Because We Can

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...