Segovia Day 1: Took the bus from Avila at 12:30, arriving at Segovia about 1:30. We could see the Alcanzar, the castle that Disney World loosely copied for the Magic Kingdom castle. After heading in the wrong direction for a ways, we asked some locals and found one of the city tourist information offices. They easily got us oriented towards our hotel. After a pleasant stroll, mostly uphill, we found the Hotel Las Linajes and checked in. It is a very nice hotel, the best place so far. Tired from the trip, we decided to eat lunch in the hotel. A decent combination plate was only 7 Euros. After lunch and a rest, we strolled around town a bit and ended up at the Alcanzar, after seeing the aquaduct....wow, cool sights, both of them. Tomorrow morning ... read more

Took the early train (8:30am) from San Sebastian to Avila. The train wasn´t as nice as the one from Barcelona... no tray table or reclining seats, but it still had movies and a cafeteria. Arrived in Avila about 1:30pm and decided to walk to the hostal in the old city, about a mile or so. Didn´t have much trouble finding the hostal, Hostal Bellas. The hostal is very nice, although again, no internet available. Just been remodeled and our room was pretty and spacious, with our own bathroom/shower, and twin beds ( :( ). Took a nice stroll in the afternoon along the top of the wall, with some beautiful views. The Avila was is the oldest complete wall in Spain and I think even Europe. We have to see it from outside at night when ... read more

SanSebastian: Checked out of the hostel and headed to the train station early. They only give you about 20 minutes notice as to which track your train leaves from, so you have to be ready to go and paying attention. The monitors on each track platform show which train for that track, when its due, and display the car order so you can be waiting somewhere near your car. Got onboard and away we went..sort of. The train takes 8 hours to go from Barcelona to San Sebastian, and I bet half of that is slowing to a crawl thru populated areas and stopping at 6 or 8 stations along the way. They do give you little earphones for music and to hear the movies they show now and then. The car in front of ours ... read more

Sorry, still no way to upload photos. The computer in the hostal doesn´t have a memory card reader and there are few internet shops around, none of which have wireless access for my handheld. Will try again at Renfe train station before we leave Barcelona. Our first full day in Barcelona. The first stop was La Sagrada Familia. Unfortunately they were working on alot of it. Apparently this wonderful building is always being added to, and would have been much nicer without all the scaffolding. The architectural style is amazing, with pillars like trees and "flourishes" everywhere such as gargoyles, grapes, birds, etc. After a brief walk around the ground floor, I decided to climb the tower/spire stairs instead of taking the elevator. The stairs are free, much more interesting, and several hundred meters long/high! The ... read more

The flight on RyanAir from Dublin to Barcelona went well...once we boarded... 1/2 hour late, but we still arrived in Girona/Barcelona Airport 1/2 hour ahead of schedule. Most of the folks waiting for the flight to Barcelona were Spanish, and acted alot like Italians... a big herd vying for head of the line. We didn´t try to fight them, just sitting down, but got lucky. They were lined up 50 or so deep and 2 or 3 wide in front of the gate...when the airline staff showed up just before the flight, they told everyone (in English) that they had to line up in the queue areas of either section 1-99 or 100-199. We stood up, walked quickly to the correct "corral" and were like 8th in line, while the "herd" fought to get in the ... read more

It was a long but uneventful drive from Kilarney to Rossenvael (sp) for the ferry to Inis Mor (big island in Gealic). We made it in plenty of time for the 12:00 ferry. One word of advice, don´t park at the 1st car park if you can avoid it. There is another one alot closer to the ferry. It was fun sitting on the ferry watching all the folks who´d parked at the further car park and were close to the departure time run to get the ferry! It only took about 1/2 an hour to get to the island. The island was just as quaint and old-fashioned as you read. After dragging our luggage up the hill to Mainistir Hostel (which was alot further than we´d expected, so take a mini'bus if its in your ... read more