We arrived in Guatemala City at 11:50pm and easily found Victor from Dos Lunas Hostel waiting for us outside. Things were finally going our way again! Hostel Dos Lunas was under major renovations, but the staff was very friendly and the room was nice and clean. Within 30 minutes, we were asleep.... read more

Well, it's time to head out to the jungle. We will be in Guatemala City, Guatemala tonight and Lake Atitlan tomorrow. Hope to post something again by tomorrow, with pictures of the beautiful lake and the Mayans. We hope you enjoy following our trip. You can leave comments for me (and everyone else) to see by clicking on 'Add Comment' when viewing a specific journal entry. The attached picture is our trip itinerary. See you all in a few weeks! J.C. & Manoli Petty... read more

We left the hotel to drag our luggage down the hill to the bus station and caught the 7:30am bus to Madrid. Arrived in Madrid and found out what metro lines we had to catch to get to the Renfe Atocha train station to catch our Altaria train to Jerez. The subway trains were so full twice that we had to wait for the next one, but finally reached the Renfe Atocha station with almost 30 minutes to spare! Lesson to be learned... leave yourself plenty of time to catch a connection! After a 4 hour ride to Jerez, we were met by my brother-in-law and his wife at the station, loaded up his car and headed to Chipiona, Manoli´s hometown. Its amazing how much can change in 17 years! Still, enough was familiar that I ... read more

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