Wednesday, August 25th

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Wednesday is Turkish Bath Day! Now you are probably thinking, what the heck does that mean? Ha ha!

One of employees of the Embassy recommended to Kathryn that her “dad” might enjoy going to the Turkish Bath in Madrid. Kathryn brought home a brochure and it looked interesting. It billed itself as a very relaxing time in controlled temperature baths then a massage.

So off I went! I got there about 20 minutes to 12. They take people every two hours. The lobby was full of people waiting. I was told that I could use the “baths”, but there were no massage times available. They said they had a 15 minute massage slot open at 2 or a half hour massage slot open at midnight. Well, midnight is way past my bedtime so I said; “15 minutes” they would not get much past my head”. The woman at the counter did not think I was funny!

So I committed to the 2:00 “bath” and a 15 minute massage. I hung around Plaza del Sol for awhile and did some window and people shopping. At 1:45 I went back and found the lobby once again filled with people. The attendant gave me a page and a half of rules to read (in English). Basically they said to behave yourself, no talking and follow instructions. Well, I can do at least two of those. They gave you some blue thingies to cover up your shoes and a towel, and a wrist band with a number on it for your massage.

At the appointed hour, they led us to the locker rooms to change into our swim suits. There was a mix of people.. several couples, from around 19 to 70, two families with children around 10 and 13, and a few singles like me. The locker cost another euro, so it is now 33 Euros for my Turkish bath and massage. We went to a common shower area and you were told to shower before going down to the baths.

The “baths” were these large pools of water, less than knee deep, of different temperatures. It was a cave-like atmosphere, with low lighting and music playing. They suggested that you start in the moderate temperature, move to the hot, then go into the steam room, and then a plunge into the cold bath. OK……..

The moderate was not as hot as you would have your bath water. I got in stretched out and I must admit it was very peaceful and relaxing. I then moved to the hot bath. It was very warm, but not as warm as most hot tubs I have been in. While I was lying there, I came up with this great idea that I would present three different scenarios for the “bath” experience, one the truth, and the other two wild adventures of my worst imagination! I would then let everyone guess which one was true. I was mentally working on some of my best work when I realized that some of my nieces and nephews might be reading the blog and…. Well, you are only getting the one version!

The steam room was hot! It was hard to see across the six feet width of the room. I didn’t stay long and the “cold” bath was right next door. It was cold! Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where George is seen… well you get the picture!

They said you were to “plunge” into the cold bath to gain the most of the experience. My first pass through, I did a half ease and a half plunge. My two other passes, I did the plunge and it was exhilarating to say the least. I do have to admit that the most refreshing part of the experience was in the “cold” bath after getting as used to it as possible.

All this time, they keep calling numbers for massages. People would disappear and then reappear 15 or 30 minutes later. I was one of the last to be called. They took us to a room, and then this guy came in and pointed to me and pointed to this door. I said to him “English”? He shook his head “no” and pointed at me and to the door again. I said “Don’t you have a sister who could do this?’ No expression what-so-ever, but the English speaking couple left in the room got a good chuckle over it.

He took me into the room where there was a large marble slab. He (he never introduced himself, or if he did, I did not understand him, so let’s say, we will call him Bruce’ – get the picture?

I laid down on the slab and closed my eyes. Bruce’ first took a ladle and poured very warm water all over my body. I could then hear him (I had my eyes closed most of the time) lather up a cloth, and then he wrung the cloth out over my body. I could then hear him lathering up again, and he began my “massage” …. Although it really wasn’t a “massage” but a body scrub! I still have my suit on for those of you who were wondering….. When he got done scrubbing the front, he rinsed me with the ladle and then had me turn over for the backside. Same procedure….

When he was done there he said something like “finette” which I took to mean I was finished. I got up he handed me the towel, and then he took the bar of soap he used, the “cloth mitt” he had used and very carefully wrapped the soap in it, he then reached over and picked up this gauze like bag and put the soap wrapped mitt inside and gave me a big smile, and presented it to me.

I was thinking “why would I ever want this, and what would I ever do with it”. I know, to take a picture of it so you will believe this crazy story!

I then walked down to Parque Del Buen Retiro – Retiro Park. It had once been a private park for the royalty, but along the way, some King felt guilty about this big beautiful park with no one in it. They would first open it for one day per year for the public, and eventually it became a public park. We had visited the park in 2003.

