La Moraleja Hotel Alcobendas

This is a selection of photos taken in the second week of August. I was staying st La Torre but also visited Condado de Alhama and also took both interior and exterior shots of both the Jardines apartment style and the penthouse style which is the same as will be built at Terrazas. I ...

... tried to check-in and nope, we got a quick - "a las dos" - meaning it was now 11 AM, no checking in until 2 PM (or 14:00h as they say...this military time thing is going to drive me bonkers!). They held our bags and we had a great idea, let's walk and get some food. Let me share a little bit about where we stayed - in Alcobendas - not quite a "tourist" area. So, we walked, no food, we saw a Toys R ...

... Madrid from an out-of-the-way shop run by a fairly old couple. The artisans come to them with their wares from all over Spain. Each region has its own colors and patterns; and a good traveler really ought to have one of each! While in every town visited, I seemed to have a nose for the unique. The fun will be in the giving when we get home! Our flight leaves early tomorrow, so we have an early dinner in our ...

... here right now so finding a hostel was also a challenge for these next couple nights but we got lucky, it was looking like for a little while that our only option was a hotel, but we got it fugured out. Yesterday we saw the Prado museum, which was cool however they failed to mention when we bought the ticket that half of the museum was closed, oh well. Then we took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens, checking out thousands of flowers ...

... raining, so we headed back on the Metro to Angel and Esther´s flat. We cooked up a quick pasta meal for Spanish lunchtime (3pm) and then it was time to get into our thermals and head back to Los Ventas for the bullfights. Teh first of the six bullfights was underway as we located our seats. We couldn´t have been higher up in the stadium but we were happy to be sitting in the sun on such a cold day. There were a few locals up with us, although the ...

... on the town with money and some ID. We headed down to the marina and wandered around the night clubs, which were empty. This is not what we were expecting, so we decided to drink until more people turned up. Around 1am a bunch of people rocked up at one bar, but on closer inspection (strange mix of people, all drunk, dancing like loonies) it looked like a Kontiki tour. Suspicion confirmed when an aussie got talking ...

... dinner that night...? Hum... have to think about that one. Oh - was that our Indian dinner night? Mmmmm! It was wonderful: spicy, tasty, fresh, not to mention the fact that the restaurant was devoid of smoke... It was great to see the smile on Radha's face as he finally ate things he knew and liked :-) The chicken Vindaloo was hot! 4) Wednesday, April 4: morning meeting with the Fab and the head of the Business group we had trained. After getting off the subway at the ...

... recline into each other and we could sleep (head to toe). When we boarded the train, the other girl sharing our cabin was not only in our seats sleeping, but instructed us to turn the light back off before we even put our stuff down. She then proceeded to tell us to take the other two seats because she didn't want to move and goodnight! I am not sure if we were stunned or tired, but we obliged. We then proceeded to gesture and whisper to each other like children and felt a little ...

... else again! I had plenty of time so after checking in, I sat around waiting and going over the past month. It's been a really good experience for me and I have met some very good people. I feel I covered more than enough ground and I have been able to balance between work and play. I am a little knackered though and am thoroughly ready for this next portion of the trip. I am way looking forward to the luxury and relaxation to ...

... to get to school, to the store, or really, to get anywhere. Last weekend a group of us went to Montserrat to visit the 11th century monestary perched in the mountains near Barcelona. It was wonderful to get out of the city and breathe some clean air. Entry 3 is in the works but will mostly just be a bunch of photos of my school, my amazing new apartment, and hopefully, some of my new friends. Take care & enjoy! Shannon