Road trip!!!!

Eric and I just got back from our 2 week road trip through Spain. I am still reeling in the fact that we saw and did so much. It almost doesn't seem real. That Google map is a screen capture of the route that we drove. We began our journey in Madrid, went to Avila, El Elscorial, Toledo, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona and some tiny cities along the coast of France. We saw a ton.  We drove about 2,200 km, in a Mini Cooper One. (It was cute but it has nothing on my little red monster.)
I'm going to have a few postings about our trip so I will start with how we got around. The little Mini we got was a great size if not as speedy as mine. It also was better on gas.Which is great news when gas is 8 dollars a gallon. (YIKES!) Before we got the car we flew into Madrid and wandered around Madrid for a few days on foot and via taxi before we got our car.  The train system there is great so we used it to take our two day trips to Avila and El Escorial. I really liked riding in the trains. I wish the U.S had a better train system. It was so simple and easy.

Once we left Madrid we got the car. We set off to Toledo. It amazes me that they just will rent a car to you if you have a drivers license. We didn't know Spanish much less the road rules. Lucky we are quick learners and watched everyone else.  Another fact we learned is GPS are fine to have. I had read somewhere online that they were illegal. It isn't GPS systems it's radar. So Eric and I didn't have a navigation system besides an atlas Eric bought. I became the map reader/directions girl while Eric drove. It worked out perfectly. We really did need two people.

Once I edit my pictures a bit. I'll have more to share. :)