Hostal Josefina Madrid

... am becoming obsessed with the water aerobics classes, and I have made it a point to go to one every day. I can feel the intense swimmer in me slipping away every day, but I feel like I get a good cardio and muscular workout, plus some sort-of dancing, in with water aerobics, so I'm going to stick with it. I also like that I can run before the class to up the heartrate, so hopefully the combination of exercises will keep me in shape.

... weight you
can lift but rather inner strength is something we only discover when
we reach the brink of disaster and survive.



This year has been interesting and amazing at the same time. It has
also seen room bottom, brok my heart and srengthened me beyond words.
The best things have occured and the worst, but I have no regrets. I
started dancign the day I returned from Asia and that in itself has
opened a world of passion to me that has changed me life ...

... the live statues as went (Lorraineīs freaked out by them), and happened across a small cafe for some paella. Thought we would try some of the local cuisine before we left. Glad we did, it was delicious. After that we picked up our laundry and went back to the hostel, before setting off to the Bernabeu for the game. So exciting! (Calm down Lorraine, itīs only a game!). Arrived at the stadium in plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere. Wasnīt a full ...

... Anyhoo, we managed to find our hostel which is located in Sol (the heart of Madrid) and once again I have done well with finding good accommodation. Its run by this funny little old man who doesnīt speak English at all... its been fun. Two things to note about our room is that it finally has a double bed and it has a shower in the corner of it - weird. Our first day in the big smoke was glorious, the sun was shining and the buildings were pretty. Thereīs quite a ...

Spain We flew to Spain via Miami. Photos to come. Miami It meant arriving in Miami at about midnight, with our flight out the next afternoon. Obviously that meant staying the night at the airport, which was one of the more uncomfortable nights spent on the trip so far. But that was only once we had cleared passport control, which was unbelievably slow. We picked the super slow line somehow and it was 2am before we got into the arrival lounge where we could sleep. Most ...

... and meet up the Barcelona swingers! Tomorrow there are two dances though, one in the afternoon in the park and one at a grand ball room with a live band. Looks like there will be dancing almost every day here. Ahhh, just like home. Calle, as usual, has come to my aide and connected me with a number of his friends in Barcelona. I just wrote to 2 of them today and hope to meet them dancing tomorrow or soon. We'll see if anything comes of it. Happy to be here and on my way.

... one street that crossing Gran Via. We had dinner at this fancy place - it was really cool there - that is the great part about Madrid - you can have old fashioned Tapas in a Bar in the area of Placa del Sol and fancy cool restaurants at the areas aroung Gran Via. I really love this mixture!! We went for drinks later to a old fashioned Tapas Bar!! There was a Bachelor party going on ...

... to row small boats on the man-made lake. In the evening though, the park was a completely different place. There were around two dozen people playing drums together in a square, with another couple of hundred people sitting, or walking around in what can best be described as a festival atmosphere - this on a regular Sunday night! We also went to a great Pirate themed bar, and drank too much!

... insited that I call him tomorrow...which she nodded I would....well that is today and lets just say...I havenīt called and donīt really plan on it anytime soon. He can wait till I know the city that way the supposed tour of the city will be what he really intends...a date. Iīm not stupid just a blond gringa. Yesturday we went for a small tour and lesson (joke) of the metro. One minute I thought to myself...Iīm completely screwed...destined to forever be ...

I have a new family. Two days ago I moved in with the Barallat-Perez family. In exchange for giving Javier 12, Christina 10, and Pablo 7, three hours of lessons a day, mon-fri, Maria and Jorge are giving me a free place to stay and food. The other Maria in the house, their nanny from Ecuador, takes care of the kids otherwise so itīs a great deal. Now I only need a few lessons a day outside the house to cover my other expenses, transportation, communications and liquid ...