ok, so i am so glad that the loyal opposition is back- she will always be thus- as she is certainly no dodo.........i am also glad the l.o. is thinking about spain.....

i am so excited about spain- my latest scenario-a bit different than the one i e-mailed to ms johnson, who has given scw permission to miss 7 days school next semester......

day 1- fly to barcelona
day 2- arrive- check in- walking tour of city; good eating- early to bed
day 3- barcelona- gaudi and picasso
day 4- ?train south to roman ruins on ocean-front
day 5- train to st. sebastian
day 6 st. sebastian( on bay of biscay) train later to bilbao
day 7 bilbao
day 8 train to madrid
day 9 madrid
day 10 madrid
day 11- fly home

coming back on a friday raises the ticket price $25- but i feel that i will need 2 days at home to get over the trip. i hate to come back the day before i have to be anywhere. i need a day or two to say hello to me house again, and to lay on the sofa, and just veg-out.......i have just read at rick steves site that he doesn't recommend the spain rail pass- says that the train fares are too cheap to justify it....i did enjoy reading all of the restaurant suggestions posted on the spain section of his site. i am hungry already for tapas and potato omelets and white wine............looking ahead- i did see on rick steves sight that there is now a france/italy rail pass- may be just the thing for 2004..........fly to paris tgv marseilles- then on to tuscany.....but i get ahead of myself.....