The flight is via KLM to Amsterdam and then on to Madrid, Spain. Since our arrival in Madrid is going to be in the early evening we decide on another first: room reservations! Anyone who knows Dick & me know we NEVER make reservations.

We decided to reserve a room at the Hostel Residencia Valencia at Grand Via 44, it turns out to be an excellent choice. We also purchase Spain Flexi-passes (second class) that allow us three days of train travel within two months of the first time we use them. We can also upgrade to the bullet train (The AVE) between Madrid & Seville if we want.

We leave home on Tuesday, March 7, after the first really big snowfall of the year, 12-14 inches. MSP airport had to shut down and 90 flights were canceled! When our travel agent booked our seats the plane was three-fourths full -- not so anymore!! When they offer $900 to take a bump until the next day, Dick and I really are tempted. If we had had longer than a week we would do it. We board (you have to remember -- we usually fly charter -- AKA cattle cars) so, to board and see each seat with it's own blanket & pillow is quite unexpected, as are the free headsets. We also aren't used to all of the leg room.

They serve us a nice hot meal at about 11:00 p.m. and then I sleep. I think Dick watches the movie. We arrive in Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m., I reset my watch while Dick keeps on "home" time. We have a 4-hour lay-over and so people-watch, have a beer and wander around Schipol Airport. Actually, we wander quite a bit as we land in one area and have to go to the opposite end of the airport to catch our plane to Spain. Amsterdam is also the only passport control we go through on the whole trip and they scan luggage and check our passports.

Day 2 of our trip actually begins before we land in Amsterdam. We are given a continental breakfast on board and so don't need lunch in Holland. We do our usual "people-watching" while we wait for our flight to Spain.

I hear Dick's favorite "super-babe" alert word, "Uffda!" and look around. There is an absolutely Gorgeous French girl looking at the departure screen. She apparently is NOT happy with what she sees! She throws her overnight bag and purse against the people mover and calls someone on her cell phone. Whoever she is talking to doesn't get a word in edgewise, she is angrily talking at about 100 mph! She stalks off, still talking and gesturing. About 5 minutes later she comes back, picks up her things, calls someone else and leaves. Every male set of eyes in the entire area follows every move she makes! We never see her again; she must have taken a different flight.

Finally, our last leg! Just two and one half hours to Madrid. I make a wonderful discovery; wine is free in coach! So, I have white wine with my Oriental Chicken Risotto -- nice. We arrive in Madrid on time and stop at the Tourist Information (TI) booth to pick up maps and brochures. They do speak English. We also buy a telephone card. We decide to take the bus to Plaza Colon as it only costs 385 pesetas compared to a taxi that costs 2,500-3,500 pesetas. The buses leave every 15 minutes.

The bus stop at the Plaza Colon is underground and very dark and spooky! A lot of hotels and pensions have representatives there looking for clients. The taxis are just around the corner from the bus stop. It costs us an additional 875 pesetas to get to our hotel. The driver apologizes almost all of the way, blaming the amount of traffic for the delay and the cost.

Traffic in Madrid is always bumper to bumper and three to four lanes wide each way! There is some sort of protest going on across the street from our hotel; lots of police, "Black Marias", the works! By the time we check in and look out our window it is all over, no cops, no protesters, nothing!

Day 3 of our vacation, our first full day in Madrid. This city never sleeps; people out all night, sirens all night. It's a good thing we were exhausted or we would never have gotten to sleep! We get up at 9:30 a.m. and eat breakfast at the coffee shop next door. Dick has a tortilla, which is a potato omelet and cafe con leche. I have churros y chocolate, something I've always wanted to try. Churros are deep-fried fritter strips, they're pretty good, and Spanish chocolate is as thick as pudding, not at all like our hot chocolate. You eat the churros by dunking them in the chocolate. Now that I've tried them, I'm done -- too many calories for this kid!

We decide to go to the Prado museum today and then to Atocha Renfre Railroad Station to buy our AVE tickets to Sevilla. I buy an English language guide to the Prado at a little bookstore outside. The museum is great, every great Spanish painter that I have ever studied at college is there and a lot more! We spend most of our morning here.

As we walk from the museum to Atocha Renfre, we have mustard shot on us from behind, right by Dick's back pockets! Dick pushes my purse one way and the would-be thief the other saying, “NO, NO, NO” to his offer of help in cleaning us up. The police, who are standing 10-15 feet away come over later to see if we are alright and if the man has gotten our money. When we say we are all right and still have our money, they leave.

They had to have seen the whole thing, but they did nothing! Carlo said later that this is a trick that Moors pull and the man definitely was NOT Spanish! We continue on to Atocha and buy our AVE tickets to Sevilla on Saturday at a cost of an additional $20 dollars each.

We eat lunch at the Museo de Jamon (Ham Museum). They serve, of all things, ham! The decor is also, all ham! Legs of ham hang everywhere, from the ceiling, behind the bar, everywhere! We have bocadillos, una cana and orange soda for Dick. This translates to ham sandwiches and a small draft beer. Ham, sandwiches are just that, a large crusty roll with 2 thin slices of excellent ham, anything else is extra. This cost us 575 pesetas and the waiter brings us a tapa of ham chunks, tongue and foot with bread, gratis.

It starts raining as we return to our hotel for a siesta, with thunderstorms at about 6 pm. After it stops, we go out and do the "Tapa Tango", which is going from bar to bar, snacking as you go. Very tasty. As we are returning to our hotel we meet Ginny and Pete Massion, of Oklahoma. They are looking for a good spot for dinner, so we go with them to the Nebraska Bar/Restaurant and have tapas while they have dinner. They're off to Lisbon tomorrow, nice folks, we exchange e-mail addresses.