Espana!

We try to do an international family trip each year and this year it will be to Spain. We have been to many European countries, but never to this one. (At least Sharon and I haven't.)

As we usually do before a trip, we spent months studying places and costs and honing in on good deals. What we are finding about Spain is that it is a great travel bargain due to their sluggish economy and the fact that we are visiting in March. We will focus on Andulasia in southern Spain to be near the warmest possible weather, and plan to be in the country March 3-12.

Ellen, who is on a several-month break between University of Georgia and UT-Memphis medical school, will travel for another week with a friend after we head home. She will go to Barcelona and Majorca during her add-on trip. Mary Byrne had to work during our trip, but she and her husband Chris will be in Spain shortly after we leave, and she and Ellen will get to spend a day together in Barcelona.



Here are the first days of reporting. Beyond those days are our plans for each city.

March 2: Kind of a crazy travel day: Forecasts of horrible weather in Nashville had us concerned that we wouldn't get out today at all. But we lucked out and were on the very last plane that left Nashville before high winds, damaging hail and heavy rains came into the picture.

The flight was like a roller coaster ride, but we made it to Atlanta just a few minutes late. Coincidentally, Connolly had just arrived from Charleston and was on the same airport train as we were heading to the international terminal. Ellen was waiting for us in the food court when we arrived. We then encountered some long delays when the plane we were supposed to take to Madrid was diagnosed with engine trouble. Seat assignments were changed, catering had to be moved from the original plane to the new one, and we departed about two hours late.

The ride from Atlanta to about the mid-Atlantic was very choppy. The pilot said he was trying different altitudes get out of the choppiness, but didn't have much luck. But we still got a pretty good sleep overall. Sharon and I paid a little more to Delta to get what they call Economy Comfort seating. About $80 more gets you a ton of legroom and seats that recline more than others. The free drinks that came with this perk weren't a factor. We tried to sleep right after out chicken dinner, and succeeded for the most part.

March 3: We flew on Iberia Air to Jerez de la Frontera, near the coast in southern Spain. We rented a small van and drove to our hotel, making a few wrong turns along the way.

The Itaca Hotel is a cute historic building that once housed a convent and church. It was been redecorated with very modern furnishings. I would have preferred that they had restored it more to the look of its ancestor, but it is very comfortable and the desk clerks have been extremely helpful. We had lunch at a place called Bodegan al Patio, a family oriented restaurant frequented by locals.

Many families gather in force on Saturdays for lunch and dinner, and they appear to be having a great time. Several-hour meals accompanied by plenty of wine appear to be the norm. Singing, joking, story telling make these places loud and happy. Our lunch was quite good, with most of us getting the Spaniards' favorite fish, cod. Connolly had grilled pork and it was my favorite item.

We took a long nap before taking about a 45-minute walk and stopping at a sidewalk place called Pollo Azulejo for tapas, salad and a gazpacho-style soup. Most of it was quite good.

We headed for bed at about 11.



City history: Jerez is an ancient city that was once part of the Roman Empire.It is well known worldwide as the center of sherry-making and the center of flamenco dancing. There is a flamenco festival going while we are here, but we haven't wandered into the bars to watch.



March 4: There are some days in our lives that just stand out above the others, and today was one of those. We had a beautiful day, a spectacular drive through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and a fascinating afternoon in the town of Ronda. Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles used to vacation here, and I can sure see why.

This section of southern Spain is called Andalucia, and it was inhabited by the Moors until 1492, a year when Ferdinand and Isabella were really on a roll. They ran off the Moors the same year Columbus was discovering the Americas. The area is absolutely beautiful - great climate, olive groves as far as you can see, much of it in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

We left the very flat town of Jerez and it took us only about 20 minutes to hit the hills and mountains. Our first stop was the town of Arcos de la Frontera, built right into the mountains and linked by the narrowest roads imaginable. We have a small, thin van and had to pull the sideview mirrors in to get through the streets without hitting walls and cars. Even then it was sooo tight getting around that we were all wincing. Sharon is the best with a manual transmission, so she got the honor of driving in this mess. We kept following signs for the city center, and the more we did, the higher we got and the tighter the roads became. It was an interesting place, but not one we would see by car again.