It was very hot today and there were not many people in the park. There is a large lagoon in the center where you can rent row boats or ride on a boat that holds about 12 people, around the lagoon.

I walked back to the hotel where Kathryn eventually came back to. We had dinner plans with Clara and we walked about two miles to the restaurant. It was a beautiful night to walk. We had a great dinner, the food was excellent.
Clara is very adventurous with eating and had steak tare tare. Kathryn had tuna and I had seafood pasta. Clara ordered a pate appetizer for us to try which was also excellent. We walked back to the hotel,

Tuesday, August 24

It was great to be back at the Intercontinental Hotel and their great breakfast. Kathryn was off to work at the Embassy, and I had decided to a day trip to Toledo. When I worked at Roscoe Village, we had hundreds of motorcoaches of senior citizens visit the Village each year. Most people working in the Villages hated dealing with the “seniors” on the buses. I used to kid with my children and tell them “If I ever get old enough that I want to go on one of those motor coaches, shoot me!” haha Well, guess who went on one today? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


The tour company office was located near the Royal Palace so it was an easy find for me. I got there in plenty of time for the 9:45 departure. There were about 30 of us on tour. I was one of the older ones so I didn’t feel that bad about taking it. Over half were Spanish speaking, the other English. The guide would speak in one language and then the other. Her interpretation skills were very good and she never referred to a note all day.

We made a bathroom stop at a gift shop right before we got to Toledo. Toledo is about 70 kilometers from Madrid. I am sure the tour company gets a kickback on sales from the gift shop, but the restrooms were very clean.

The old part of Toledo sits up on a hill and is still almost surrounded by a large stone wall. At one time, it was the capital of Spain. At some point, one of the ruling Kings decided that it would be better to have the religious capital and the government capital in two different cities so they moved the government capital to Madrid. It is also 70% surrounded by the Tagus river, which makes for some beautiful vistas.

We toured the Catheral de Toledo (which may be the most beautiful yet!) Sorry no interior photos were allowed and many guests were yelled at for trying to take them. I had learned my lesson. It was interesting though, as we exited the Cathedral, there was a street vendor standing by the door trying to sell pictures of the interior. In the Church Sacistry, there were at least 100 famous paintings hanging, many by Greco.

We also visited St. Thome Church, where Greco’s most famous work “The burial of Lord Orgaz”, the Victorio Macho Museum, The Santa Maria La Blanca Synagogue and San Juan De Los Reyes Church. The streets of Toledo are narrow and very winding. There were all kinds of neat little shops and restaurants, but we didn’t have time to stop.

We ate at a very nice restaurant for lunch as a group. The food was very good and served “French” style. The woman sitting next to me was from New Zealand, so I told her about my upcoming trip there in January 2011. A female student and her mother were also at my table, they were doing some traveling around Spain and France, prior to dropping the girl off for a semester studying in London. She was attending Webster University in St. Louis (that’s where my nephew Kacey Hampton attends). I gave her Kacey’s name and told her to look him up in the winter semester (Kacey, if you are reading this, she was very cute! Haha) The things I do for my nephews!

After lunch, we got back on the motor coach and were taken to a place where we could take some very good vista pictures of Toledo. After an hour trip back to Madrid, they dropped us off in the Gran Via shopping area, which I knew well, so I worked my way to Plaza de Mayor and then back to the subway stop I always use.

Kathryn is back from work and we have decided to eat cheap again tonight!

Monday, August 23

Monday is a travel day. Kathryn had a meeting in the morning with the US Consulate in Barcelona, so I ventured off for a walk to and on the beach. I was warned that clothing was optional on the Barcelona beaches. I can only say, that I did not take any pictures, and that most of the topless women on the beach were at an age that they should have considered before making such a decision. I did take a swim in the Mediterranean Sea, very chilly, very salty and not so clean.


My hats off to one very special Barcelona Cab driver. I had walked quite a distance to the beach, and then up the beach, and I was running out of time to get back, so I took a cab. I left my camera bag in the cab by mistake. By the time I noticed it was missing, a half hour had gone by. I was just getting panicky on what to do, when the front desk called and said a cab driver wanted to see me. He had found the bag (containing both digital and camcorder) found an airline stub with my name on it in the bag, and brought it back to me. The bellman at the door said, “That is one very special cab driver, 99 out of 100 would have kept the cameras. I really think that Saint Mindy had something to do with it!

