Off to Spain!

After three glorious trips to Europe over consecutive summers (England/Paris in 2006, Italy in 2007 and France in 2008), we decided to take a break from overseas travel last year. Instead, we tried to visit every city in North America we could think of that started with "N", including Nassau, New York (even landing in Newark, New Jersey), Napa Wine Country, New Sarepta.... This summer we are heading off to Europe again, this time to experience the sights and sounds of Spain. Hopefully nothing, including erupting Icelandic volcanos, the weakening Spanish fiscal situation, labour unrest (Spain and British Airways) or crazy soccer fans (if Spain makes it to the World Cup final game) will ruin the experience. We will start with 4 nights in Madrid, including planned day trips to Toledo and Segovia. Then we travel by high speed train to Seville in the south of Spain for another 4 nights, with day trips to Cordoba and perhaps the Atlantic coast. Next we will visit one of Spain's White Hill Towns and spend a few days on the Costa del Sol before traveling to Granada to see the famous Alhambra, the jewel of the Moorish occupation of Spain. Finally, we fly to Barcelona for a few days before returning home via London. We have invested in a small netbook, so will not have to rely on internet cafes and hotel lobby computers, which should enable us to post regular updates and some photos of our journey.