We stopped alongside a couple of other mountain towns to shoot pictures, but dared not venture into them. We hit Ronda about two and a half hours after leaving Jerez.

We had to do some searching to find our hotel, the Parador Ronda, but getting around Ronda wasn't as difficult as in Arcos.

The parador is built right into the top of a gorge, with a very steep cliff descending from the base of the hotel. You can sit on the parador's patio and look into the gorge, though you can't see the bottom because it is so steep. You look across the gorge at buildings on the other side that are similarly situated - right at the edge of a cliff. Between the two sides is a very old stone bridge.

I have never stayed in a hotel with as spectacular a view. It is hard to describe.

We took a break from the awe-inspiring vista to walk a few blocks to the town square. The desk clerk had recommended a place called Casa Ortega, a strictly outdoor restaurant, like most others in arid Andalucia. The town square and this place right on the square made for a great lunch setting. Families who had been to Mass started to arrive and kids were running all over the square. The parents were settling into wine, sangria and beer while munching away on tapas and salads.

Sharon had a nice piece of roast lamb, I had roast pork after having tried Connolly's in Jerez, and the two girls shared a large dish of paella, a traditional Spanish meal that is a mix of rice, seafood and chicken. They loved that dish, both saying it was the meal they had been craving all day. They each sampled the sangria, too.

After lunch, we headed back toward the gorge, where we crossed the bridge and explored the side opposite our hotel. We climbed quite a ways down some stairs and ramp and were treated to some great views of the valley and its surrounding homes and farms.

I was ready for a nap after the climb back up. I loaded some photos to Facebook and slept for about an hour.

Not much happens in Ronda on a Sunday night, but we did find a good place called Puerto Grande for dinner near our hotel. Puerto Grande had good food and a very nice staff of servers. The restaurant had a bullfighting theme, and Sharon fittingly tried the ox tailsw. I had Iberian ham and a small helping of lasagna, while Connolly and Ellen had paella again. Their plate had far more food than they could eat. It was loaded with shrimp, mussels, chicken and other items in addition to yellow rice.

It was a good ending to a great day.

March 5: The parador had a very nice buffet breakfast. They kept everything fresh and hot. I had an egg, Iberian hams of various types and a fresh homemade roll. Lots of good coffee.

We were on the road to Granada around 10 and took a scenic route through mountain olive groves for about the first half of the trip. It was a very pleasant drive. We opened our windows at one point and the 60-degree morning air smelled like a jar of olives.

The second half of the drive was on regular interstate-type highway. The highways here are excellent, and unlike the good roads in Portugal that we encountered two years ago, the ones we have traveled so far do not have tolls. I have not seen a blemish or pothole yet on a Spanish highway. The dry, warm weather probably helps keep them in good condition.

Granada presented some culture shock for us after having been in smaller towns in recent days. It has a population of about 350,000, but it just seemed huge and sprawling after Jerez and Ronda. The way to the Alhambra, an ancient palace that is Spain's top tourist attraction, was well-marked and we found our way there with ease. I was surprised, because I thought getting to our parador within the Alhambra walls would be a mess.

Once inside, driver Sharon had to take the car through some crowded streets and wait for people to slowly move aside. But once parked, we checked in with relative ease and began enjoying the very special setting. The parador was a convent centuries ago, but it has been remodeled inside to look like a Sofitel.

Where Portuguese pousadas, that country's equvilent of paradors, have been styled and furnished to look like the building it had originally intended to be, the paradors have all been decorated like modern Sofitels or boutique hotels inside. I like them, but I would have preferred if the history was considered more heavily in the remodeling.