We traveled by train back to Madrid and ended up in the same room where we had stayed previously (that sure makes it easy for me!) Kathryn went to work for a couple of hours at the Embassy and I went out for a walking tour of the hotel neighborhood. We plan to eat cheap again, but back at the same restaurant where we had the great gazpacho.

I am trying to get into a “paella” cooking class, but they need two more people to sign up by Friday for that to happen.

Sunday, August 22

I got up early and went up to the roof of the hotel to watch the sun rise right out of the Mediterranean Sea. It was beautiful. The last time I remember seeing something as spectacular was shark fishing with Bill Garrison on his boat 30 miles out in the Atlantic. I took a nice swim in the hotel pool on the roof of the hotel, and watched a large ferry unload after an overnight cruise on the Mediterranean Sea.


We continued our tour on the double-decker bus. There were three different routes to take, we completed the red route on Saturday and decided to try the blue route today. Our main stop for the day was Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia (soon to be commissioned as a Basilica by Pope Benedict, is the life-long work of Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926). Gaudi started work on the Church in 1883 and was still working on it when he was struck and killed by a train in 1926. The Church is about 50% completed today. Work is going on each day but is completely funded by private donations and admissions. The line was half-way around the five sided Church when we got there and it took about 40 minutes to get in. If anyone is familiar with Gaudi’s work, “wild” is my best one word descriptor. But as I learned from the excellent, and I mean excellent audio phone, each and every detail was thought out and has some religious tie. Estimates range from 20 to 50 years on how long it will take to complete. But there is enough of it completed to gain a real understanding and admiration for what Gaudi is trying to accomplish. His original plans were burnt in a 1927 civil uprising and current architects are working off some models that were put back together after they were destroyed by the same uprising. If you ever get to Barcelona, this is a must see! As a practical person with enough historic preservation work under my belt to make me dangerous, they will be working on this project forever as it’s style means constant repair and work. I would like to see the finished product!

We finished the blue route, and after a short nap, we took one of the boats that cruises the seaport of Barcelona. It was the last cruise of the day, so it started in daylight and ended up at duck. I was able to watch the sun set over the mountains to the west of Barcelona. We ate cheap again!

Saturday, August 21

We were both tired and slept in on Saturday morning. Kathryn suggested that I go up to the roof and check out the pool and work out room. The view was great of the harbor, the skyline of Barcelona and the women up there who were sunbathing topless. When I got back to the room, I gave Kathryn a high five, and she asked if I liked the view, I told her “yes”, and why, and she gave me one of those, “why do I have to put up with you” looks!


We got on board one of those double-decker buses for a tour of Barcelona. It was hot and the bus was crowded. We got seats on the top and the view was great. We got off at one of the stops that looked interesting and ended up in a market that looked a lot like the Westside Market in Cleveland. All sorts of meats, cheeses, prepared foods and plenty of fresh produce.

We worked our way up the street to La Catedral de Barcelona. Construction started in 1295 and the last tower was not completed until 1926. It is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. We walked around some of the streets surrounding the Cathedral until 1:00 when it officially opened for tours. Right in front of the altar was a set of steps that were about 12 wide and took you down to a tomb and crypt (sorry, lost the name of the current inhabitants). I had never seen this in such a prominent Cathedral before.

The Cathedral is under renovation and we took the elevator to the roof where most of the work is visible on the towers. I would imagine that any building of this size and age is constantly undergoing some sort of renovation.

For as old as the Cathedral is, their fund raising techniques were pretty modern. I don’t really know the official term for them, but most Catholic Churches have the displays of candles that you can pay for, light and then dedicate a prayer for something. At the Cathedral, there was a coin slot, and depending on what coin you put in, one or more candles would light up. The “candles” were electric, so there was no real “lighting” involved, more like throwing a switch for someone! Well, Kathryn put in a euro, and a whole row lit up (maybe ten electric candles). Soooo….

If you are on Kathryn’s prayer list, you are well taken care of!

