Because We Can

The day began with another guided walk through parts of Madrid. One of our stops was the old market where they sold meats, fish, fruits, vegetables and assorted other things. I haven’t a clue as to why Linda took this photo, but I’ve used so few of her photos that this one just begs inclusion. On a good day I take about 300 photos while she takes 30. I’ll let you decide if fewer photos means a higher quality of subject material . I take back everything thing I said. See how she has captured the very essence of what makes man the superior of the human species. The fabulous form of this grouping, showing strength yet sensitivity, an inclusion of intensity that underscores their greatness. What a photo , one that proves Linda is a truly wonderful photographer.  Now the other side of the story. This is inside a convent where the nuns make what are arguably the best sweet treats in all of Madrid. The reason for the looks is because our wives are in the other room where the trea...

It was back to Madrid today, where the morning was taken up with a guided sight seeing walk. Lots of history in Madrid, not all of it good. Seems like it mattered what your station in life was, and whose side you were on as to whether the good old days were good or not. What’s that saying, those who yearn for the good old days and want to turn the clock back are likely to die the same horrible death they did the first time around back then. That doesn’t have anything to do with the photo, but it has been a couple of days since I went off on a tangent, and the Catholic Church did so many horrible things in Spain that I won’t even mention the Church today. Back to lunch: cod tapas, fried pieces of cod and cod coquettes. A wonderful white wine for Linda and a vermouth for me, both from the barrel. We are definitely eating too good. And paying virtually nothing for it. It is unreal how inexpensive good food is in Spain. In the afternoon we visited even more churches. They seem to be...

AVE is the name for the fast trains in Spain. We had taken one into Barcelona, but the REALLY fast AVE in Spain is the one from Barcelona to Madrid.   The entire trip wasn’t at 300 kph, but it was easy to tell when it got up to that speed. I don’t know for sure what that is in mph, but the way everything was flying past out the window, it was mighty fast. We didn't stay in Madrid when we got off the train, rather we had our first trip on our tour bus, heading off to Segovia. It is always amazing when looking at what the Romans did, and in Segovia what they did was still standing in remarkable condition. I can remember reading about Roman aqueducts in those history classes many years ago. Now we were seeing one and it was far more impressive than I had imagined. Next it was off to the castle, and on the way we came across this. Some people get all bent out of shape worrying whether they look like a tourist or not. We never did learn exactly why the Romans left Segovia, bu...

We’re outside, it’s a map, it’s a city guide, but best of all, it’s not raining today. They seem to have many rules about who can give guided tours in cities in Spain, so for our tour of the Gothic Quarter, we got our first dose of English with a strong Spanish accent. At first it was hard to follow what the guide is saying, but as the minutes go by, it got easier to understand at least most of it. Since everyone except one couple had been on Rick Steves tours before, it wasn’t one of those tours where everyone is tightly clumped to together, and the longer the walk went on, the more pronounced the straggling became. Nygil was like one of those sheep dogs, always keeping a watchful eye and getting the worst of the stragglers back towards the main body. And then there are interesting things that have everyone paying very close attention. In this case it’s not the building, it’s what is on the building. That’s not a child’s drawing, it’s the only building that has a Picasso on i...