Thursday, 5/2. Uber to Airport for the car. Audi. Not the kind that you see in America. The kind that reminds you that Audi is owned by Volkswagen. First gear is extremely finicky. Tiny pedals, close together. I hunger for my motorcycle, for many reasons.

Drive on highways easy. Arrived in Toledo with some routing confusion. Offline mapping software is faulty. The town was crowded (it’s another holiday). Did an audio tour of the cathedral. After St. Peter’s, it’s the most incredible I’ve seen. Since its construction bishops have sought to put their own mark on the building, so it’s layer upon layer of ostentatious additions. Sculptures run amok. Had a fine lunch, toured the shops. Knife’s are big here, both figuratively and literally.

Getting out of the city was maddening. Every sign seemed to point to Madrid!! I disregarded the navigator several times because she was directing me to a Madrid onramp, which made it worse. Very upsetting. “Road rage” is a misstated description of the actual direction of anger, but not in this case!

Finally got headed south to the La Mancha windmills. Getting up to the hilltop was a chore due to insanely narrow streets that appeared to me to be walking alleys. (I would soon learn better.) But the view from the top was 360 degrees great, though the tourists were annoying. Could have sat up there for hours, but we were behind schedule.

Drive to Granada was unexciting. Directions to the hotel were the opposite. Four pages, with photos. Many turns were guesses, but we in fact made none wrong. Streets got progressively narrower until we were on a street(?) that doubled as a walkway along a creek. A car behind assured me I wasn’t completely lost, but I was terrified that I’d taken a wrong turn with no way to get out. We successfully found the hotel. Breath of relief. Arabic style home converted to a hotel. Felt I was back in Morocco. Beautiful area. We had dinner at the place recommended by Andy and Jazzy. Walked, slept very well.

  • Toledo. Ups and downs. Natives say it’s mostly ups. Ha.
  • Inside the cathedral.
  • I drove up this street. A car in a sea of people.
  • Hotel lobby.
  • Sardines. I had chorizo.
  • A typical alley in Granada.
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Wednesday, 5/1. May Day. A holiday. Closures were common. We strolled from point to point but entered few sights. There is an Egyptian Temple which was relocated in total in thanks of Spain’s help in moving Abu Simbel before the Aswan Dam was built. A street considered Madrid’s answer to Broadway (a poor answer). We visited other locations, but none matching yesterday’s sights.

We ate. We watched Spaniards eat. We took a nap. In essence, we used today as a jet lag catchup. In the evening we had tapas. The place I aimed at was closed, I assumed for the day. Then I realized that 8 PM was too early. They opened at 8:30.

Tomorrow I get a car and we head to Granada via Toledo and the La Mancha windmills.

  • A different photo of the Palace. From outside the gates.
  • The fancy horses with guards weren’t there yesterday.
  • Nice monument. Statues of Don and Sancho are in front. The park was closed.
  • Potatoes covered in aioli and ham.
  • Hemingway frequented a restaurant next door. Obviously, this restaurant got tired of the question.
  • Good to know.
  • Another prettily lite building.
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Tuesday, 4/30. Palace, Art Gallery, Park, Pub Crawl. And Food. Lots of food.

Owing to the fact that tomorrow is a holiday, we squeezed both the Palace tour and Art Gallery visit into one day. The Tour was bi-lingual, meaning that half the time the guide was not giving half the people a tour. Not to my liking. I feel I only got half a tour. The Palace is the largest one in the world, measured by interior space. Though we saw better ornate rooms on our river tour cruise last year, there were a lot of rooms here. Impressive was that it’s still essentially a functioning Palace for special events. Obama ate here. The last king abdicated here. Very nice. Exhausting and rushed tour. I’m sure we missed a lot. The adjacent Armory Museum was incredible. If you think you’ve seen knights’ armor, you really haven’t until you’ve seen this place. Among other things, over a dozen beautiful ceremonial armor for children!

The Prado Art Gallery (“one of the three largest in the world”) was immense and confusing. Fortunately Yoriko had some Japanese guidance for which artist was the most sight worthy. We were able to focus on finding these which was vastly more rewarding (and time-saving) than just wandering from room to room.

