Costco travel? And Spain/Italy questions

[neonpink]

I have been to all of those cities except for Venice. It is a short time to spend in each city. There are a lot of things to do in each of them. I personally would pick an option with fewer cities.

Madrid- Prado- amazing museum (Spain's Louvre)
The Royal Palace
Buen Retiro Park
El Rastro market if you are there the right day. Were some of my favorite things while there.
Barcelona- Sagrada Familia
Block of Discord
Gothic Quarter
Las Ramblas- visit St. Josephs Market
Parc Gueill

Hang out in Madrid or Barcelona if there is a soccer game on. It will be so much fun.

Rome- St. Peters Basilica/Sistine Chapel
Colosseum
Roman Forum
Pantheon
Spanish Steps
Piazza Navona
Vatican Musuem
Borgese Gallery

There is just so much to see in Rome, it has so much history. Walking along the river and and around the city is beautiful.

Florence
Florence Cathedral
Uffuzi Gallery
Ponte Vechhio


I love Spain so very much. I've spent a lot of time there and I've spent a few weeks in and around Rome. They are very different but fun. I guess it's a matter of do you want to see more of the people and culture or historical sites and places. I joke that it's important to see the things that aliens always destroy in movies. Spain doesn't have a lot of that but the people and lifestyle has always drawn me back.

For Food: I will say Spain is the land of the pig. They eat a lot of ham, and in Barcelona they eat a lot of seafood. My SIL doesn't eat pork/beef but some fish. She eats a very vegetarian diet. Some days were easier than others for her while there. I would probably do research on restaurant options before you go where ever you go. The Italians also love prosciutto too.

I've never booked through a travel agent or a company. I typically do it myself. I just spent 2 weeks in Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam taking flights and trains with in the continent. I would see what you could do yourself. It maybe cheaper. I know when I booked my train from Prague to Berlin the American Rail travel sites wanted to sell me a ticket for 90 to 125 per person but when I booked the ticket myself through the German train website it was 50 dollars for two people. Renfre is the train company in Spain.

[frlcb]

Jan 19, 2015 11:38:58 GMT -5 neonpink said:

 

For Food: I will say Spain is the land of the pig. They eat a lot of ham, and in Barcelona they eat a lot of seafood. My SIL doesn't eat pork/beef but some fish. She eats a very vegetarian diet. Some days were easier than others for her while there. I would probably do research on restaurant options before you go where ever you go. The Italians also love prosciutto too.

I agree with this - Spain is tough if you don't eat meat. They eat a lot of pork, and seafood. They do have the best white asparagus of any place I have ever been, and when I didn't eat pork but traveled there I basically lived on that. It isn't impossible to travel there as a vegetarian, but it could be trickier than Italy, where you could eat a lot of pasta and pizza. I have no idea what cheese rennets are so I can't help with that. We took our kids to Spain about 2 years ago and they lived on store bought bread and peanut butter we brought with us because neither of them eat ham/chorizo.

[majesty318]

I love Spain (studied abroad there in college) and Italy. I went to Spain a couple years ago with someone who only eats Kosher meat, which essentially meant she did not eat any meat in Spain. She did eat fish but complained non-stop about how there was nothing for her to eat. I imagine it would be even more difficult for you since I assume you don't eat fish.

The Costco trip seems very busy.

Like neonpink, I prefer to book travel on my own and tailor it to my schedule. I had a similar experience with train tickets while in France and booked through the French site for much cheaper than the American site. The Spanish rail company is actually Renfe; I think there was just a typo above.

I also like to fly between cities in Europe since there are so many low-cost carriers. I have even taken the dreaded RyanAir, and it is fine as long as you know ahead of time the baggage fees etc.