This parador was a sultan's palace for many years after it was built in the 13th Century. When Ferdinand and Isabella oversaw the conquering of the Muslims in southern Spain in 1492, it led to a changeover in buildings from Muslim ones to Catholic ones. In this case, the building went from a palace to a covent inside the Alhambra walls. Very interesting place and location. We are really enjoying staying here.

Once unpacked, we took a taxi to an area near the old Gypsy Quarter in Granada. The city is very hilly and the quarter is on a different hill than the Alhambra. While you can see one from the other, it is quite a long ride through some narrow and winding streets. Cab fares are cheap, however.

We tried a place called Bar Kiki, which was highly recommended by TripAdvisor. We rely on TripAdvisor, which features ratings and reviews from everyday travelers, and we hardly have ever been led astray by that site. In this case, however, Bar Kiki did not meet its #2 rating among Granada restaurants. It was a bunch of plastic chairs in a parking lot next to a shabby building. Food was good, but not great. Ellen and I had lamb, while Sharon and Connolly shared a tuna special. Pretty pricey considering the setting.

The best thing about Bar Kiki was that it was a half block from a cliff from which you had a great view of the Alhambra across a valley. We took some pics, enjoyed the view, and then walked around acolorful area called the Alvayzin for about an hour.

Getting a cab from the Alvayzin back to the Alhambra seemed futile, so we took a bus to a central area of Granada and then trekked back up a very steep hill to the Alhambra. I have a slightly sprained ankle and was not in great shape for the climb anyway, so we took our time and made a few stops. It was a relief getting to the top!

Sharon, Connolly and Ellen went exploring some more and I went to the patio behind our hotel to enjoy the weather and check emails and news. It was a great afternoon in a terrific setting. The view was spectacular. They later joined me, pulled up a pitcher of sangrias and we talked for about an hour.

We all napped and went to dinner at 8 in the parador. Very fine dining room, and the food was quite good all around. Ellen had a duck and rice dish, Sharon had turbot (fish), I had cod with some kind of delicious sauce and Connolly had grilled pork loin stacked several inches high. No complaints from anyone, and we enjoyed sharing and trying others' dishes.

We went to the rooms and planned to get to bed earlier than usual because our Alhambra tour is in the morning.

March 6: We had a very nice breakfast at the parador, checked out and then gathered with some other guests at the front desk for a guide to take us to the Alhambra tour. We were led to a large parking area and there was a lot of time wasted as the tour groups were split, tickets were dispersed and pepople were each given a transmitter and earplug so they could hear their guide during the tour.

Once underway, our guide Carmen kept us moving over the cobblestones, through the various Muslim palaces, into Christian-built builings and through some beautiful gardens. The Alhambra is a city onto itself and is really a sight to see. It has been very well preserved.

The tour took a little over three hours and all of us were fatigued when it was over. There is quite a bit of climbing and walking, but it is the listening and learning that tends to tire you, too. A lot of information to absorb!

We went back to the parador for lunch. It was a gorgeous day, so we sat on the back patio overlooking a seminary/religious complex built centuries ago. Sharon had a salad and the rest of us had sandwiches. Everything was good.

We got on the road for Cordoba around 3:30. We decided to take a longer route that took us through some very interesting mountains near Juen. Then we headed to Cordoba, a city with heavy Muslim influence and where a very well-known mosque is located. Unfortunately, our hotel in Cordoba is tucked away off an alley near downtown and it took us almost two hours of searching to find it.

We have had good luck during the trip using the GPS device in my iPad for directions. But the streets of Cordoba have been reworked and the GPS coordinates don't reflect the changes. We ran into one-way streets that we thought would go the other way, into roadblocks, no-entry plazas (that we entered anyway) and into all sorts of other obstacles. Very frustrating!

We finally parked our car in a public garage and hauled our luggage almost a half mile to the hotel. The Don Paula is certainly nothing special. Very spartan place with the basics and nothing else. But it is clean.

We had a dinner recommendation from the owner for a place called Moriles. The menu there was in Spanish and no one there spoke English. My Spanish isn't good enough to get far in the gastronomic world, so we opted to look for another place. Long story short, we wandered for a half hour and found there is no other decent place in the area near our hotel So we settled for Moriles. Made some selections and dinner was okay.

