Summer is only 6 months away but I'm already obsessing... and for a good reason. We had not done a lot of thinking on the vacation front (well, by WE I mean Jeff, I of course think of not much else). But even I hadn't done a lot of thinking simply because we really weren't sure how much time we could take and even when we could take it. But, as usual, I got very antsy and needed to know what was happening - turns out I'm not crazy because I recently read an article in the paper saying that simply knowing when and where you're going on a trip is almost as good as going on the actual trip. I'm not 100% sure about that, but I sure know that half the fun is the anticipation.
Originally we planned on spending our summer vacation in Quebec. We haven't spent much time in that province outside of the main cities and thought it would be quaint, quiet, idyllic, relaxing... and also good to spend a little more time in our home country. I looked at various rental properties in locations that we wanted to be in and quite honestly everything that was 'suitable' was crazy expensive. So, me being me, I started looking at Europe again. I know I have a serious problem - call me a Europhile but it really is so vast and different and interesting! Plus, knowing that we have more than enough airmiles again to fly the whole family to Europe for free makes the trip a much more affordable and desirable option. Take airfare out of the equation and you're just paying accomodation and food like you would anywhere else.
I was really toying with the idea of Prague and Budapest... for some strange reason I've been drawn to them for months and keep reading articles about them. They are very, very cheap to visit compared to other major cities in Europe and there is so much history. The main problem is - no beach, and doesn't a beach add pleasure to your summer vacation? Kids will only look at old structures for so long without a mutiny - and considering the fact that we love taking our kids to see these things we would prefer to have them happy and wanting to continue going on these family adventures while they still think we are cool and smart.
So, recently we found out that we could indeed take a few weeks off in August and I asked Jeff - "Where do you want to go, if you could go anywhere this summer?" Without skipping a beat he said, "Spain". So, twist my very bendable rubber arm and Spain here we come! Don't get me wrong, I am a straight-up unabashedly proud very very patriotic Canadian but I'm sorry... Spain beat out Quebec with barely even a fight. Like a cute baby trying to take on a Sumo wrestler... no contest.
Off I went to the library in search of Spain travel books because we really didn't know too much about it aside from the names of the major cities. We both knew we wanted to visit Barcelona as well as spend some relaxing time on the beach, but other than that it was wide open. I read and read and read and became cross eyed from looking at the computer for days on end. In the end we (who am I kidding, I mean 'I') came up with what I think should be a pretty cool 2.5 week trip. We don't get down to southern Spain at all and a huge factor in that was the heat in August and the size of the country. We don't want to spend half our time travelling and for the kid's sanity (which means our sanity) we don't want to spend less than 3 or 4 nights in any one place. They need a little bit of stability and it really allows you to actually feel like you know a place when you spend a little more time there.
So, tentatively we are going to Barcelona, then a week near the beach just NE of Barcelona, train up to Northern Spain (San Sebastian/Bilboa area), then finishing off in Madrid. We are really excited, and I have found some really interesting rental apartments that look fantastic. It kills me how much more affordable it is to rent an apartment vs. a hotel room - and so much more enjoyable!
So, now I dream of tapas and cava and the breeze off the Mediterranean. Only 6.5 months to go...!
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