Thursday, January 6, 2011

Again? Sorry about that ...

I was completely expecting to post actual photos to each day/place/theme. And now five more days have passed. I need to give another non-photo summary of what has happened in the last few days. I doubt I'll have much more time this morning to do more than that. Today, Emily leaves to go back to life in Cáceres and it is our (Colin and I) second to last day in Spain. We leave at an insane hour in the morning Saturday. It really does feel like a mini study abroad experience since we've been here almost three weeks.

Jan 2: Took train to Madrid from Santiago. Checked into Husa Chamartin at the train station then walked to the next metro stop (saw the scary leaning towers of money). Took metro to downtown and wandered around looking at things.
Jan 3: Packed up and went to a hostel very close to Plaza de Sol. Walked in Jardines des Buenos Retiros. Had lunch and dinner in the hostel apartment.
Jan 4: Went to Museo de Prado for a couple of hours, mostly looking at Goya and Velazquez pieces. Went back to hostel for nap then headed to the National Archaeological Museum which was mostly closed for repairs but the small exhibit was a good overview of Iberian artifacts. Found a bookstore selling English books and got "The Elegance of the Hedgehog."
Jan 5: Took AVE train (very fast one) to Segovia and saw the main highlights there, including the aqueducts, the house of the points, the outside of the cathedral and the castle.  Came back to Madrid, took nap, ate dinner at VIPS (cheeseburger with an egg on top = brilliant).
Jan 6 (today): Took Emily to bus station then walked to Atocha metro stop which had a large inside garden, including a pond full of turtles. Went to get groceries then home for nap. Out for a short snack before coming back to hostel for the night.

I started writing this in the morning and it is now 9 pm. The last few days have been both busy and not too busy that I couldn't take a nap. I considered writing a post during these downtimes but we all came down with nasty colds and these naps were necessary. We're almost over the colds now but we're still fighting them and will be relieved to get the major traveling out of the way. Tomorrow is the last full day here (again, we don't have any real plans except we have to check out at noon).

I really hope to write up more details in future posts about this trip - including photos of course! Three weeks of traveling generates a lot of things I could tell, as you might expect. If nothing else, the short summaries of each day and the stuff I've scribbled down elsewhere will help me remember what else happened. Until then, hasta luego!

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