Exactly a year ago to date, I was stuck at the Heathrow airport hotel with the boys – for a night with no clothes as our flights got cancelled. Today, I am at the airport hotel with Brian on purpose – we are done with our mini vacation and flying out tomorrow morning early so decided to move as close to the terminal as possible. I hope that next year, I will not be at any airport hotel – or at least in some uber exotic place !

We had a great time and LOVED Spain. We both have been here before but not together, and not in the south. We drove from Madrid to Cordoba, then Seville and ended in Granada. As I wrote before, we especially enjoyed the fantastic food, wine and the atmosphere in general. Our hotels were absolutely fabulous and I fell in love with Spanish plumbing – yes ! – plumbing. Every bathroom in our hotels was spectacular with the best looking, elegant sinks – awkward, I know – but my new idea for next home project. Big kudos to our neighborhood travel agent, Laura Madrid, for recommending the best hotels in each city. We stayed in Urban GL in Madrid, Hospes Palacio de Bailio in Cordoba (converted real palace), Casa Numero 7 in Sevilla (small 6 rooms house in old town), and the Parador in Alhambra. We did pick Tryp for the airport hotel as our dear friend Daniel manages this global chain so figured we would do some first hand research for him 🙂 Thumbs up, Daniel !

I am beginning to appreciate a good advise from someone who has been in these hotels before and knows what will work for a family or for a couple. We used Laura for our Thailand trip as well and it was fantastic – and fit for small kids.

I will post more pictures once I get home – yes, home after 5 weeks, 6 hotels, 8 cities, can’t even count how many languages spoken or misunderstood – lots of work, lots of new lifelong friends made, great vacation with hubby and lots of experiences and memories. But I can’t wait to see the little midgets tomorrow !