6/30 Segovia

30 June 2008 - We spent the day in Segovia - 40 or 50 miles northwest of Madrid. Took the Metro to the Príncipe Pío train station, then caught a nice air-conditioned bus to Segovia. It was nice to be back in Segovia. I think it has all the elements that make Spain such an interesting country to visit. The pictures below do not do it justice.

We were struck by how few tourists were there. It was very nice to have few crowds to deal with. Is it the currency exchange rates or fuel prices, that's keeping the number of touristes down?

The Alcázar at Segovia ...











The Roman aqueduct in Segovia ...




Walking through town, you can see the cathedral straight ahead ...






We grabbed a mid-day meal at a sidewalk cafe ...


Filete de tenera, huevos y insalata ... great meal !!


We visited the home of Antonio Machado, a well known spanish writer and poet, that Mallorie teaches about in her advanced Spanish classes ...



Our bus from Madrid to Segovia ....

6/29 España ... Campeones !!

29 June 2008 - Today was about the Euro 2008 Championship game, Madrid walkabout, tapas, shopping, and more ...

The European Championship soccer match between Spain and Germany was played today (in Vienna). What a great atmosphere around town. The pictures below were taken as we walked around downtown area. Many people wearing the spanish flag, team jerseys, faces painted ...

At the Plaza Mayor ...



Hotel Europa at the Puerta del Sol - dressed for the futból match ...




We decided to stay in the hotel to actually watch and hear the game ... as you can see, we got some beverages and tapas - ordered a whole Tortilla Española (potato omelette). We got out immediately after the match was over. BTW, do you like the jersey?


Just after the 1-0 win for Spain, here is a scene from the spanish TV network TVE ... The lower right shows the Plaza Colon, just a half mile from our hotel ...


And here is the scene just outside our hotel - we walked around the area carefully for a while until people started bouncing buses around and turning dumpsters over - what fun?


... and a video - be sure to play it to get a little sound from the scene near our hotel. It is now a couple hours later, and we still are hearing the crowd outside chanting songs and fireworks exploding.


During quieter times earlier in the day, here are some tapas at the Plaza Mayor ...




Some shopping around the neighborhood - south on side streets near the Gran Via ...




... and we went to visit the downtown department store, El Corte Inglés ...


In yesterday's post (6/28) I mentioned that I had the "pleasure" of being pickpocketed ... well today while at El Corte Inglés, I bought a replacement wallet - of course I don't have anything to put in it yet ... one can only hope.

6/28 On to Madrid

28 June 2008 - We took a 7:30 train ride from Notting Hill Gate Underground Station to London Heathrow Terminal 2. Had no issues with check-in, security, the flight. We arrived in Madrid approximately 2:45 PM.

Barajas Airport in Madrid ... very new - first time that we have seen it. It seems to go on forever in a straight line ...


Our Iberia plane from Heathrow to Madrid ...


We rode the Madrid Metro all the way in to the Alonso Martinez station, next to our hotel. Then that is where the fun began - at the Metro station, in the middle of helping Mallorie lift her suitcase up some steps, three guys came by and distracted us, acting as if they were helping, subtly bumped in to me, then they disappeared. Well as you might be guessing, when we were checking into the Hotel Gran Versalles moments later I discovered my wallet was gone - I was a victim of a pickpocket! The most important things lost was some money (US Dollars, GB pounds, and Euros), credit/debit cards. We had "fun" calling the credit card companies to cancel the cards, went to the local police station to file a report (they found it unusual that the suspects were about 25 years old instead of young kids).

Here is an excerpt from the police report we filed ... it goes in the trip scrapbook.


Waiting in the police station while we file the report ... Anne, Mallorie, Sarah, and Carlos - we were not exactly figuring that we would be spending part of the first day in Madrid in the Police station!


One of the primary reasons for visiting Madrid again was to be able to visit with our very good friends, la familia Carrillo (Oscar, Anne, and son Carlos).


Our hotel, Hotel Gran Versalles ...


This spanish bar has a different look than the UK pubs ... you need to click on the picture to view and appreciate the detail of the tile and columns.


We stopped at a sidewalk cafe, very typical of the area, and had a beverage and sandwich ...


Jamón serrano y queso ... my lunch.

6/27 Final Day in London

27 June 2008 - Here are some photos from our last full day in London. They're not very exciting, I know. We covered shopping, the Underground, and my attempt to stand in line to get into Wimbeldon for third round action - the tennis tournament is underway this week.

After dropping a bag at the Bechtel London Hammersmith office we had a late lunch and a pint at the Hammersmith Ram - a favorite, er mean "favourite" pub for locals.


We split up for part of the day - Destination 1 was shopping along Oxford Street and down to Knightsbridge (Harrod's). Destination 2 was to try to get into the Wimbledon Tennis grounds to see a little tournamrent action - see a couple photos below.


The Egypt Room in Harrods.


A dress was purchased at "Top Shop" ...


Here are a few miscellaneous Underground shots ...




Thought I could come home and try to develop this look ... ??


I tried to get in to the Wimbledon Tournament. Rode the Underground to Southfields Station and walked the 10 minutes to find the queue for access to the tournament. You are handed a "Queue Card" with a number on it and pointed to a very civilized, 'er "civilised" queue - see photo below. I stood in it for an hour and a half before leaving. I just could not spend the whole last evening in line.


Some of the info you get along the way, while standing in the queue ...