Cordoba has been a disappointment so far, mostly because we wasted so much time looking for the hotel. Once settled, we sure didn't see much that interested us. Our earlier hotels were all in exciting settings. Not this one.

March 7: Both the hotel and the city redeemed themselves quite a bit with us this morning.

Ellen and Connolly urged us not to leave town without trying to see at least one of the sights: The Mesquita, an ancient mosque that was turned into a cathedral (Mesquita being a combination of the words mosque and cathedral) after the Spaniards conquered the Muslims here in the 15th Century. So we walked from our hotel over to the Mesquita, which was about a half mile away. We passed dozens of families going to elementary school. The children were all in uniforms and in almost every case the mother was walking them to school. Cute!

We stopped first at a simple cafe near the Mesquita and had croissants and coffee. We headed across the street to the historic building, fully expecting to pay about $11 each to enter, as the hotel clerk had estimated it would be. But we were pleasantly surpised to see that it was free and we walked right in.

The building is known for its nearly 900 colorful arches, each made of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite, that were installed by the Moors when they built this enormous mosque back in the 7th Century. The precious stones came from old buildings of the Roman Empire that had once stood here.

The interior is like nothing we have ever seen. It is very large inside and the combination of the best the Christian and Muslim artists/craftsmen had to offer, all rolled into one masterpiece, is beyond description. To the king and queen's credit, they preserved many Muslim treasures while kicking them out at the same time. We saw plenty of the dual religious art tracks at the Alhambra, too.

Ellen and I wandered beyond the Mesquita grounds after our visit, and discovered that some very well-known Roman aqueducts were right next door. Connolly found Sharon and got her to come visit them, too.

We returned to our hotel. Though the place was far from elegant, it and its overseers grew on us over the hours we were there. The owners were so eager to please that one of them even went with Sharon and Connolly to find our rental car at a garage blocks away and showed them how to get back to the hotel.

The car had to be dropped off by 1, so we got on the road and headed straight for Seville, located about two hours-plus away. Sharon, our driver throughout the trip, dropped Ellen and me near the next hotel, Casa 1800, and headed with Connolly - our master navigator - to the airport. There were a few snafus with the room reservations, but those were worked out and we checked in.

The rooms in this hotel are spectacular and the staff is great. Though vey small and off the main roads, it is right next to all the shopping and tourism attractions Seville has to offer. The town has an electricity to it - people bustling everywhere, plenty of terrific outdoor restaurants, shopping that rivals NYC, just a lot going on.

Ellen and I went shopping and then walked to an Italian restaurant - Lapiamonte - that was recommended by our hotel clerk. Sharon and Connolly met us there. Lunch was very good. Carbs galore, but great food.

Sharon and the girls shopped spome more and went out for sangria while I rested and did some blogging and photo loading. We were sitting in the lobby before dinner when we ran into Nashville friends Gary and Kim Hawkins, both of whom are landscape architects, and their son who was here playing with a college jazz band.

We went to yet another spectacular restaurant for dinner. I had a young lamb leg, Sharon had lamb chops, Ellen had grilled pork loin and Connolly had a medley of fresh vegetables. This town is magic.

March 8: r />Since this is Connolly's last full day in Spain, we committed to making it count by packing the day with activities. We fulfilled our commitment to the point where we were dragging by dinner time. But it was a very fun day.

We were a bit slow getting started. We had all stayed up late the night before. Connolly and Ellen had gone out to see Seville and had tried a drink called Agua de Seville. Elizabeth Elmore from our company, who had lived in Seville in college, had recommended trying this concoction. According to our daughters, it is hardly water! They said it had an array of alcohol types blended with some fruit juice. Sounded like they're enjoyed it, but couldn't finish the large pitcher they ordered.

