Hi, I'll be leaving for Madrid in August. We have a choice of three orientation trips upon our arrival. We can choose to go to the Balearic Islands, La Manga, or Andalucia. Does anyone have an opinion on these places? Thanks!

Hi Nellie - go for Andalucia. It's a great place to be. Once you see Sevilla, you'll fall in love with the place and will want to go back. Granada is great, especially the Alhambra, and Cordoba is lovely in it's own right too. Lots of colour, tradition and feeling ! That's my opinion anyway. Wherever you decide to go - please be sure to have fun....lots of it !

Woooaaa Nellie! Sorry, I could not resist that one. Well, you certainly have a decision to make don't you. First of all, ERASE LA MANGA FROM THE LIST! There is nothing there that you can not get on the sandy coasts of Texas. It is a beach area and has absolutely no culturally redeeming value wahtsoever. My girlfriend's parents have a beach house in a town nearby and I have been, it is like Miami Beach but without the glamour of the rich and beautiful. Besides, it is sooooooo packed in August that it makes even beachgoing a miserable experience. I can't believe any self respecting program or tour has included "La Manga" (translates to "the sleave" in English, that should be enough to keep you away) in their orientation choices . You can see that I feel strongly about this. DO NOT GO THERE!

Ok, so we have narrowed in down to "Baleares" and "Andaluc�a". I agree with Chiara and her opinions on Andaluc�a but it all depends on the cities that the orientation takes you to. Keep in mind that if you are going to be in Madrid for a decent amount of time, you can always pop down to Andaluc�a or over to Baleares (cheapo flight/hotel packages are rampant in the summertime) and see the one that you did not choose for your orientation. I have never been to Baleares (it is the only one of the 17 regions of Spain that I have missed) but, like Chiara, I absolutely love Andaluc�a. If I were you, I would check out www.andalucia.org. You will surely fall in love! Of my top 5 favorite cities in all of Spain, two (Granada and C�rdoba) are numbers 2 and 4 respectively). I spent an entire month in Granada a few years back and it hurt to leave, the only thing that cushioned the blow was the fact that I was going back to Madrid !
Saludos,
jer...

Nellie,

Jer is right about La Manga. Just a few hours away you have Corpus Christi...

As an "Ex-New Braunfels resident," I wouldn't steer you wrong either.

Your post brought up memories of tube rides down the Guadalupe River from Canyon Lake, Germanfest, and of course, the obligatory armadillo races, where fricaseed turkey legs were a delicacy.

Of course after that was done, a trip to Greun Hall was nice. After that? Sleep!

JP (Who never picked up a drawl but loves his cowboy boots.)