I think we've decided on Madrid - for the sake of it being centrally located in the country and close proximity to TOledo and Segovia. THis also leaves the door open for me to return to Spain sometime in the future. I spent a collective 3 months in Paris (one stint was 2 months in college) and haven't seen anything and I keep going back. I think I can adopt the same principle with Spain. In addition should I have to jumpseat out there MAD has all the nonstops from the US. ON a side note, we were thinking of just buying full fare tickets - running about $470 right now in coach. Our passes on NW/KL cost roughly $350 for standby business class. We can get 20% off positive space on any NW flight - but then have to buy ID95s on KLM and when it all workks out - the $470 is about equal. We're eyeing Air France from NY or BOS - anybody know if they offer free stop overs in Paris?

About hotels - we found a good deal at a centrally located MAD hotel called the Tryp Capitol - rates are about $76-100 depending on the days during our stay. A third friend has possibly joined this adventure so we can up the hotel budget as splitting it in 3 is a cost savings initiative.

Thanks again everyone,

AZJ