Spain

Madrid... the start of our European leg.  We've never been here before, and really did not ever have much interest in visiting Spain.  Boy... were we surprised!  Madrid is beautiful and the people are fabulous.  We only spent one full day here (more about that later), and it was a holiday in Madrid.  Many things were closed, but we still saw and did a lot.

• We located the "Center of Spain" at the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol.
• We found a quote by Cervantes from Don Quixote printed in gold on the Calle Huertas.

• We had the world's best Chocolate and Churros at Chocolateria San Gines

• We viewed works of Picasso, including his famous Guernica, at the Reina Sofia Museum.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We rented bikes and rode through Madrid's Parque del Buen Retiro.

• And we finished off the day trying  three of Spain's wines... Garnacha, Rioja, and Cava (my favorite).

Then it was time to get moving.  

At the start of this leg, Bill gave us our scavenge booklets along with instructions to be in Lisbon, Portugal no later than 10:30 p.m. Thursday night (May 5).  In addition to the Madrid scavenges, we had options to earn points in many other cites/countries/continents along the way.  BIG points were available to any team that ventured down to Morocco.  But lots of options were possible throughout the south of Spain and Portugal.

Of course, there was a "kicker".  Bill had included a MANDATORY scavenge in Granada.  We had to visit the Alhambra.  Sounds easy enough... Granada is on the way to Morocco.  We can just stop by on the way.  All the teams had the same (mistaken) idea.  Every team was on a 9:05 a.m. train from Madrid to Granada the second morning.  Little did we know that the Alhambra limits visitors to 6600 per day, and they sell out early.  When we arrived, we were informed that the only way to get tickets was to stand in line at 7:00 a.m. the following morning and HOPE we get in.  We were totally in a mess now.  Stuck in Granada for 24 hours.  

After much deliberation, all the other teams decided that they would skip Alhambra and head on to Morocco. (Yeah... it was mandatory.)  David and I knew that if we were the only team to complete this scavenge, we would win this leg.  (No... we're not gonna win the overall competition.  One team is so far ahead they will win no matter what.)

We booked a local room, and did some scrambling to find a special tour available for 9:00 the next day!!!  BTW... It was a holiday in Granada... Cruz de Mayo!  

The remainder of the day we spent sightseeing and picking up a couple of local scavenges.  There were peacocks in the one of the gardens!

This morning we toured Alhambra.  Our tour took us inside places most visitors never see.  Very plain looking towers on the outside burst into full glory on the inside.  These were the "Princess Towers".  The palaces and gardens were ornate.  The arabic artwork was mesmerizing.  The history was fascinating.  We even visited the room in which Columbus met with Queen Isabella to request funds for exploring the new world.

So... now what?  Morocco was out.  Time was slipping away.  We decided to head to Seville, Spain.

Guess what... another holiday! Well actually it's a whole week of fun.  It is the Feria de Abril.  I'm not really sure what it's all about, but the whole city is out.  All the women are dressed in their finest Flamenca dresses.  Even little bitty girls!!  There is singing, dancing, drinking, laughter everywhere!  It is  the perfect time to be in Seville!

We had only about 6 hours in Seville before catching a bus at midnight to Faro, Portugal.  We got off the bus and had to find a place to stay at 2:00 in the morning.  As I write this, we are completing a scavenge to stay in the cheapest place we could find tonight.  We are at the Residencial Avenida.  It's not even IN the guide book!  Double room... 28 Euros... twin beds... no bath... but free wi-fi!!!  

Tomorrow we are going to see the Capela dos Ossos... Chapel of Bones.  I'm not absolutely certain (because the only Lonely Planet guide book I could find for Portugal is in Spanish!!) but I think it's built from the bones of monks that served there.  

Then we have to figure out how to get to Lisbon.  Getting reliable information on trains and buses can sometimes be a challenge. We THINK there are several trains from here, but no one seems to be sure.  We also think there is a bus that leaves at 11:00 a.m. and gets to Lisbon 7 hours later... ugh!  

Well,  we wanted an adventure... and we're getting it.  We're having a BLAST!!!!!