Motel Sauca Guadalajara

... way back to the wrong hotel by choosing the wrong GPS destination on Satnav. Doh!

Lowlights

- Leamington Spa instead of Bath. What a disappointment! The "spa" was a swimming pool to rehabilitate injured people in a decrepit building!
- Screw up with Blackpool accommodation - what a kerfuffle! Mental note, remember to select the right date when booking accommodation online!
- Paying almost AUD$20 for McDonalds meal for just the two of us in Stockholm ...

... parties de ma vie et ca fait du bien. Il y a des choses que je prevois faire differemment a mon retour. Ce voyage est deja benefique. En arrivant a l'auberge, la reaction de mes 3 copains a ete encore plus emotive qu'hier car ils ne pensaient jamais me revoir (les 3 termineront leur chemin demain a Burgos). Comme ma grande soeur, Raul a dit que j'etais une machine. ;) J'etais tres fatigue mais tres fier de ma journee. Nous avons soupe ensemble. Un autre ...

... my money changed and ripped off like whoa. I should have known better, it's the nearest money changer to the metro exit, of course it's going to have ridiculous rates that are bound to make any native want to smack me upside the head. · Emily and I wandered all around that place looking for a decent money changer, but she decided to go to one at the next block, which was only slightly better. Only a week later would we discover the western ...

... friends with my OT School mentor, Kristen Wright. Small world. Safely in Amsterdam, I got my first passport stamp. We retrieved our luggage, re-checked it, went through security twice (just for fun, and because the US allows knitting needles on their flights as long as they are attached to yarn, but the EU does not) had some pizza for.... lunch? and then settled in for a 5-hour layover. The trip from Amsterdam to Madrid had a layover in Rome. Not ...

... sky is blue and the sun is shining so it feels warmer than it is. I don't have any more pictures to post yet - although when I set out to explore in a few minutes (waiting for my hotel room to be ready in a couple of hours) I will take my camera with me so that I can share them with all of you. Oh, and by the way, if what I've experienced so far in Madrid is typical ...

... where a man on a big horse is.. with a spear.. and the guy spears the bull.. really deep.. and the bull starts spewing blood out of its neck and its really gross.. .and then they keep ******* it off... and stab it again.. and by this time, the bull is really tired but doesnt stop charging... and they get this one guy in the middle of the ring with a RED cape.. so it reallllly makes the bull mad... and charges like crazy.. and then they stab it AGAIN and stick 6 hooks in its back ...

two days ago, I had an experience that I just have to write about, though it might get a bit graffic, so hold on to your stomach. and don´t read this with food. I went to a bull fight, though I knew I wouldn´t enjoy it and didn´t agree with it, I compromised on my own values for the sake of experiencing a piece of their culture here in spain. So let me try to paint a picture of this experience for you: picture going to your favorite stadium to watch your favorite sports team ...

... over channels, find a nice classical channel and start on some sudokus. A few hours relaxing in the plush seats, ample leg room for my mutant bones before a light tap on my shoulder. Immediately I think "I'm so ****ed". Nope. Roast chicken with a mustard sauce and one of those cute little bottles of wine. I actually decline to drink from the bottle. See, Dad...I'm learning. 2 weeks ago I was exstatic if the coach had a/c. See how ...

So I got to Madrid after my own rendition of Trains, Plains and Automobiles...not in that order and not featuring John Candy...But I think I am the spit of Steve Martin...Maybe not. I spent yesterday wondering around what I thought would be the city centre but wasn~t...I met a Tunisian and his Morrocan friend, he wanted me to teach him how to use the Internet...He said he wanted to go to Dublin to open a Kebab House...I ...

... American singer who is performing in a hotel bar that is supposed to be reminiscent of the one in the Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman film, Casablanca. We invited him over and he had a drink with us and talked about how he travels from one hotel to another throughout the year. He has a beautiful bass voice and sings "Old Man River" for us. As we leave Casablanca, Lydia says the events of the movie Casablanca would really have happened in Tangiers, a major port; during World War II ...