We got moving today around 9:30, and took our time having coffee and breakfast served in the lobby of the Casa 1800. We can see why this hotel gets rave reviews and is the #2 hotel in Spain for 2012 by the Travelers Choice awards. The rooms are elegant, each designed differently. The hotel offers coffee, soft drinks, bottled water, sandwiches and other items 24/7 and without charge.

It is common to see people leave their rooms and sit around the lobby, interacting with each other and enjoying the refreshments. The breakfast is simple, but they have fresh espresso and coffee, and it is all included with the room.

We began our sightseeing at 11, heading for the Metropol Parasol, an odd-looking and imposing multi-block sculpture that looks like a bunch of mushrooms. Each is about four stories high and is made of a honeycomb of pieces of wood held together by glue and metal pieces. The structure opened less than a year ago after six years of construction and $140 million in cost. It is the largest wooden structure in the world.

While it seems that it was built to fulfill the wildest dream of a German architect, its stated reason for existence is that it marks the spot of an ancient Roman village that was found buried on this spot in the middle of Seville. The remains from the village are in a museum in the base of the parasol. The structure has coined all kinds of nicknames and is the topic of much debate between lovers and haters of the Parasol, also often called the Mushroom of the La Encarnacion, because it stand on La Encarnacion Square.

Ellen, Connolly and I paid 2 Euros, or about $2.50, to take an elevator to the top of the structure and climb around on a series of walkways on top. They weave up and down on the roof, and there are observation areas where you can see Seville from different angles. Fortunately, I didn't read until later about the debate over whether the glue used to fasten 8,000 cubes of wood would withstand Seville's heat. Our climb was an interesting experience. Sharon waited at a sidewalk cafe while we made the visit.

We then headed across town on foot, making our way to the Plaza de Espana, an impressive curved palace-looking building that was built almost 100 years ago for the Iberian-American exposition. We were hungry and decided to have a tapas lunch at a place called Laraza, right near the Plaza de Espana. This turned out to be our favorite meal in Seville. We especially enjoyed the cod and the swordfish tapas and the grilled vegetables. We ate in an attractive outdoor area under two giant trees and next to a very large and attractive park.

Next we visited our destination - the Plaza. Very special place - no telling what it would cost to build today. The fences and handrails were made of beautiful ceramics, and the fountains and ceramic displays were also impressive. This giant curved building fronted by a large fountain and plaza, features huge bell towers at each end. Some scenes from Star Wars were filmed here, I guess because it has such a storybook feel to it.

At this point, it was about 3 p.m. And the long walks over cobblestones were taking their toll on us. Sharon and I walked about a half hour back to the hotel, and I was asleep the second my head hit the pillow. I had about 45 minutes to rest before the girls met up with us again to go see Seville's cathedral, the third largest in the world.

Our hotel is about a minute's walk from the cathedral, and we paid about $11 each to get in. Sharon rented an audio device and methodically toured the gothic structure and heard accounts of its art and history. I get turned off by the excessive ornamentation and expense of such places, always wondering how many mouths could be fed if just one gold altar throne was melted down and spent. But I do appreciate the history and importance of such a place in the city's history. I looked around for about 20 minutes before leaving and going walking.

We originally planned to go to a late flamenco show and have dinner then, but decided after a long day to just have dinner at an Italian restaurant across from the hotel. It was very good all around. We ran into Nashville friends Gary and Kim Hawkins, whom we had seen at our hotel the evening before, and we chatted with them for a few minutes.

We headed back to bed around 10:30.

March 9: We were up at 4:15 a.m. to get ready for our flight to Madrid. We squeezed in time for a quick cup of coffee in the lobby. A reservation snafu had caused the girls to have to move to another, but very nice, hotel nearby. They pulled their luggage over to our hotel and a taxi was waiting for us at 5:30. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and our flight to Madrid on a large Iberia Air jet was smooth because the weather was so clear.

After arriving and getting our luggage, we said our goodbyes to Connolly, who was headed to Nashville for a wedding.

