L ater that day, still woozy, we walk the city. We see the Catedral de la Alumedna and Plaza Major. My legs and feet are sore. Catedral de la Alumedna is more beautiful inside than it is out—but in general, it leaves one with the impression that the financing fell through before it was completed. Plaza Major is very cool...especially around sunset. That night we discover life in Madrid doesn't even begin until about 11PM. We make it until about 2.30AM and then retire to our much anticipated, but slightly hard bed.

T he next day we visit the Parque del Retiro and the Museo Prado. Parque del Retiro used to be the private gardens for the Hapsburg palace. Today the gardens are open to the public. In the center of the park is a pretty lake where you can rent rowboats. A cool statue of Alfonso XII, borders one side of the lake.

I 've read that Museo Prado is a world-class museum. I have to be honest; I'm not an Art History major, nor am I very knowledgeable with anything most people call Art. Therefore, as self-declared art-illiterate, I do have to report there are a lot of oil paintings in the Prado. From my perspective though, once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who "did" the Uffizi (Florence, Italy) in under a half an hour and "passed" on doing the Louvre (Paris, France). I'm not very good with museums.

D espite my lack of interest, I do wish we had made time for the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. This museum features a lot of Picasso's paintings. For some reason, I didn't realize until now that Picasso only died in 1973. I had somehow pictured Picasso as a renaissance painter or other "old-world" artist. Picasso seems to have lead an interesting life—both as a painter and as an ideologist. His interest in varied ideologies seems to have been cause enough for FBI to keep files on him.

B y mid-afternoon we are museumed and parked-out, and head back to the hotel. Our feet are aching, so we decide it is time for an ever popular and socially acceptable siesta. That night we have Sangria in the hoppin Plaza Santa Ana. Our Spanish is getting passable. I have mastered, "Gracias" and "No comprendo espanol". Amy serves as our primary translator.

D ay three, we tour the very cool Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Those that saw the movie Amistad may remember the young Spanish queen who had an interest in the Amistad slaves. Isabella II, as she is known, occupied this very palace during her regime. It doesn't take too much imagination to picture the belligerent young Queen dishing out executive orders and playing with her dolls in the very throne room we are touring.

W e find an internet café in Puerta del Sol and email home. Pathetic! Later that day we take a double-decker bus tour of the city. This turns out to be a nice way to see the city and not strain ourselves too much. Early the next morning we hop on the AVE high speed train to Seville (southern Spain). Meanwhile, the partiers in Plaza Santa Anna are just shutting down. The AVE runs at over 150mph and the trip takes under three hours.

I n Seville we have a rented a small Renault. We are weary because Seville is known to have petty theft problems. After the initial shock of getting reacquainted with European driving, I get settled down and get us up to cruising speed. We head west toward Portugal. At the border to Portugal, we are ready to present passports, but the border checkpoint is deserted. We blow thru the checkpoint doing 130kph. I worry that perhaps the border guards were on a coffee break and are going to come chasing after us with the good old eee-ahhh-eee-ahhh-eee-ahhh siren, but it doesn't come to pass. I am later told that there are no longer any border guards between Portugal and Spain because of the European Union.


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