Day 92 - Seville a Madrid - October 14, 2013

Day 92 - Seville a Madrid - October 14, 2013

What a day! I got up this morning, showered and went down for breakfast with the Bears. After breakfast we returned to the room, finished packing,

and went downstairs to check out and get a cab. I had a really nice conversation with the cab driver on the way to the airport. Her husband did the Camino Via Plata from Sevilla to Santiago on a bicycle. So we talked about the Camino and stuff. I told I was trying to learn Spanish and she said I was doing very well. She said it is hard to understand folks in Seville because they swallow the ends of words. I had noticed that, like they say, "Buen Día" instead of, "Buenos Dias." 

I got to the train station early and noticed there was an earlier train leaving for Madrid in fifteen minutes. I thought, "If I catch the earlier train I might be able to catch the 2pm meeting in Madrid and go to a Flamenco show tonight. What the heck. I'll go to the ticket counter, see if I can get waited on quickly and ask if I can change the ticket." Well, I could and I did and I scurried down the ramp and got on the train. It was a quiet uneventful train ride. I read some. I'm reading a really good book titled "1Q84." I also looked out the window some and thought about doing the Via Playa some Spring. The flowers are supposed to be incredible. 

The train got to Madrid about ten minutes early. I got on the Metro which stops right in front of Micky Dees, which is right next door to my hotel. I check in

gather myself together and head to the meeting. It's the start of siesta time so the Metro is crazy busy with everyone going home to eat. Then I get off and realize the meeting is further from the Metro stop than I thought it was. So I got there for half the meeting, which is better than no meeting. But I decided to skip the Flamenco and go to the night one too. After the 2pm meeting I stopped at Starbucks to have an Americano and a cookie. I was very surprised when they

served it to me in a ceramic cup. I had seen people drinking coffee from a ceramic cup, but I thought they had just bought the cup and had their coffee put into it. 

On the Metro on the way back to the hotel I remembered I had planned to go to the Prado Museo this afternoon. So I stopped by the hotel, regathered myself and headed to the Prado on foot. On the way I saw there was a SMOOY frozen yogurt shop right down the street from my hotel on the way to Puerta del Sol  I got there and they were having a special exhibition of Velasquez paintings and it was included in the price of the regular ticket. What a deal! The Velasquez exhibit was very interesting. It was the paintings he had done of the Court of Phillip IV King of Spain and Mariana of Austria, his wife. Then I went and visited my friends

Goya's Mahas and Tres de Mayo and Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch. I saw a bunch of other paintings too numerous to mention. Their collection is extensive. But I must admit I always get lost and turned around in that museum, to me their map or plan is hard to follow. 

Back at the hotel I grabbed the Bears (they didn't want to go to the Museum) and we went down to Micky Dees for a bite to eat before getting on the Metro to go to the second meeting. The meeting was good. Both meetings today were on Step One. Hmm?! Before going upstairs for the night I went and got a melon SMOOY yogurt and took it up to the room. 

Leea and I stayed in this room last year and the hotel faces onto Gran Via, one of the main roads in central Madrid and another street that leads to the Puerta del Sol and also seems to be the spot for working girls. Leea and I noticed there were a lot of women in extremely tight or skimpy outfits and very tall heels just standing around. Our hotel window looked out on this street last year and we ended up joking with some of the women who were across from our window. This year my room faces Gran Via. :( 

Well it's time to get some sleep. By the time you wake up tomorrow I should be in Newark waiting for my fight to John Wayne.