We got back on the tour bus and decided to stop at Poble Espanol). This village was created in 1929 for an International Fair held in Madrid to display the many varied architectural styles of Spain. The two architects, who designed the village, traveled Spain for two years before their design work began. It costs about 10 Euros to get in. The interpretation on the audio phones we rented was very poor and boring. There are supposed to be Spanish crafts-people at work, but most of the shops were filled with “things” you find just about anywhere and a lot were made in China. There were several restaurants, but very few people around to use them. I would not recommend this site to anyone. It is tired and needs some real “punch” to bring it alive.

After a short nap back at the hotel, we walked up La Rambia Boulevard, which was filled with people, restaurants, more street people, shops and booths. We were hustled by a ten year old boy who sold us this toy (it lights up and you fling it up in the air via a rubber band, about 100 feet). He had this great smile and sold us one of these things for four Euros. We later found out that the going price was two for 5 Euros (and we wondered why he had this great smile on his face the whole time he hustled us!) ha

We ate cheap since we had blown the travel budget for the day (I won’t even tell you where!).

Friday, August 20

On Friday morning, the concierge at the hotel found a Laundromat for me to do some laundry. Kathryn said the hotel charged $3 just for a pair of underwear. That price, I could buy new ones everyday!

They say to watch the cabs, I don’t think I was watching close enough. The ride to the Laundromat was $7.80 and the ride back was $4.70. There is a $2.20 fixed fee when you get in, so that means travel was $5.60 on the way over and $2.50 on the way back. I think I paid for an extra tour of Madrid that I did not want. I don’t think the difference had anything to do with the laundry being dirty on the way over.
The woman at the Laundromat was very helpful. She understood no English, and if you haven’t figured it out by now, I understand little to no Spanish. I do know how to say thank you, check please , and where are the bathrooms?! We used our hands a lot and got my laundry done without incident!

Kathyrn was back at the hotel at 1:00 and we packed enough for the weekend in one small suitcase and left the others at the hotel as we will return there on Monday.

We took a cab to the train station. Our train is very modern looking and very comfortable inside. More room that an airplane seat! I am sitting on the train trying to get caught up on this blog.

I remember our train rides in 2003, and all of the olive groves along the routes. I have never seen this part of Spain, so it will be interesting to see what the countryside is like!

As we travel in this high speed train, I was trying to guess the speed. I told Kathryn that I thought we were going at least 100 mph. I then noticed that the speed was indicated on panel near the front of our car, and we actually hit speeds of 300 kph, which if my math is correct, is 180 mph. Zoom…Zoom!


The countryside going towards Barcelona is pretty barren. I would see an occasional small town, nestled in the hills, but not much vegetation and very few animals. The soil is reddish brown and lots of rocks.

As we got closer to Barcelona, the hills became more green, probably the influence of the sea.

We arrived at the train station and took a cab to our hotel. The Grand Marina, right on the harbor. It is a beautiful hotel, the room very nice, and the bathroom spectacular! There is a shower with six shower heads, a separate whirlpool tub, and a bidet.

I took a short nap, Kathryn worked on setting up this blog and then we were off exploring. We walked along the waterfront. We could see several cruise ships and harbors filled with large sail and yachts.

We came across the Steve Irwin, the ship of the Sea Shepard.org group that has a show on the Discovery Channel, out there battling the Japanese whaling fleets. We met some of the crew and hope to go back for a tour (they had stopped tours for the day). The tour is free but they gladly accept donations of cash or vegan foodstuffs!

We walked past many shopping areas and finally found the beach. It was getting dark, but there were still hundreds of people on the beach. We found a great outdoor café and had the best paella on the trip. The waiters were really friendly and they kept giving us stuff. The liquor that they gave us with some little cakes for dessert burned all the way down. It was yellow, had a licorice taste, and I could only manage two small sips.

Thursday, August 19th

I walked down to the Royal Palace for a tour. The palace was built around 1750 and has over 2,000 rooms. Stan Hywet in Akron has 65 rooms, the Biltmore in Ashville has 250 rooms (just to put things in perceptive, if you needed that!) The armory was one of my first stops on the tour. It was also the first time I got yelled at in Spain! “No photos!” Oh well, I can’t show you any photos inside the palace.


The armory has two floors of weapons and armor from the 12th to the 18th century. Spectacular!

The rest of the tour – about 20 rooms - was impressive. I rented one of those audio phones which was well worth the cost. Very informative.

I love the street people of Madrid.

I admire their creative way to try to make money in this tough economy. The ones who remain perfectly still (like statues) amaze me. They do not move until you put money in their container. I know I could never do that. The firefighter (with Kathryn and I in the picture), never blinked, even with flash pictures.