We caught a taxi to out next hotel, the Intur Palacio San Martin in downtown Madrid. It is in a great location. The hotel shows some signs of aging on top of some some just plain bad interior design, but it is clean and comfortable. The freebies of our last hotel are a distant memory as we are now at a place that asks $12 for two cups of coffee.

We couldn't get to our rooms before 11:30, so we spent some time walking around and having breakfast at a chain cafe near the hotel. Not one of our better meals.

Ellen's camera had broken in Seville, and we decided that we needed to get moving if we were going to find a repair shop that could fix it before she left Madrid. Starting with the local department store's camera department, we were referred to a small out-of-the-way camera repair shop about 3/4 of a mile from our hotel. Ellen and I walked there while Sharon checked into the hotel. Long story short, the shop was able to fix the camera in a few hours for a fee of about $50. Ellen was relieved, because she and her friend Katie are doing more traveling after we leave on Monday, and wanted to be able to shoot photos.

We napped for about 45 minutes, and then I headed to the camera shop to pick up the camera. My sore ankle was starting to get to me after much walking, and the day was still young.

Our next adventure was a walk of a couple of miles to the Prado, a world renowned art museum. We arrived there at about 5:15 and were informed by a very helpful women who befriended us during our walk that we could get into the museum free (as compared to the normal $15 per person admission cost)after 6 p.m. She was headed there with her two young children. Ellen held a place for us in a very long line and we filed into the museum at 6:10.

I felt like a needed to sit for a few minutes and rest my ankle, so Sharon and Ellen explored while I rested. I soon joined them and we were in the museum until about 7:15. We decided to take a cab back to the hotel.

Madrid is crazy on a Friday night - people everywhere, partying and walking around. Our first restaurant choice was booked, so we went to a quiet, typical Spanish family restaurant about a mile from the hotel. Sharon had hake, I had salmon and Ellen had prawns sauteed in garlic. All of it was good. I liked the atmosphere of the place.

We walked back to the hotel, stopping for gelato en route. Headed straight for bed after arriving back at the San Martin because Ellen and Sharon were heading to the airport early to greet Katie, who was arriving at 9:15.




March 10: We were all up early because Katie was arriving around 9 a.m. and Sharon and Ellen were taking the subway to the airport to greet her. Savings: About $60. Sharon had her plan down - it involved three different Madrid Metro lines, but she figured out how to get there.

Katie arrived on time and revved up to see the city. They came back to the hotel and Sharon and I headed down the street to get some coffee and breakfast. We later found Katie and Ellen having some breakfast at a nearby square.

We all began exploring, with a long list of places to visit. First stop was the Palacio Real, the old royal palace in Madrid. It is about 1.5 million square feet - a place where a king or queen could really stretch out. We opted not to get in line to see the inside of the palace, but did snap a few photos from a plaza in fron of it.

Nearby is another park-like place called Plaza Orientale, where we originally planned to have dinner tonight. Ellen, Katie and I wandered around the park and spent some time watching children visit the park's central fountain. As with most big plazas in Madrid, there were musicians and people dressed in crazy costumes, trying to get tips for posing in photos. Sharon had made our dinner reservations, and we reunited with her to keep exploring.

We walked to the world famous Mercado de San Miguel, which is a cross between a huge string of tapas places and a city farmers market. The place was absolutely jammed with people, most of them standing in line for various types of tapas. There were wine and beer bars, seafood specialty counters, ham counters, dessert places - you name it and they had it. But it was so crowded that we opted to get out of there.

We walked to the nearby Plaza Mayor, a place built in 1576 and surrounded by residential buildings. As with the other plazas, the clowns, mimes, comedic characters and even an Elvis impersonator were there entertaining the crowd. We couldn't find a ringside seat at any of the restaurant tables, so we walked around and then moved on.

We stopped at a sidewalk cafe, where Sharon and the girls had sangria. We also had some olives, which are placed on the table wherever anyone goes to eat or drink.

