Madrid 'n home

I think I hit overload tonight as I walked around Madrid-there is just so much of everything...everywhere; architecture, history, people, shops, parks, cafes, plazas... it is seemingly endless and I only covered a few square kilometres. Coming from my reality of having very little 'stuff' covering a huge area, I find it totally amazing to be in this reality of so much in such a small area.

Granted, I am in the old town now, which is significantly different from the newer areas. The newer suburb I was in last night was almost depressing, endless mid-rise apartment blocks, a handful of parks and cafes, and one enormous shopping mall (which is whre everyone seemed to be).



Parque del Retiro after dark



One thing I do find interesting as I’m walking about, is that I never feel unsafe – probably because there are always people around. I don’t think the locals feel unsafe either as the average person (in all the towns I’ve been) seems to have no sense of anyone around them, even at night. After dark, being in a large park is normally to be avoided...yes? Not so here, tons of people about, walking, biking, jogging, dancing, playing soccer and tennis, or just hanging out.



'Market day' brought out lots of street performers



Lagoon at Casa del Campo



And then there is the Casa del Campo (the royal hunting estate until 1931) at 1700 hectares, I walked through it for 3km and barely touched it – definatly need a bike to explore that place! 



a plethora of churches - this is the Cathedral de la Almudena
at Plaza de España



interior of the Basilica
Pontificia de San Miguel



The trip from Denia to Alicante airport in didn’t go quite as planned yesterday...a leisurely 2 hour trip turned into 5 hours -I say leasurely because I was supposed to have 2 or 3 thours to sip coffee or sit at the beach - but it's a good thing I'd given myself the extra time, or I might still be there...looking for an apartment! First bus arrived on time at 8:00am – all was good. Second bus...? was I a minute late? Not sure, but no matter, because there was another in 20 minutes and I had plenty of time. It arrived. Good. Two and a half hours later and we've only made it half way (where my schedule says we should have arrived by now) so I go ask the driver. He says another hour and a half, but that’s ok ..I think...because I allowed myself extra time. We arrive, and my third bus arrives shortly, so I’m thinking all is going to be ok, and then we begin taking a different (longer) route than I expected, but no problem......I hope...I allowed extra time... In the end I arrived with 20 minutes to spare...Whew!



Oooo, look, the sun sets here too!



trip total 12055 km
(walked 27 km today!)

Finding something is always an interesting challenge. But thanks to a good friend who reminded me how to ask the whereabouts of the public toilet, that isn’t a problem! Discerning the answer can be something else altogether. But I have found I can pick out a word or two and then along with the accompanying hand gestures, piece something together...ahh, look for something with red in that direction on the left...and it only took about 3 weeks to begin to hear individual words instead of one long string...

Flew to England this evening and so I guess the Spanish lessons are on hold for a while.
trip total 13377 km 

...and then a nice early start at 5:30am (except I forgot to change my watch and it was actually 4:30am) for the final leg home...

FINAL trip total 20733km

Denia

Finally made it here! Guess what? There is a castle here too! Not quite as imposing as the last, but it did have an outer wall around the old town at one point – only a couple hundred meters of it still exist, but the buildings around the outer wall are all new, so it just doesn’t have the right feel.

The interior of the fortress, though perhaps? not quite as large, and for the most part not restored, is still quite impressive – perhaps because you get more of the sense of original antiquity. I quite enjoyed wandering through the old ruins and was amazed at how  well some of the original structures have weathered the centuries. 





tis the season for the almond trees to bloom



Not as a place to visit for a few days, but rather as a place to stay for a month or two, I would pick Denia (from where I’ve been so far). Not only does it have everything that the other cities and towns have – pubs, street cafes, history, atmosphere, beaches, shopping and public transport but it is also small. If small is a problem there are about a dozen other towns around within a 20km radius that are easy to get to and there are also mountains – real ones! The urban bike rental is really reasonable here - rates were €3 per 24 hours or €24 per year. I’m pretty sure I remember paying about €8 per day in Netherlands a few years back.



I was wondering if a licance was required
 for this kind of vehicle...



When you have a beach like this (ouside my door) all to yourself -or maybe sharing it with three or four others- it is really hard to imagine what it would be like in summer, but there are a lot of condos and resort properties on this coast road where I’m staying, so I would guess that it does get much more lively, but not nearly as busy as other places like Benalmedena or Sant Antoni would.



For thse of you that get quezy with heights, I instructed the cameraman to keep the profile low...
One of the unique things about this castle is the ability to walk the walls - with no rails -



Went for a coffee tonight so I could get online and post this – spoke only spanish and only spanish was spoken back and I understood! J   I didn’t understand much of the conversation that was going on with the locals playing dominoes though... L

....I just noticed that my pictures folder (for this trip) contains 1874 items...-...when Ren and I went on holiday for a year, I think I took 20 rolls of 36 exposure film. ...just goes to show how technology has changed things.

trip total 11382km