First $$$$ Estimate

Dear friends,

It has been almost a month since I sent the invitation and we have a pretty much confirmed group.

- Richard Tow & Phylis campbell
- Vickie Mortensen & Friend
- Ken Babcock & Kathleen O'Leary
- Robert & Judy Phelan
- Don & Gail Sharp
- Don & Mary Lee Stephenson
- Cindy & Shane Newland
- Carlos & Sue Quesada

I have not heard anything from the Costa Ricans, has anybody kept in touch with Celiece?

The schedule is set for April 29th to May 9th.

I have my first $$$$ estimate in euros of 600 euros per person. The way the dollar and the euro are playing who knows what exchange rate we will have next year, so I am doing all my estimations in euros. This is an estimate, very much shotting hight, about 30% higher than I think it will be, but I want to confirm my numbers with my father this summer when I am there. I know the prices have skyrockted in Spain in the last couple of years, so better be safe than sorry. The 600 euros include only the following:

- Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for all 9 days
- Accommodations for all 9 days (including Berdejo and the 3 day trip)
- Entrance to museums and castles

The rental car, and gas will be between the people you are driving with. I think it will be too complicated for me to take care of paying for gas for 4 cars. For now, this is the cars arrangements I have:

Car1 Carlos Sue Cindy Shane
Car2 Bob Judy Don Gail
Car3 Ken Kathy Vickie Vickie's friend
Car4 Don Mary Lee Richard Phylis

This is not set in stone of course, so if you would like to change it please let me know.

$$$$$$$$$$$

I am going to start figuring out cost for the trip. I will keep adding info in this Post.

Carlos

Flights to Spain

I don't have a particular airline I use all the time. I like going through Philadelphia with US Airways as they have a brand new International Terminal. I try to avoid NY as much as I can.

If you fly Iberia it is a real pain, because you will be arriving at the new T1 terminal in Madrid and it is far away from the other International terminal.

Continental, Delta, American, US Airways, they all have one stop trips to Madrid. NWA, Luftwansa, British Airways they usually have an extra stop in Europe before going to Madrid, I highly recommend flying from somewhere in the East Cost to Madrid and avoid London, Amsterdam or Paris.

We will meet in Madrid International Terminal. There is only one customs hall so it will be very easy to find everybody. I will give you telephone numbers we can use to get in touch. No problem there, done many many times with people from all over the world.

Carlos

NEW DATES!!! IT IS OFFICIAL!!! April 29th to May 9th

It is official, change of dates. April 29th to May 9th.

Possible Change of Dates

Attention Travellers!!!!

Don & Mary Lee are requesting earlier dates, I am thinking April 29th to May 9th.

Check your email or post a comment.

Sue and Carlos are OK with those dates too.

Carlos and Sue

Trip's First Draft

The dates: Wednesday April 29th to Saturday May 9th, arriving on the 30th to Madrid, Barajas airport (MAD) and departing on the the 9th.

The goal is for everybody to show up sometime between 7 AM and 11 AM in Madrid Barajas Airport.

The proposed itinerary is as follows:


Thursday -

Arrive to Madrid airport and we will caravan all together to Berdejo from Madrid.
o Notes: If anybody would like to see Madrid you can fly a day or two earlier and explore Madrid on your own, and you can meet us at the airport.
o Berdejo is going to be our home base. This is the little town where my parents have their country home and it is the main attraction of the trip (in my opinion and the opinion of anybody else I have brought to Spain in the last 12 years). http://www.berdejo.es/
o Berdejo is in the province of Zaragoza, the closer midsize town is Calatayud
o We will be tired and I propose to take it easy the rest of the day, it is a 3 hour drive from Madrid to Berdejo.







Friday -

Nearby towns of Bijuesca, Torrijo, Moros, lunch at the ermita. Baby lamb chop dinner by my father.
o We will explore the nearby region, very much off the beaten path.


Saturday -

Drive to the nearby town of Soria, shopping for dinner with the Spaniards
o I will do my best to get a group of my parent's friends to have dinner with us at their Peña El Almendro (clubhouse), we will be using this facility for the duration of the trip for meals.


