Hesperia Getafe

... with that one... simultaneously!). The security guard (who turned out to be a really helpful woman in the end) obliged, locked the door again and dissapeared inside, leaving us to ponder Lala's previous move. Sure enough she returned, not with a complaints book but a pile of A4 paper, (At this juncture I should point out that it is illegal in Spain for any business, practice, or what you will, NOT to have a complaints book!) took Lala into the foyer and, as I ...

... and rented a boat to paddle around Estanque (the man made lake). From there we had a quick bite to eat and made our way home for a siesta so we could stay out late and experience the night life of Madrid. After the siesta we made our way down to Puerta del Sol (the centre of Madrid), but we did not notice any bars that were in full party mode so we pressed on. We wandered over to Plaza Mayor (the biggest square, which was not too far away) and again we ...

... the way to the bus tickets was McDonald's for lunch. More fun with translation - the menus are great. A quarter pounder with cheese is a "cuarto del libro con queso." A fourth of a pound with cheese. I wonder how many Spanish people who order this sandwich think very hard about the name. Especially since they use the metric system here and probably think of a pound as British currency before they would think of it as a unit ...

Today was a very tiring day. I think tommorow i'll sleep til 12. My aunt and I went to visit an enormous tenple named "Sagrada Familia," or Sacred Family. It is a giant temple that has been under construction for quite some time now. Since 1882! Surely it will be one of the Seven Wonders of the World once it's completed. It is one of the many works of Antoni Gaudi.This building is the number one most visited ...

... Before getting some food we found a small Spanish band on a street corner playing some music. We chilled there for probably an hour just people watching. Its so much fun to hear SPANISH everywhere! Note: the pleasures of people watching are intensified when in another country ;) Next it was onto our Tapas! History of the Tapa: Bartenders used to cover peoples drinks with coasters and such to keep the flies away. Then they started covering them with small sandwich hors d'ervs (sp?? is ...

... cause it's out in the boonies. Here's the actual graduate school building where I'll be taking most of my classes. Pretty nice.

... in, Susan had taken an instant dislike to them so I never found out their names and we just referred to him as 'Bow Legs', for obvious reasons. It appears that bow legs must have had a similar cleaning fetish to Arald because he also got himself a long handled dustpan and brush and started sweeping the road at his end. This wasn't a problem as they lived at opposite ends of the street. The problem started when Arald went on holiday. Bow Legs moved down the road with his dustpan and ...

We finally force ourselves to leave that beautiful city of San Sebastian and head on a night train to Madrid. Reservations were made via internet at Hostel Rober, but on arrival, they were no where to be found. Can't say that I was too upset as the place was severely lacking in hospitality and atmosphere. We stay, but set up future lodging plans at a ...

... 27 US, but aparently it´s some holiday in Madrid or Spain or something, so all taxi´s are "doble" (double) I tried to argue with him, but I was far too tired, so my taxi bill was 40 euro´s (you do the math). So I lugged around my 65lb bag of clothes (not kidding, had to weigh it at the airport) trying to find this hostel. I am not kidding I had to drag this bag around Madrid for 2 hours. After giving up on finding my mystery hostel, I stopped at every hostel I could see. None ...

... a great view of the cathedral and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Traversed the small valley into the old city and walked some really narrow cobbled streets and convoluted alleys to eventually get to the famed alcázar. An alcázar was just a palace where a royal family stayed. This particular one resembles those of eastern Europe and is PAUSE like ones seen in Disney movies. As I walked in, I noticed a sign that said "tower entrance," so I followed the sign. The next sign I ...