Booked travel from London to Paris on Eurostar. Thrilled to get a good price by booking early. Picked our seats based on advice from www.seat61.com.

We'll be doing a lot of traveling via air & train, and a lot of walking on our trip so we needed a bag that each of us could carry on our own and store easily. We decided on the Rick Steve's Convertible Carry On Bag - it's light and roomy, and you can carry by hand, shoulder strap, and backpack.

Booked our flight today from Amsterdam to Madrid using Easy Jet - a European discount airline. http://www.easyjet.com/EN It seems similar to Spirit Airlines and we booked the tickets without the additional fare for seat assignments and checked bags. It's interesting - you are only allowed one piece of "hand luggage" and that includes purses or backpacks. It is about a 2 hour flight, so it shouldn't be too bad. Originally, the flight was booked to leave ear...

Decided to look at vacation rentals to give us a little more space and a more authentic experience in each city. Airbnb was recommended by a friend and we opted to give it a try for our Amsterdam lodging. Our first booking was cancelled by the owner, however Airbnb gave us some additional choices and a credit toward a new rental and we were able to find what appears to be a great studio that will be perfect for us. http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/53692

Lodging for Madrid has been secured! We will be staying at another vacation rental - the Apartment La Latina Teatro. It is location near Plaza Mayor and very close to the La Latina Metro. The place looks SO cute. We'll have 2 rooms again so we can find some corners for privacy. I have found the layout of most of the European vacation rentals to have the most amazing use of space. The kitchens are so compact - it is easy to see why fresh food from markets is...