· Sunday

- route of the Moncayo, Dinner with the locals
o Moncayo is the tallest mountain of the Central Mountain Range

Monday -

Trip to Sos del Rey Catolico, Uncastillo. Sleep in Anso.
o This will be a 3 day, 2 nights trip to some really amazing areas of Spain that very few people know about.
o Sos del Rey Catolico is the birth place of the King Fernando (the King who sent Christopher Columbus to America). It has been restored as it was 500 years ago.
o We will drive to the heart of the Pirineos to spend the night at the town of Anso

Tuesday -

Pirineos Mountains
o We will explore small towns in the Pirineos, visit a National Park if weather permit or drive to France and have some bread and cheese.

Wednesday -

Loarre (very well restored medieval castle), back to Berdejo
o Loarre is the best preserve Romanic Castle in the world, I will try to get a guided tour of the castle
Zaragoza
o Zaragoza is about 1 hour and 30 minutes drive from Berdejo, it is the 4th largest city in Spain and has its origin from the Roman Empire.
o We will visit the cathedral of El Pilar, La Seo and we will have the opportunity to visit the roman ruins and the buildings from the 2008 World Fare.

o Drive back to Berdejo

Thursday -

Optional tour to a nearby Monastery from Berdejo

Friday -

Open day in Berdejo
o Cooking lessons with my mother
o Farewell dinner

Saturday - drive back to Madrid to depart home

This gives you an idea of the first draft of the trip to Spain. This is basically what I have done for many many friends and family for 12 years and for all of them it was a memorable experience. I think you guys will also love it.

There are a few things we need to talk about:

- The group: I am offering to organize and manage the trip only for the group of people from the November 2007 Costa Rica trip. We have a couple who will be joining us and assisting me with the organization and management of the trip only if there is space.

- Transportation: We will need groups of 4 to share rental cars. I wish I could drive everybody but unfortunately it is not possible. I will need volunteers for driving, especially anybody who has driven non automatic cars in Europe (unless you are willing to buck up and rent an automatic luxury car). Once I get an idea of who is in and who is not, I can start helping to arrange groups. I will coordinate directions and we will have plenty of ways to communicate and make sure nobody gets lost. We will not be doing a lot of driving. The longest drives will be during our trip to the Pirineos and it will not be more than 3 hours per day.

- Accommodations: We will be staying in my parent's house, my friend Steve's House which is a B&B that my parents run and we have other houses of friends that we can use. These are not hotels, they are regular homes so we will have to share bathrooms. The two days we spend in the Pirineos we will stay at small hotels or B&Bs.

- Food: Oh my God!!! Of course the Spanish cooking is the pride of the Spanish culture. I will try to introduce you to most of the typical dishes. My Dad will cook his famous paella, my Mom will cook... everything that there is to be cooked. We usually have one night where we share recipes where we will cook some typical American dishes and the locals will bring their specialties. Of course there will be all kinds of wine tasting every night and my Dad will make the real Sangria with local homemade wine.

- $$$$$: Each traveler gets their own flights. Each car group deals with their car rental cost and gas. Accommodations, food, restaurants, coffee stops and drinks we can pull them all together and I will manage the cost. I will try to get an idea of the estimated cost right away so you can plan around it. I can put all the expenses on my credit card and then do a spreadsheet with explanation of all cost so everybody knows and there are no questions. My parents run the B&B so I will have to discuss a price. The flight from the U.S. will be between $700 and $1000, no way to know how much gas and flying will change in a year. The rental car will be between $500 and $800.


What I need from you:

- I need to start getting an idea of who is in who is not, for now. From 1 to 10, how likely do you think you will be joining us, "1" being remote chance you will join us, "10" heck yeah!!! I would not miss it for anything!!!

- If you are in, will you be willing to drive in Europe?

- Will these dates work for you?

- I need you to understand that this is not an OAT trip, this is a group of friends traveling together and by no means will I profit in any way from this trip. If anything, I am giving up a week of my valuable precious vacation to enjoy another trip with you guys and share my beloved country with you.

- I will try my best to follow the OAT trip style with defined itineraries and schedules for all in the group to follow. I will send information about each place we are going to visit and I will have recommendations on what to bring, etc, but I know I am dealing with some real travel pros, so you can probably give me more advice that I can give you.

- For the Costa Rican's, you are required to bring large amounts of Lizano sauce and Tiger bom, and I promise I will not make anybody stay up late at night looking for pretty frogs to photograph. I really hope you guys come.

Carlos and Sue