Semana en España

For our one year anniversary, Tim and I travelled to Spain. Leveraging two weekends, one of which was MDW, we only took 7 days off work. Not to shabby! Additionally, by transferring Chase Sapphire points to Iberia (by way of British Airways), our all-in flight costs were $150 (fuel surcharge & taxes). Round of applause for the Mister. 

Although we did this trip in 12 days, this itinerary is designed for a full week. You can adapt it to your timeframe and interests. We're happy to provide some alternate recommendations - just ask!

As I already mentioned, we flew Iberia Airlines from Boston to Madrid. This route is direct and feels like a very quick 7 hours. From there, we designed our itinerary as follows: 

first stop: Madrid

We started our trip in the country's capital. What was intended to be three nights and three days ended up as four (more on that later). Three days provide plenty of time to see the sights and leave enough room to meander and tapas your way around town, but two could be enough to hit the highlights. You can certainly spend more time in Madrid and take some day trips to Toledo or Salamanca. Note that we also came back to Madrid for a day at the tail end of our trip as our flight was early in the morning.  

numero dos: Seville 

A lack of planning kept us from spending our first day in this beautiful city. Yes, believe it or not, even us expert planners mess up sometimes! The Copa del Rey brought Barcelona and Sevilla FC fans to town and all trains were completely sold out for the day. Sadly, we didn't book ours in advance and were unable to get a seat. After exploring every possible option, we ended up booking a same day flight to Seville using points. This not only helped us save money and time, but also kept us from losing a night of a prepaid hotel,

However, despite saving ourselves from having to get an extra hotel room, we missed the entire day in Seville that we had planned. We recommend spending at least two full days exploring this Andalusian paradise, but certainly more if time allows! We plan to come back and spend at least 2-3 more days exploring Seville. 

third stop: Ronda

Never heard of Ronda? We'll trust us when we tell you it's absolutely incredible. The town itself brings many a daytripper and tour group. However, just outside the town is a treasure trove of small hotels and vineyards. You'll certainly need a car to get around, but plan to spend at least two nights here. It's a short ride - just 1.5 hours from Seville! You can easily rent an automatic at the airport. We even got an upgrade with an English-speaking GPS. 

last stop: Valencia

Before returning to Madrid to fly home, we met Tim's parents in Valencia for 3 days. Valencia can very easily be swapped for Barcelona. We had both traveled to Barca during our study abroad, so we opted for a new city to explore. Each of these cities is easily accessible via short flight from Seville. This was a very leisurely stop for us at three days. We could've easily done two days in Valencia. 

We'll be posting in-depth posts on each of these Spanish locations, so stay tuned for more goodness! Until then, happy planning! 

Boston to Austin

When you think of Texas, a few things come to mind. Football. Pickup trucks. Cowboys. Sound about right? Well what about technology, live music and sushi? Yes, you read that right and yes, you should add these to the Texan repertoire. 

For Tim's birthday last year, we decided to spend a long weekend in Austin, TX. JetBlue flies to ATX direct from BOS, making this a super easy weekend trip. We also happened to be there during Halloween, so not only did we have really great weather, but we also got to see Austin go all-out for the occasion.  

Tim and I stayed at The Driskill hotel, which is rich in history and charm, and boasts a central location suited for exploring the best of what Austin has to offer. Keep in mind the hotel is near "dirty 6th" so you may encounter rowdy crows on Thursdays, Friday and Saturday evenings. However, don't let that discourage you from stay here - you can't hear the commotion from the rooms.

The staff at the Driskill is wonderful. Everyone is extremely friendly and helpful. My husband an I found it very pleasant. The rooms are on the smaller side due to the original layout of the hotel, but very well decorated. I especially loved the vintage suitcase bedside tables. It's also part of the Hyatt group of hotels, so we were able to book it using points (via transfer from Chase Sapphire Reserve). 

See & Be Seen

There's no shortage of attractions in Austin. Our first day, we were lucky to catch the Mexic-Arte Museum Viva la Vida Festival and Días de los Muertos parade down Congress Ave. With activities for the whole family, music, dancing and tricked out cars, it was a great way to get introduced to the city. 

Looking for a little bit of culture? Check out the Texas State Capitol building and the University of Texas campus. I hear there's an awesome segway tour that stops at both. You can thank Tina Karraz for that tip! We decided to bike instead, but more on that later. 

After hearing of the magical Congress Ave Bridge Bats, we decided to head over right before sunset. Although we made some friends waiting, the bats didn't flock. We did see a few and we certainly heard their little bat noises. But, alas, no sweeping bat views for us. This is quite common in the off seasons so do your research before you go. 

If shopping is more your style, head to South Congress for some of the cutest boutiques Austin has to offer. We loved By George and also spent a solid hour trying on cowboy boots and furs at Allen's. 

With the sun shining on our last day in Austin, we headed to Zilker Park. We rented a tandem kayak at the Rowing Dock and hit the Colorado river in style. You can also rent stand up paddler boards. We saw quite a few pups on the water sunbathing. The best part was turtle spotting in the Barton Creek, which ends at the famous Barton Springs. Not to mention, the view of the city is really great. 

Eeeeeeeeeats

There's no shortage of good restaurants or James Beard winning chefs in Austin. Breakfast tacos and barbecue are an absolute must, but  don't ignore the rest of the foodie scene in town. Make sure to make reservations as early as possible as these spots book up weeks in advance.

The first place we tried Odd Duck. Chicken fried fish head, kale salad with tongue, redfish ceviche and ash-roasted carrot hummus. Need we say more? They've also got an open kitchen, so ask for a bar seat to catch all the action.

For Tim's birthday, we opted for dinner at Uchi. Fair warning, it's on the pricy side but they do a daily happy hour from 5-630. Our waiter, John, guided us through the menu and recommended a tasting  followed by some rolls. The walu walu grilled escolar is what dreams are made of. Never in a million years did we think we would eat some of the best sushi of our lives in Texas of all places (I mean we live on Boston Harbor for crying out loud). 

What's a trip to Texas without some world-renowned BBQ? That's right, we ate at Franklin BBQ. We got there at 8:15 in the morning to score some  covered seats and ate at 12:30. Think of it as a college tailgate, without the football. Diners are friendly and it's a great bonding experience. Franklin employees also come around with beer for sale throughout the wait, so that makes the time go by quickly. Was it worth a four hour wait? You better believe it.  Did we get the meat sweats from all that brisket? You better believe that as well. Sure made for a fun flight home!!!! 

TIP: Bring sunblock and water.  If you forget it, CVS is a 5 minute walk. There's also a small coffee cart behind Franklin that serves a mean cup of joe. 

Once you're done with all that eating, it's time to hit the town. You can find tons of bars and live music venues to your liking, from folk to alt rock, country to jazz. We recommend hostel cum speakeasy, the Firehouse Lounge for some French 75's and karaoke. 

Getting Around 

Austin is a really spread out city, so walking may not be your best bet for getting across town. Tim and I signed up for the bike sharing service, B Cycle, and biked our way around the city. It was fast, easy and safe - the bike lines are wide and everywhere. 

As others will tell you, Lyft and Uber are banned in Austin. You can read more about that here. However, there are plenty of other, similar services to chauffeur you around. Check out Ride Austin and Fasten. With all of their promo offers, we hardly had to pay for a ride all weekend.