Madrid is very clean, even though there are lots of homeless. Very few hawkers. Street sellers have their products attached to a sheet which is attached to ropes. They see the police, pull on the ropes, and their product is compressed into a bundle, allowing for a quick escape.

The main city “square” was occupied by Venezuelans, supporting regime change. Peaceful.

Had two small meals during the day with not-so-small tapas. It appears restaurants are taking liberty with the word tapas. The evening Tour (starting at 8!) was a historic walk with four restaurant/tapas stops. (Tapas literally means “lid”, to describe food which could be placed over a glass to keep dust and flies out.) Excellent guide, very fun companions. Huge selection of food. Defies a short description.

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Monday, 4/29. Typical flights. Exiting Madrid Airport was simplicity itself. Customs agent had fun talking Japanese to Yoriko. Free wifi with no registration nonsense. Luggage was nearly first out. Driver was from Bolivia, forced to relocate for a job. Had been a banker. Fun drive.

Time from landing to hotel check-in to restaurant was one hour, forty minutes. Granted, we were seated at ten in the PM. I had found the place on Google Maps, featuring a tasting meal of seven courses. Excellent! The only item I couldn’t stomach was seaweed from Japan! See the menu below. Pisco Sour (a Peruvian favorite) was actually sour. I prefer sweet. “Green Dog” white wine.

Anyway, we got right into the swing of things by having dinner from 10 to midnight. Need my sleep. Tomorrow (today!) is busy.

  • Sea anemones from Cadiz. Tasted like alligator. Seaweed from Japan. Not my liking.
  • Smoked eel. Nothing like the eel I’ve had before. Delicious.
  • Study carefully. A flight to Madrid just to dine here is what super rich people should do.
  • Suckling Pig.
  • Cannelloni skin made of pineapple. Cold yogurt interior. Mango sauce.
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April 29th to June 9th. This complex trip will include mostly Spain and Portugal, with stops in southern France, Andorra, Gibraltar, and Tangier. At the conclusion Yoriko will return home and I’ll continue on to Egypt alone. Most of the trip is self-guided, but it includes Viking’s 10-day Portugal River Cruise. In Egypt I join Overseas Adventure Travel’s Nile Tour/River Cruise.

I’ve booked hotels, rented a car and pocket wifi, reserved a few tours, etc. I’ve not learned Spanish.

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Friday, 3/15. Another lazy day. A bit better than yesterday. Found a great Italian restaurant for lunch. Enjoyed watching people. No museums.

This trip has been 28 days long. For 22 of those days I’ve been well above a mile high. Many days two miles high. I’m not doing this again. Next week I’ll need to learn how to breath just through my nose again.

Highlights were unsurprisingly Machu Picchu and the Galapagos. The Bolivian Salt Flats were fantastic. Why they aren’t promoted more is a mystery. Ecuador easily wins the Best Nation Award. The cable cars in La Paz puts that city over the top for Best City.

Next trip begins April 27th. Spain and Portugal with Yoriko, then Egypt by myself.

  • Roof Art.
  • Main street has performers. I don’t know what Snow White’s performance was.
  • Columbian beer. Good.
  • Last meal.
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Thursday, 3.14. (Pi Day.) A city can have low crime because there’s a general lack of criminals, or because there’s an overabundance of police to discourage crime. Bogota fits the second criteria. There are police (or private security personnel) everywhere. The federal buildings were especially protected. The Irish bar (decorated to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day) had a security guard. Police dogs are popular. Sad to say, I can’t recommend the city for tourism.

