Hi all - well, this will probably be my last posting as the trip is rapidly drawing to a close - it is hard to believe that in one week´s time I will be just about arriving back in melb - to cold weather apparently, as my friends have already alerted me to!!!
Here it is routinely 35 degrees plus - there are electronic boards up at various places on the auto via´s, autobahns in Germany, and whatever other names they come up with. I am sure that the 35+ is done specifically to reassure people that it is not too hot to travel and that for the locals, it is a sign to keep working... As well as battling tmps in excess of 40 in Morocco, Madrid, Salamanca and ven Oporto in Portugal, where we travelled to after Lisbon, were very hot. I do like the idea of the siesta in the afternoon - between about 1 and 4pm - it is simply far too hot to be out walking the streets, or even shopping - don´t worry, on that score I have made up for it at night!!! OK Mum - you didn´t really see that sentence did you ...).
Actually my money has lasted me well so far (very thankful on that front). I did buy a further 3 items of linen yesterday from the main dept store found all over Spain - I had `previously declared it to be crap, but now that I have arrived in Madrid, it seems their clothes and the range has improved markedly. 1x jackt, 1x shirt, and would you believe it ... 1x linen dress - which I wore out for the tour group´s final dinner, which w had at a typical Galician restaurant about a 10-15 minute walk from the tour group hotel. Much fun, merriment and wine was consumed before Sandra and I bid everyone goodbye and caught a taxi back to our other hotel, which we had booked post tour - it is a 5 star hotel, made famous forn the movie stars that have stayed here - it has been here since 1912. It is a grand old lady, in simiñar vein to Melbourne´s Windsor hotel - opulence is the first word I would use to describ it, although disappointingly, it does not have a pool - if however, I wanted to stay fit, I could use the running track and gymnasium!!! A hamburger costs 29 Euros, so as I said to Sandra, no, we won´t be having a coffee here!!!
It has been very difficult to find a hotel on this trip with a good internet connection, and even more difficult to find one with a free computer in the foyer where the keyboard is in English. Even here, in a business centre within the hotel, I cannot get access to the actual computer, so am unable to download photo´s onto the blog or onto Facebook- I will post some on my return though as some of the foodie shots I took, are great.
We are here until early Sat morning when we catch a taxi out to the airport for our flight back to London City airport on British Airways - that will be an interesting exercise as neither of us have been to this airport or used the extended tube and overground facilities that are apparently there from the airport, and that take you into the central part of London. I have to say that I am looking forward very much to the cooler weather - and have just been told that it is 21 degrees there today - yipppeee.. I also want some English (and French) cheese. Well, I bid you farewell - w wnt to the Prado art gallery today - wow, what a fantastic place that was - amazing collection, particularly of Spanish artists such as Goya and Valasquez )and I can even say that with the proper pronunciation... Sandra is going back there tomorrow to see more, I will go shopping! Have some Camper shoes on my mind ... I will however, be going to another gallery the following day (the Sofia Reiner, and perhaps a tour of the Royal Palace).
So, for now, it´s over and out - hav fun and enjoy Mlbourne´s four seasons :-)
Helen
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