Cashing 'Em In

Another Summer of Travel Beckons
Barcelona, Venice, Vienna, Berlin and Madrid

Using Up My Incredible Shrinking Points

With all the news about a merger between US Airways and American I decided to go look at American's reward structure as it will undoubetly get adopted by US Airways. YUK!

Then comes quiet little announcements by both Marriott and Hilton that they'd soon recompose their point redemptions.

All of this prompted Roadboy to get off his butt and get summer travel all booked. 

Good thing too. Hilton's new structure is now in place and in the days leading up to it, it was almost impossible to find anything on the HHonors website clearly describing what was about to happen. Calls to the "800" were required. When connected customer service reps routinely had to "talk to a supervisor" before answering simple questions. Roadboy knows that whenever the travel industry announces "changes" in their loyalty programs their most loyal clients are about to get screwed. 

Actually I marvel at the travel industry business model. A model I assume was carefully created by Max Bialysotck of Broadway's "The Producer's." I mean who else perfected selling products they don't actually have?

Hotels and airlines offer a myriad of ways to accumulate loyalty points, then find ingenious ways to prevent anyone from actually redeeming them. Anyone who as tried knows that without (very) flexible travel dates you'll have to double or triple points to obtain any desired reward.

I've heard statistics suggesting only 10% of the points earned by consumers are actually ever used.

So after carefully evaluating the tea leaves at the bottom of my commuter cup (and some relentless searching) I determined that (like last year) it would be best to book my business class seats (at a good rate - 50K each way!) through Spain during August.

Barcelona

This year we will fly into Barcelona. I never tire of Barcelona and my son wants to see the home of FC Barcelona. Ms. M wants to explore Barcelona's revamped Design Center (which was closed last summer) which should now be open.

Venice

From Barcelona we'll fly to Venice for two nights. I love Venice and want Mr. B and Ms. M to see the amazing map rooms in the Doge's palace. And yes, my personal plans include acquisition of more eyeglass frames at Ottica Carraro. 

Vienna

From Venice we'll travel overnight via sleeper rail arriving into Vienna at 8:00 am. I figure a few palaces and some schnitzel will be good for the soul. Also Vienna is probably a damned fine place to buy a birthday cake for Mr. B. As for me, I was 18 the last time I visited Vienna (please don't do the math) so it will be all new.

Berlin

From Vienna we fly to Berlin. This will be my first visit to Berlin and I am eager to experience it. Friends always tell me how much they enjoy Berlin. My list includes visits to the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Alt (Alternative) Berlin free Street Art walking tour, the Brandenburg Gate and just time to absorb Berlin's explosion in contemporary architecture.

Madrid

We wrap up with a flight back to Madrid (perhaps a tour of another soccer stadium?) Me, I plan to eat some of Spain's spectacular tapas, delicious ham, and drink some Sangria. I also want to see if I can secure a definitive answer to my open question - who is the dead guy in the Palacio Real Chapel?

For those noting that we are beginning and ending our trip through Spain?

Here's a Roadboy Tip:
Travel via Spain is both a joy and a bargain. The people of Spain are wonderful. Sadly, Spain is currently experiencing fiscal hell and can use our tourist bucks. Spain has two gorgeous and modern airports: Madrid's Barajas (the fourth busiest airport in Europe) and Barcelona's glistening El Prat.

Now consider this, a "free" flight to London Heathrow results in $289 in added per passenger fees. Whereas a "free" ticket into Barcelona accrues added per passenger fees of only $54!

In fact, here are some current sample airport fees to consider. Amazingly (at least to me), the big winner in bargain fees is Venice's Marco Polo airport!

London: $289 (a jolly good rip-off?)

Paris: $139    
Frankfurt: $139

Athens: $80

Zurich: $69

Amsterdam: $64  
Rome: $64

Brussels: $62

Madrid: $60

Barcelona: $54

Dublin $53

Venice: $51 

Our planes, house sitter and hotels are all booked (at those great old redemption rates.) We just need to reserve the puppy resort.

Roadboy's Travels © 2013

And They're Off!

Ok lets run through it one more time....

Housesitter instructions updated?
Check!