Lunch was at about 3:30 in the basement of a restaurant not far from out hotel. Ellen had pizza, Sharon tried the lasagna and salad special, I had chicken and rice, and Katie had vegetables.

We went back to the hotel to nap for a while, and got rolling again around 7:30. We decided not to go to the fancy restaurant near Plaza Orientale, but opted instead walk around town and look around for a place that looked good. The strategy worked, because we found a very good place called Los Galayos near Plaza Mayor. We ate in a tent built onto the the very cute restaurant.

I tried a ham-based soup and a Madrid favorite, suckling pig. It was very tasty and tender. Sharon had salmon that was equally good. Everyone enjoyed this meal.

After dinner, Katie and Ellen headed out to explore the nightlife of Madrid, while Sharon and I headed back to the hotel. It was about 10:30. We both stayed up pretty late after we got back to the hotel - but not as late as Ellen and Katie, who reported getting in around 1:30.

March 11: We were all up early because we had decided to spend most of the day in Toledo, an historic city which is about a half hour train ride from Madrid. We took the Metro to Madrid's main train station, where we purchased tickets for the high-speed train to Toledo. We then had breakfast at a cafe in the train station. Ellen and Katie seemed thirsty for some reason :)

What I didn't realize until later is the fact that we were in the train station on the eighth anniversary of the Al Quaeda terrorist attack on trains arriving at that station. Almost 200 people were killed and 1,800 wounded on that day. We saw memorial signs in the station on Sunday, but didn't realize it was the actual anniversary.

The station in Toledo is an attractive old building that opened in 1920. The structure also houses a tourist information center, where we picked up some city maps. The station is not in the center of town, probably because the town is built on a steep hill where train travel would not be practical. We took a cab to the top of town and began wandering through the city.

A few shops were open on Sunday morning, and admission to many of the city's attractions is free on Sundays before 3. There were some pretty big crowds gathering in sme areas of Toledo, and it wasn't even noon yet.

Our favorite stop was at the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes (St. John of the Kings), built at the behest of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in the 1470s to commemorate the birth of their son John. The stonework and detail in this place is beyond description. We were there during Mass, so our exploration of the main church was limited. But we also toured the courtyard area surrounded by two stories of observation decks. Orange trees covered with fruit were in the center.

A lot of walking on cobblestone streets began to irritate my strained ankle. so I thought I should return to Madrid, which mostly has smooth pavement. However, I walked a long way and exited the city gates and had no luck finding a cab to take me to the train station in time for a 1:30 departure. So I ended up going back to Madrid on the same 3:30 train as the others were on.

Once in Madrid, we rested while Ellen and Katie shopped. Then they rested before we went to dinner. This was Sharon's and my last night in Spain, and we decided that it would be fun to go back to the San Miguel market for tapas. The place was far less crowded than it had been the afternoon before, and we each had a lot of fun choosing tapas that appealed to each of us.

I had shish kebab, seafood salad, Swiss cheese (and some cheese from an assortment that Katie had) and some bread. It was a fun experience.

Katie and Ellen went out on the town again, and we headed back to the hotel. Sharon had some wine with some Irish people in the lobby and I went on to bed at about 10:30. Lots of travel ahead tomorrow!

March 12: You can count on two things waking you early each morning in Madrid: Loud young people coming back from the discos when they close at 6 a.m., and the church bells that ring loudly at 6:30. Both happen without fail,

This morning it was probably a good thing, because we needed to get moving in order to make our 10:30 flight to Atlanta.

We dropped Ellen and Katie at the domestic travel terminal so they could get their 10:15 flight to the island of Majorca. They are going to stay in Spain until the 18th. Our flight to Atlanta took nine and a half hours due to 160 mile per hour headwinds, but we arrived just 30 minutes late. Our flight to Nashville was fine and we got home without a hitch.












March 12: We will say our goodbyes to Ellen and her friend Katie, who joined us two days ago and who will travel with Ellen to Barcelona and Majorca. Sharon and I have a long day of flights ahead as we go back to Nashville through Atlanta. Adios, Espana.