I wonder if we could arrive in barcelona and leave from a different city without costing us arms and legs. On verra.

 

Looking for flights is really a pain as no flights seem to want to leave from Lyon. What, do I call the airlines? ?

 

 

Cities we'll visit in 10 days:

weekend in barcelona

hang out in madrid

maybe see seville?

How about andalusia?

?

 

Itenerary

 

Emilunsk (6:19:42 PM): so barca from the 27-1?

Emilunsk (6:19:52 PM): so the night of the 27-31

Emilunsk (6:20:00 PM): and then november 1 in madrid

Emilunsk (6:20:06 PM): november 2-3 in valencia

Emilunsk (6:20:21 PM): (that's for nights for hostels etc)

Lolololori (6:20:23 PM): yup

 

 

 

More good tips from a website

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/europe/aatips.htm

Madrid

 

Madrid must see sights:

 

 

· Do the tapas pub crawl for fun food, great people scene and a chance to see the vivid and graphic bull bars. (photos of gorings).

 

· El Rastro is very dangerous from a theft point of view.

July 1

Madrid

 

Consider taking the evening train to Toledo or if you like Madrid, Toledo could be a good day trip with no overnight.

July 2

Toledo

July 3

Back to Madrid

 

All day in Madrid, late afternoon train to Barcelona or, to avoid hotel, you could take the night train.

July 4

Barcelona

 

 

· You’ve got to see the Gaudi architecture, especially the Sagrada Familia church, an incredible work in progress with a fine museum getting you into the genius mind of Gaudi. The Picasso museum is also important.

 

· The Ramblas is lots of fun (with lots of thieves and con artists). I love to just stroll here. Great people scene.

 

· Consider renting bikes near Santa Maria del Mar church to explore the several miles of new beaches. Great scene.

 

Thanks!

~Lori