Spain

Wow... we're here in Spain. So far we're off to a mixed start. We were LUCKY to be upgraded to first class for the 8 hour flight from Atlanta to Madrid. It was amazing. Even better than my first class experiences in the US. The seats completely reclined and we were able to sleep for several hours. The taxi service met us upon arrival (thanks, Linda Holden, for suggesting I book airport transfers ahead of time). We had a fabulous mercedes. Then we arrived at our hostal... hmmm... interesting is all I can say. It's a tiny place with about 5 rooms (looks like sometime turned an apartment into a mini-hotel). While they advertised air conditioning, it appears to me that they just mounted a thermostat on the wall for looks. We arrived here at around 10 but our room wasn't ready until after 1. We'll see if I can manage to survive a week with no A/C in a tiny room on the 4th floor of a building with no elevator!! I've already checked with the hotel around the corner and they have vacancies if I get tired of this "adventure".

We got out for a few hours and explored Madrid on foot today. We're staying right off of the Gran Via which is the main shopping district. It's Sunday so lots of places were closed. What we did see were primarily restaurants and clothing/shoe shops. The prices seem to be significantly higher than in the US. Tomorrow, we're planning to get on the double decker tour bus and see other parts of the city. The subway system is massive here, so we'll have a way to get around (if we can figure it out!). I'm surprised at how few people speak English and also impressed with Lauren's Spanish. She's had to be the primary communicator at our hostal where there is NO English spoken.

Tuesday we head to Barcelona for some time on the beach and then to Kenya on Friday.