Kathryn and I walked down to the Madrid train station on Thursday night to purchase our tictets for the train to Barcelona on Friday. She was going to get off early and we had reservations on the 2:30 train.

We found a small restaurant for dinner and it was quite good. I had paella, which was very good. Kathryn had calamari. She said it was good, but she had some problems the next day (enough said!)

Tuesday, August 17 and Wednesday, August 18

Have you ever seen those red double-decker tourist buses and wonder what kind of losers ride those things? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Haha
It was a wonderful way to see Madrid. They have two lines running, one that takes you through the more modern Madrid, and one that takes you through historic Madrid. I spent Tuesday just riding the routes all day and looking for places I wanted to get off and explore on Wednesday. On the second day, I would get off at certain spots, explore and then get back on to the next stop.

Tuesday night Kathryn and I ate near the hotel at an inexpensive little restaurant near the hotel. We had blown the food budget on Monday with Clara, and decided to try to make some of it up. The gazpacho was great, the best I think I have ever had (yes – Alicia – it was pureed and yes I think it was better than yours!)

I had a wonderful lunch on Wednesday at a café near the Royal Palace. It was a three course meal for 17 euros. Gazpacho, Grilled salmon with a creamed vegetable sauce and puff pastry, and rice pudding for dessert.

Kathryn and I walked down to the same area for dinner and sat with a view of the Royal Palace. A very good dinner.

Monday, August 16

Kathryn had to work today at the U.S. Embassy. When her alarm went off, I thought to myself, you really must have been tired, because you really slept well, only to hear Kathryn moan, *&^%$ it’s only 5:00 a.m. So much for sleeping well!
The breakfast at the Intercontinental far exceeded that of the Le Meridian. I told Kathryn I was going to enjoy breakfast each day in Madrid! I walked Kathryn to the Embassy and then walked back to the hotel to catch up on some emails. I studied the Madrid map and located two places I wanted to visit. I was looking for a place where I could sit at a café- write in this blog – and people watch.

After getting some directions from the hotel concierge I headed off to the subway and was able to get on and off at the right place. The subways were very clean, safe and easy to use. One euro gets you anywhere you want to go in Madrid.

I found Plaza Del Sol first and I knew that I had been there before when Mindy and I visited Alicia in 2003. Those emotions hit me again and I wished that Mindy were with me again on this trip.

I walked a couple of blocks and found Plaza Mayor. I had been there before also. What a beautiful part of Madrid.

I headed back to Plaza del Sol and found a café on the corner that would be perfect for people watching – and here I sit – writing this blog.

I ordered a sandwich and a beer, and later on a plate of olives. The waiter told me that “it was a large plate of olives and would last me for two weeks”. I remembered those days when my sisters would give me a #10 can of olives for my birthday or Christmas. I told the waiter – maybe it will last two days” ha

A woman about my age and two elderly men sat down at the table next to me. The two men immediately fell asleep. One was smoking a large cigar that was now on the short side. He was holding it between his fingers as he slept. I envisioned it burning down and then burning his fingers. I got the woman’s attention and pantomimed him sleeping, the burning cigar and him jumping up in pain. She laughed so hard she woke up the two men!

Another woman approached my table and said something in Spanish which I thought meant “is anyone sitting here?” So I shook my head meaning no… well she must have said “Can I sit here?” and she got a hurt look on her face and walked away! That would be as close as I would get to writing a romantic section to today’s blog! Ha

I met Kathryn back at the hotel at 6:30. We headed off around 7:15 to met Clara, our 1999 exchange student who was living and working in Madrid. I had not seen Clara since our trip here in 2003. We had reservations at the Botin restaurant at 8:00 p.m. (early for Madrid eating). El Botin bills itself as the oldest continuous running restaurant in the world.

The restaurant had a familiar feel to it and I wondered if Mindy, Alicia and I had eaten there before. Clara arrived and we had a great time. She works for Mary Kay cosmetics and had matured into a very pretty, outgoing and fun woman! We had a time and a mediocre dinner. Ernest Hemingway was billed as a frequent guest in his time.

(Clara's meal: Squid in its own ink - I didn't try it)

We made our way back to the subway with Kathryn and Clara laughing about me knowing the area better than them!