Bills paid?
Check!

Travel Cash?
Check!

Credit card issuers notified?
Check!

Dogs got their meds and especiale food?
Check!

I-phone Euro-enabled?
Check!

Passport copies in the office safe?
Check!

Packing all done?
Check!

I think we are all ready! So dear readers my next few posts will be from Madrid, Lisbon, and Barcelona!


Roadboy's Travels © 2012

Hola Madrid!

Getting Our Bearings

After my nice snooze on the train from Granada we pulled into Madrid's Attoche Renfe Train Station right on time. We also left perfectly on-time. The Spanish train system, like most in Europe, is superb. Since the taxi fare to the hotel from the train station would have been stunning (and since Roadboy is cheap) we made our way to our hotel using Madrid's clean and efficient subway system. 

While clean and efficient, within two minutes of boarding, we encountered another pickpocket attempt. 

So for anyone keeping score; the attempted pickpocket count for Team Roadboy stands at three in Barcelona and one in Madrid! 

And those are just the ones we detected and/or thwarted! So for you thieves out there you have just a few hours left before the big plane brings us back to Phoenix (where we just get panhandled!)

Well first off our hotel was a thing of inner beauty. I say inner because the outside is dreck. We are three for three on wonderful hotels. This one is the Madrid Hilton and is located near the Airport, this makes for an easy shuttle on Saturday.

The interior, while beautiful, was obviously designed by somebody whose undies were on way too tight. The only natural finish in the place are the hardwood floors in the room. Everything else is a fantasy in glass, chrome, black, and white.

   

Executive Floor at the Hilton Madrid

Note To Self 

Glass Sinks are Kinda Gross When One is Brushing One's Teeth.....

A Fireplace Fit for Austin Powers?

I must admit this hotel has just about the most amazing breakfast Roadboy has ever experienced. A seemingly endless buffet of fruits, salads, hams, smoothies, fish, eggs, and pastry. It is Fashion Week in Madrid and this hotel is filled with runway models. I have never seen so many long legged skinny people in my life. Watching them eat a chocolate covered churro, a bite of fruit, and call it good - was actually painful.

We started our sightseeing Wednesday with another hop-on, hop-off bus tour. Those have been great for getting our bearings in each city so far. We hardly ever actually hop-on or off. We just do them the first day and then use public transportation after that.

First impressions of Madrid were very different than what I had imagined for some reason. While I had seen photos, nothing really clicked. I just kind of thought of it as another big European city.

After a morning of touring I realized it is truly one of the world's most beautiful cities. Period. 

It has broad sweeping views, a huge palace, wide boulevards, gracious plazas, cathedral's, larger than life fountains, exquisite parks, and meticulously cared for formal gardens. It has magnificent public buildings and world class food, museums, shows, and shops.

The Gates to the Wonderful Retiro Park

The Ministry of Communications Building

Hemingway Said Madrid Sleeps 

Only After It has "Killed the Night"
He Was Spot On!

The Gilt Dome of The Metropolis Building

A City With A Great Skyline!

Loved This One!

 Ministry of Agriculture

Exquisite Architectural Detailing

Public Art is Everywhere

  

Thursday was spent (the entire day) in The Prado. 

What a gem! Before today I must admit I was not all that enamored with the likes of El Greco, Goya, and many of the Spanish masters. During today's visit I found myself deeply touched over and over. 

El Greco's purposeful proportions and use of bold color. Goya's moving from sanity to  insanity and back. Bosch's pure insanity. And then I found works like Sorolla's 1894 painting "And They Still Say Fish Are Expensive!" After reading the backstory about the piece I had to turn away and regain my composure after shedding some tears. 

So much passion, humanity, love, hate, war, and insanity all visualized in one place. The English descriptions were so well done I felt like Sister Wendy was there next to me explaining each masterpiece.

Tomorrow is our last day. I just had to say it to make it real. 


More reason for tears.

Our three days in Madrid will be inadequate to do anything but barely scrape the surface. So much more time would be needed to fully appreciate this city and its wonderful people.  

Oh well a good reason to come back!

Roadboy's Travels © 2010