  • Lots of Dunkin Donuts.
  • Lots of pastries in general. Dozens of tiny eateries.
  • Dirty city. Cars/trucks/buses have outdated exhaust systems.
  • Shoe shining is big here. Very big.
  • Most people walk around as though it’s 40 degrees vice the high 60s. Coats, scarves, etc.
  • Very steep funicular to the top of a mountain peak. 3,200 meters high. Warnings about altitude. For me it’s not a problem (now). View wasn’t the best (overcast).
  • Lots of museums, though I didn’t visit any of them. Maybe tomorrow. Today I just enjoyed strolling around on my own without a guide or companions.
  • I can’t figure out why Simon Bolivar has a red mask on.
  • The Capitol building. The Presidential Mansion behind it is unworthy of a photo. Heavily guarded, no loitering.
  • Legal graffiti is everywhere, though many are overlaid with illegal graffiti.
  • Buses with three articulating sections.
  • Many, many shoe shine vendors. Popular activity.
  • Even security people get their shoes shined.
  • The view from the top.
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Wednesday, 3/13. No photos. Wait 2.5 hours to board the very hot plane. Wait 45 minutes until Captain has us disembark the hot and apparently broken plane. Wait 2.5 hours for a replacement plane. Get off the ground. First landing attempt in Bogota is aborted. Then wait for an open gate. Driver, confused by flight change, is delayed picking me up. Lastly, driver can’t find the hotel! Arrive 6 PM vice 1:30. Immediately go to bed to get an unhurried full night’s rest without a morning wakeup call. But Bogota is the third highest capital in the world (8,700 feet), so the now-routine cycle of sleep/breathless awakening resumes. So I rise to write this post.

Forgettable day. (Hotel is very old, with high ceilings and creaky wooden floors. Reminds me of my childhood bedroom, built in 1871. Some would despair, but it feels right to me.)

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Sunday-Tuesday, 3/10-12. Lots of photos. Three nights is just about right for a visit. Tour guide admits that after much longer tourists grow tired of blue footed boobies and lazy sea lions. Great experience. Unforgettably closeness of the animals. You were able to literally touch most of the species, though our group conformed to park rules and stayed six feet away.

Snorkeling was fun, but there was a sameness to each dive. Fish tank swimming. Saw one shark. Others saw penguins underwater, a sight I wished I’d seen. Water was perfect temp for me.

Tour guide certainly knew his stuff. Roberto was able to answer questions with extreme details. One strange anomaly was the absence of any signs. No warnings, very few directional aids. Since all visits require a guide, messing up the views with signs were unneeded. Improved the wilderness feel.

Bought some genuine moonshine rum which I hope to return home with.

The islands are much bigger than I expected. Distances were correspondingly greater too. The result was that we didn’t travel nearly as far afield as I expected. I would have liked to visit the famous mailbox.

Flew back to Quito, where the group broke up. Tomorrow I go alone to Bogota, Columbia. A good thing. I need some quiet time.

  • Zodiac ride to our boat. We did a lot of zodiac riding.
  • Our boat is on the right. A fairly unstable boat.
  • Sea lions were constant freeloaders when the zodiacs were tied to the stern.
  • Small penguins. Their chests are so bright they mess up the camera’s exposure setting.
  • A walk in the lava fields. This cactus was the only sign of life for acres around.
  • A long neck tortoise.
  • Male frigate birds trying to attract a mate. Despite their beauty, they are not nice birds.
  • Blue Footed Booby.
  • Mating dance of a booby.
  • Mantas.
  • Underwater photo of an urchin.
  • Flamingos in a volcano marsh. The rim of the cone has almost eroded to sea level, which will force the flamingos to relocate.
  • A crab divesting itself of its shell. The suds lubricate the extraction.
  • Group photo.
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Friday, 3/8. Uneventful flights. Landed at a tiny island which was occupied and used by the US Army as an airfield during WWII to protect the approaches to the Panama Canal. Ecuador politely asked the Army to get out in 1949. As is typical, the Army left it an environmental mess. Fortunately, they didn’t touch any other island.

Ferried across to Santa Cruz Island. Visited a farmer who makes more money offering access to land tortoises than cattle raising. Great time watching some tortoises actually move. Walked through a volcanic tunnel.

Hotel for lunch. Sea lions, iguanas, crabs, pelicans, etc. were part of the [very closeup] view. Fearless animals. Very nice little small town. Daily pickup volley ball games. Lots of shops. Cheap drinks. Very hot and humid (duh).

We board ship tomorrow. No wifi for three nights. Bye.

  • Drive across the island. 97% of the Galapagos is National Park.
  • Roberto. Born on the islands.
  • Just fooling around.
  • They do swim!
  • Main Street.
  • Made of cigarette butts. Anti-smoking/littering campaign.
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