May 12 -- Parauta -- Day 2 -- Headed off for a hike after breakfast. Took the trail to Cartayima -- and we had no idea what we were in for. It started off fairly cool and heated up as the sun rose and came over the mountain. We could have used more water as about 65% of the hike was uphill. But, at the bottom was a nice creek -- and Dodie was smart and took off her shoes and waded through. The last hour of our 1:45 minute hike was uphill -- we kept looking for the town around the next bend...the scenery, different flowers and trees gave us many opportunities to stop, look and sometimes take some photos. Once we got to Cartayima, we asked a woman, donde esta restaurante? -- She pointed up over the hill, on the other side of the church. And after walking about for 10-15 minutes, we found ourselves back where we started. Dodie then asked a man where was the restaurant and he pointed the way. We followed his directions and when we got about where we thought we should be, we saw another man and asked, donde esta restaurante? He looked at us like we were strange, raised his arm and shrugged -- so I asked again -- he raised his arm again and shrugged -- then we turned and saw that we were right in front of the restaurant, but had missed the table and chairs that sat just outside the door -- crazy Americans! -- After a cerveza, 2 waters and a pit stop, we headed back to Parauta -- and made it back 15 minutes sooner because so much of the trail was downhill. Stopped at creek and stuck our feet in....it felt soooo good! When we arrived back in Parauta, we were exhausted but happy that we made the trek. Of course, we stopped at the pub and had another cerveza and agua to celebrate. We had a big dinner -- and there was no way we could have eaten all the points we earned on that hike!
May 13 -- Parauta am / Ronda pm -- We hiked along the trail to another town in the morning -- but ran out of trail just about the same time we needed to head back, as we needed to check out and go back to Ronda -- Seems we made a bit of a mistake on the train tickets and had too go back to Ronda to change them -- but happy to say this was our only transportation mis-step. We had a great walk -- down to the valley and up again -- and wished we had time to go to the next town and back. Packed up, called a taxi -- and while we waited, the woman gave us a flower and showed us a lookout on a patio above the hotel reception area.. WOW, what a view! We then headed for Ronda to exchange our train tickets and find an internet cafe so we could check in with our 'home girls' -- who no doubt missed us and our Skype/e-mails.
May 14 -- Ronda AM -- Ciudad Real PM -- We spent the morning touring Ronda and then headed to Ciudad Real. In Ronda, we walked across the bridge, separating the new from the old city, and into the NE side of town, known as the San Francisco area. Much of our walk took us through the residential area, which allowed us to see what most tourists do not, like a water cistern (see photo) that was a couple of centuries old and many family run shops with friendly service and excellent prices...like a $2.75 bottle of wine, which was actually pretty good! We didn't get to drink it until our last night in Spain, but it was worth hauling around and glad it made it all the way to Madrid. In the PM, we headed to Ciudad Real -- Of course, David was there to pick us up and after dropping off our luggage, we headed out for tapas -- of course. David had a paddle match, so we were on our own. Yes, we got lost yet again while trying to find the square -- Judy was sure she could find it. But, after 3 attempts that all ended back where we started, we opted to have dinner where we had tapas a couple of hours prior. Fortunately, the waiter took a liking to us and we had a very nice dinner.
May 15 -- Ciudad Real am / Madrid PM-- David picked us up and we walked to the 'square' -- the one we were in search of the night before. We walked in, through and around the square, met up with Cruces and then had lunch at the University of La Mancha -- Then, David dropped us off at the train. Walked from the train station to our hotel, which nearly killed us...not too far, but we had all our luggage in tow. This served to confirm a taxi ride to the airport, rather than taking the Metro. We got to Madrid early enough to the Prado Museum, one of the world's great -- museums. We saw many works by velazquez, Francisco de Goya, El Greco, Bosch and many others -- most of which we had never heard of, but it was interesting -- We read a lot of titles, listened to the self-guided tour recording -- and although we would flunk a quiz, we did enjoy seeing so many great artists. After 2 hours, we were done so we headed back & got up later to enjoy a good meal at a vegetarian restaurant a block from our hotel.
May 16 -- Madrid -- We still can't believe that we are in Madrid, Spain. COOL!! Today we are heading to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum -- which has an outstanding Impressionist collection -- The highlight was Picasso's Guernica -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting) -- We also so many other artists, but really enjoyed Picasso and Dali -- After a siesta, we headed to a vegetarian restaurant recommended in one of our guide books. It took a bit of doing and walking to find it, and when we did it was not yet open. We headed to the Puerta del Sol to do some shopping. What we didn't anticipate were the thousands of people who would also be there. We did a bit of shopping and strolled through the sleezier district -- where prostitutes and sex shops were prevalent -- and we were considerably under-dressed. The restaurant was good, though a bit pricey, and we had a long walk home. We ended the day with over 37,000 steps.
May 17 -- Madrid -- Our last day, and we wanted to make the most of it. We headed for the Palace -- walking through the Plaza Mayor (square built in 1619) on the way -- We were able to only 15 rooms, but that was enough to get the idea... A little Baroque, which may be a contradiction in terms -- but we enjoyed seeing and hearing about the history of the Palace and those who lived there. We then did some shopping -- but was a bit of a challenge since it was Sunday. We found a Midieval street fair, where Judy ate meat (hopefully it was not from the midieval times) and Dodie did some shopping. Although we were way across town, we relied on our map skills and perserverance and made our way home -- not without a couple of stops for cerveza and ice cream -- Justifiable consumption! -- After a siesta, we headed out for dinner -- We ended uup at a local pub, had some pub grup, but a really good time. We enjoyed the experience and toasted to our last night in Madrid, Spain!!! Pinch, pinch; Dorothy, we are not in Kansas any more.
May 18 -- Madrid AM -- USA PM -- Taxi to the airport, duty free store stop, and nice flight home. We both had to forfiet our wine -- as we had to go through security once again in Newark. However, we both made it home -- safe and sound -- and can't wait to return to Spain. Hasta la vista!
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