Tryp Rex Madrid

... España (the great Café of Spanish history). It first opened in 1888 and for well over 100 years it has been associated with artists, actors and writers, and many others artistic and political types. Video here

We walked around the La Castellana and Chueca areas which was interesting although surprising amount of graffiti in Madrid.

Then we were brave and took the metro back to our hotel to chill ...

... and their conversations...noting their eyes and body language vision capabilities and taking use of mounted mirrors!! Sadly, we've already suffered a casualty this trip...Chad's camera (which had broken prior to the trip and chad had "fixed" took it's last photo...hopefully we'll get him a new one tomorrow) We concluded our day by heading to la Reina Sofia were we saw a couple of exhibits from the Tate Modern and of course Picasso Galore--it ...

... is abused when they created 2800 rooms for palace. The Prado Museum is regarded as having one of the largest art collections in the world. Unfortunately, we did not know a single piece of artwork inside. It was still interesting to see how the Church dominated the art landscape as many of the paintings inside were of biblical references. After the museum, we headed to Parque de El Retiro. This park was the ...

... NY accent, Canadian Jeff - a 6 foot 6 tank who I guess can be called an even bigger version of Michael Goltsman, Tegan from Adelaide who loves her grog and ciggies, and the married couple Andrew and Nora from Texas who were bitterly disappointed that John McCain lost the election. I love stereotypes. On other tables were 2 shy Asians, and about 10 Brazilians who can't speak English. They won't be mixing with us much on this trip. Following dinner, the ...

... like royalty. One lady's husband or brother kept looking at me strange before I entered the secure part. He was not boarding, but it turned out the lady was not allowed to leave Ecuador for some of the items found in her luggage. I was sort of glad she was not coming, as the whole time she delayed the processing line at every step. Now in Madrid for one night. I eventually got my decent latte. It was huge. I ordered ...

... de Patricia: "¿Te vienes a dar la vuelta al mundo?" ...bueno, y aquí estamos...a punto de embarcar!!!! ......................... I finally find a moment to write our blog! Surrounded by all the technology instructions, ipods, cameras, vaccination receipts trekking boots...I'm starting to feel the VERTIGO! Until now it was a bit like as if someone else was going on this great adventure...but we're starting the countdown! Exactly 15 days to go ...

... began today with a huge breakfast (probably the best breakfast we´ll have during the trip from the look of it), and then hopped on the metro again to go to the Museo del Prado. I was glad that today was a "free" day, because it was not required for anyone to go anywhere. This made our actual "group" experience much less hectic. The Prado was amazing... painting by Goya, Velasquez, Raphael, Boticelli... and the museum ...

... on, but decided that we liked our hosts so much that we should grace them with our presence for five. Some interesting little tidbits about Spain learned from Margarita and Alfonso: - tapas are appetizers that you should get anytime you order a beer (I like this culture) - dinner does not begin until after 9:00pm. Restaurants will open for lunch from 1-3pm, then close, then open again at 9. As such, midnight snacks do not occur until next Tuesday sometime ...

... The whole airport still smells of smoke so I don´t know why they bother with those designated spots. [Jon: smokers suck] My sister, her boyfriend Tim and my tio (uncle) Antonio were at the airport to pick me up. They drove me to tio Antonio´s place and we had lunch. It was very filling, and my stomach is still suffering from jet lag so I couldn´t enjoy it fully ...

... cold in Madrid and I use this afternoon just to walk near Sol and Preciados. I had to buy urgently a coat for this terrible winter. And of course, I went to Fnac to check some books and cd's, that was one of my hobbies when I lived here some years ago. Undoubtedly I didn't lose the chance to eat some jamon serrano, chorizo, etc. etc. A day just to remember old times and contact friends.