Western Europe Trip 2 - Page 1 |
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 I
landed in Spain and as always is the case when I travel to Europe I was
groggy. But the air in Madrid was special right off. They call
it Champagne Air. I took a bus into town and found a place to stay for the
night and then walked around. I think where I stayed was up the
street going to the right in this picture to the right of a very cool
building in Madrid.
One thing you have to be aware of in Spain is they eat dinner very late and it's next to impossible to find a restaurant open until at least 8:30.
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 This
is the Royal Palace (the Palacio Real). The first day in Madrid I
walked by this and to some gardens nearby. I thought I would write
some postcards. There was a bench and the gardens were quiet.
I feel asleep. I try not to do this because I find it best to stay
awake as long as possible to get on a good sleep cycle.
The Palace is amazing. I think there are very few in Europe that come close - Versailles probably does. One room I remember had a cabinet with three or four Stradivarius violins and cellos. It was magnificent. |
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 I
was in Spain when the EU was still an idea. These were medical
students marching to protest (I believe) that Germany didn't want Spanish
doctors to work in Germany because they had inferior training (at least in
their eyes). And one of the points behind the EU is that people are
allowed to work in whatever country they would like to. This is kind
of like making Europe into the US if you ask me. One of the things
about Europe is that you used to be able to tell where you were by how
people looked - now I think they will be more and more mixed - just like
the US. |
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