Sunrise

Sunrise in Madrid..

up, dress, bags in lobby

It is 6:00 in the morning 

One more cup of coffee and a  hot chocolate 

Airport
Long line to check in. But courteous staff. Checked two bags
( thanks to  Imhoff's  for an extra suitcase for "souvenirs " )
Time for coffee and a sweet roll.
Beautiful sunrise as we boarded TAP to Lisbon.


 Lisbon airport
In Lisbon we do our best to spend our last Euros
  There is over an hour delay so we have plenty of time
   to shop and also to have a  little snack

The Tap flight to Newark has a lunch and snack included.
Our seats are in the second to the last row and across the aisle are 4 empty seats
   Hubby asks if it is ok to move over  and flight attendant number one says, sure
   Pretty soon flight attendant number two comes and says, maybe he should move
   Flight attendant number three comes and explains the reason all four seats and a few more are empty is because there is a passenger who is smelling  very, very bad and they are seating  her  as isolated  as possible
Well, it's all good so far.
It is a  little bumpy on and off
  and about two hours from landing, Hubby  is feeling like he might need to use one of those little white bags.  The "fragrance" is now a little obvious to him. That might be a factor.
   My stomach is a little squeezy too.
It does not help to see and hear a young woman dash to the toilet  just one row behind our seats and she was really sick.




Newark Airport

Well, we made  it. Though there is a 3 hour wait for our next and final flight, it goes by pretty fast. We go through passport check.  We get our suitcases.   We check in to our next flight.  We go through security.  We take a tram to the very farthest gate and now have about one hour to get a snack, or whatever.

Sunset in Newark .. 

Then HOME 

What a great trip. 

All good things must come to an end

and here we are on our last day in Madrid.

packing, final sweep of our luxury apartment and a walk to the plaza for taxi ( x two ) There are five of us and luggage x ?

Our hostess had made arrangements for us to stay at a hotel near the airport. We had a very early flight. So it makes sense to have a 10 minute ride to  the airport instead of what could be an hour or an hour and a half.



.me in my shadow 

At  the B & B Hotel

Pretty much the basic bed and bath ( no shampoos, hand cream, shower caps, etc )
But, a nice big bath tub. Also, a bidet.
There is a TV. Five stations and one in English.
 We have managed for two weeks with no TV and just a few episodes  on Tina's Net Flex of Downton Abbey
There is a charge for breakfast
 ( but we leave at 5:15, so no worries )
There is a charge for the shuttle
 ( but  you gotta  do what you gotta do )

Back to our front yard, a little "grass "area with tables and 
chairs. So Tina set up a little lunch for us.  She had gathered 
some of the left overs from the apartment and the sun was 
shining and it was a fun picnic.



The location is sort of industrial.  Well, motels surrounded by freeways.
across the street is another hotel.
Down the street is a large hotel/apartment complex. Huge .  The structure from the outside is all grey concrete - almost like a prison
( don't tell anyone )
By now, it is 12:30 and our  plans are for dinner at 6;00






So, we rest, then Hubby  and I walk . Across the street to the Crowne Plaza.  Then down to the Prison, for an inside look at the lobby and cafe 

 swimming pool,  

stopping at the restaurant, have a little refreshment
 ( They have tapas, so to speak..potato chips, and three kinds of candy - interested ?, well you know who snagged a few samples. )

And check out the little hook for your hand bag !

Back to our spot in time for a rest and prep for dinner at 6:00

But, this is Spain and dinner at our hotel is not until 7:30. Across the street 7:00 and the prison 8:00.
So we sit in the lobby and chat with Ron and Tina.
Stephen has walked around, taken a bus into town, did some eating, and then came back.

So we have dinner at 7:30.
Tina: Burger
Ron and Stephen: pizza
Hubby:  Tuna, but it did not look like tuna
Me:  Spaghetti Carbonara
Desserts:  3 chocolate cake: looked like chocolate pie with chocolate topping
Lemon Mousse; very lemony.
And now it is time for a cup of coco
The lobby dispenser has coffee, coffee with touch of milk, white coffee, espresso, and hot chocolate.The decaf button does not work.

Did I mention they have a bath tub?

A nice big bath tub....

good night...

Food

If it is just food you care about

here goes


always ready to step out for food 

Churros 

Paella 

                                                            Desserts    ↓  ↑  

Plus

We had Gelato almost every night

and

the National beverage almost every day 

so

Guess who gained 5 pounds  ? ! 

Planes trains and automobiles

well, mainly automobiles vehicles 

Somewhere, there is a picture, maybe two or three, of motorcycles, lots of motorcycles, parked together along the street.  BUT, they must be in that icloud.   When I find them, I will add them, but this is taking way too long, so I will settle for just this one, for now.

Impressed?   
Well, most of the time we walked or took the Metro
and that was impressive.  
Their underground system is amazing and covers just about anywhere you want to go within the city limits of Madrid. 

kids and dogs

Here is something you might not know about 

Kids and Dogs in Madrid

First, there seem to be more dogs than children.  Even on the weekend, when families are out and about having fun, it seems like more folks have dogs.

The other factor, that is not so pleasant, is the sidewalks have no grass and very few places for dogs to leave their messages discretely.  

What you might not know about children in Spain, and women, too... they are more stylish and less casual. I do not remember seeing more than one, maybe two women wearing jeans.

And no little girls in jeans.

I like it 

No, it is not a dog, or a cat, BUT,. it is a pet, on a leash and
you can name it for me 

This play ground is in the city, right in the shopping center.  Families can leave their little ones to play and do their shopping at the same place. 

Children everywhere love bubbles 

this little cutie ↓is the  daughter of the groom's cousin ( Or was it his uncle? groom was not sure )
There is a much clearer photo...in the clouds...
Also, she is from Paris ! 

And she is the grand finale'