Mendez-Garcia 1

Luis Mendez-Garcia
English 114B
February 15, 2014
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91311

Dear Fernanda,
How are you today? Remember when we were kids and we always wanted to go
somewhere out of the country. Go on vacation and forget about everything else in life and enjoy
the moment and try something new in our lives. I think the time has come and I believe with a
budget of $4000 we could make our life long trip happen.
I have been planning a trip to go to the famous country Spain and travel to Barcelona.
There are many places that we can go to in Barcelona and not only that I have also included
visiting other cities in Spain other than Barcelona in our ten day vacation to Europe.
To make this trip happen and make it possible you will need maximum $4000, but I
know I can keep it under that amount once we are over there in Barcelona. We would take the
flyaway bus in van Nuys to LAX and get on our flight. The flight is the most expensive part of
the trip, but also doesn't mean it's not affordable. The flight will cost about $1404 round trip and
that is a bargain considering that we don't get jet lag, since the hour difference from the U.S is
nine hours.

Mendez-Garcia 2

The hotel will cost about $1000 for all ten days and it is a four star hotel and it is called
SB Plaza Europa. We will split the costs of the hotel and also free breakfast is included so that's
a plus. The hotel is central to many of the sites that I have planned for us to see just some that I
found interesting. The point of this trip is to experience something new that we always have
wanted to experience so maybe planning everyday isn't a good idea. I just planned a couple of
sites the rest will be exploration of Barcelona.
I found public transportation to be fairly cheap in Barcelona, a ten day pass is only 61.
With that pass we can Travel anywhere we please within our budget and enjoy a unique culture,
something different than what we are usually exposed to.
One of the first tourists areas we would go to would be the Basilica of the Sagrada
Familia. It is rated number one attraction in Barcelona according to Trip Advisor. This
monumental church was designed by Antoni Gaudi and it was built in 1882 and hasn't been
finished yet, due to constant upgrades and such things. Although its construction began in 1882 it
was disturbed by the Spanish civil war. What a fantastic place to go with all sort of historic
background to this one Catholic Church. Even though it's a church it's something we will
probably not even see here in the United States ever.
The next phenomenal attraction I would want us to go see would be Casa Battlo. This one
isn't free like the one before but its architectural structure is fantastic and amazing to look at,
something very unique and historic as well. To get in this house it will cost us about 21.5. It
was also designed by Antoni Gaudi and the windows that are oval shape are made out of stone.
Mendez-Garcia 3

I have also found about a town center not too far from our hotel that would be great to
visit because it is known for its medieval look and I've always wanted to see or feel being in that
environment. The place is called Gothic Quarters and like I said it dates back to roman and
medieval times. Since you also like art it would be a great place to visit because it gives identity
to the art and culture of Barcelona.
Another fantastic place for us to visit would be another church built in the 14th century
and I saw some pictures from the inside and it is absolutely amazing so we cannot let this chance
slip by us and not go inside and look at it in person. The name of this cathedral is St. Mary of the
Sea Cathedral. I know you have noticed I've been planning to go see a lot of cathedrals more
than expected, but it is Spain and that is what they are known for is really immense and
fastidious cathedrals.
The last place that I feel we would both enjoy would be the magic fountain in Barcelona.
It is located in a center square and I've seen images online where it is really huge. The water
show lasts around 15 minutes and it's at night so it makes a romantic scene just for the two of us.
It is also historic because it was built in 1929 and restored in 1992 for the Olympic Games. All
these locations all have something in common. Not only are they old and antique each one of
these places has history behind it no matter how small or big there is a story behind all these
locations and buildings.
Those would be our first six days of the trip since the first day would be like getting used
to the environment walking around and trying some food. I thought about it but I believe that we
should go to restaurants that seem interesting as we are going to see these cultural events and not
Mendez-Garcia 4

spend more than 25 on food for dinner that would make this trip not only affordable, but also a
great experience.
The seventh day we could spend some relaxation time on the beach since it is only like
30 minutes walking distance from our hotel just before we leave to other cities in Spain to travel
and explore. Also not only that enjoy the beautiful beach and water, since our California beaches
are not as clean as the ones in Barcelona.
The next day we would go to Valencia and look around the town and just look at the
buildings there and go into some stores shop, eat some food there as well. Since we do have our
pass the bus to get us all the way over there would take around four hours. After we do all the
exploration around Valencia we could actually go to oceanografic and it is an aquarium so I
would be very excited to go there with you and see the difference between our aquariums in the
United States over the ones in Spain. We would travel back to Barcelona and have a good night
rest and up we go again the next day.
This time we would be going to Zaragoza, Spain. It would take us around two hours just
to get to Zaragoza. In Zaragoza they have a beautiful park named Monasterio de Piedra Park.
This park looks amazing in pictures in person I believe it will knock off my shoes off my feet.
Since it would be our true last day in Spain I wanted it to be somewhat special and relaxing
something we would never forget one of the most precious attractions we would go to. After that
we would travel back to Barcelona.
Mendez-Garcia 5

As you figured the last day would basically be relaxing and getting our things ready to go
to the airport and fly back to California. This could be a dream trip and we could make it happen
if we budget everything correctly and don't over spend like crazy.
I understand completely that you might not have the money or just aren't interested in
going because you are afraid of traveling to a foreign country that would make you feel like an
outsider. Although we are going to a lot of these historic places it could become boring and
maybe you might not be feeling the hype of the trip. Also you might not want to go because this
might not be the place you want to travel to or isn't the best place for you. You might want to go
somewhere else like Italy or London.
Those are all great reasons for you to be kind of refraining from going on this trip with
me. If money is a problem don't worry I will pay the amount you don't have or lend it to you, but
that shouldn't be the issue because I will make sure this trip doesn't even go past $3500 and that I
can assure you it won't because many of the places we would be visiting would be free
attractions. The only we would be spending is on food, hotel, the flight, transportation, and some
places we would have to pay to get in. I will make all the attractions as interesting as possible
when we visit them. For example we could really analyze why the bulling could have been made
that way or why the paintings inside in a certain manner are. Take things in critically and that
will for sure make this trip a lot more exciting for the both of us. Also why would you pass a trip
like this not many people can go to Europe and travel to three different cities with a budget on a
ten day trip like we would. I am assuring you this trip you will not regret and by the end of it you
will be thanking me for convincing you to go with me on this amazing vacation.
Mendez-Garcia 6


Sincerely yours,

Luis Mendez-Garcia