Great nights sleep. You will all be thrilled to know that the soccer game in the courtyard finished up about 11.30pm....
Formidable breakfast .... Toast , croissants , cereal, fruit, bacon, eggs, yogurt....
And I did have most of that.
On the bus at 8.15am for the 4 hour drive Madrid.
Passing through what looks like very poor farming land. Old abandoned stone buildings.
And old olive groves.
Stopped for a break. Parked beside a Spanish Police car.... They weren't after us though...
( Obviously didn't know us well. )
More time on the bus. I am really enjoying the travel.
Am spending lots of time on the phone doing my blog though....
(Sincere apologies Brooke. When you told me I would be, I laughed at you. I wasn't travelling Europe just to sit in a bus on my IPhone! )
Well I make sure I spend lots and lots of time gazing out the window! And we all tend to 'spot' for one another!
Look! A church!
Look! A big rock! ( We are in country Spain! )
A lot of fun though... Especially when someone yells 'Duck.'
(No..... there are not lots of ducks in this area of Spain.... But haven't got to Madrid yet... There may be ducks there.)
They yell 'Duck' so they can take a photo out the window.
However there are bulls.
See attached photo.
Story goes that these huge black billboards used to be emblazoned with the name of a Spanish Sherry. When advertising alcohol became illegal, they simply painted the whole thing black. The Govt said no... Take them down. But all of the Spanish loved these bulls so they were allowed to remain.
(You may wish to check the validity of that story with Luisa)
Also.... Story goes that an early ruler of Spain had a lisp. That's why the 'Z' is pronounced 'TH'
(Luisa again)
Daryl , loving your comments...not sure the rest of the bus is though....
'I love Paris in the Springtime.....'
However, it has given them a break from my usual Christmas Carols.
Trish, one of the sister-in-laws sitting next to me said...I hope he copied and pasted that!

Arrived in Madrid...about to head out for a city tour and then an evening out.
30 degrees here. Not a cloud in the sky.

Check this one later...I'll probably update it tonight.
Hi Mum and Dad...loving your comments...
Hi Emily...how are the dogs?

OK....10pm here ...Had the most amazing day in Madrid.
First a 2 hour bus ride and walk around the city.
Just beautiful.
Magnificent old buildings. Beautiful tree lined streets.
32 degrees here today...but it's a dry heat so just lovely.

Then at 6pm off we went again...and again with our local guide, Charo
We went to dinner at Cafe Gijon.
This cafe was where all the artists of Madrid used to meet... The cafe has been around since 1880. It was only opened to everyone 10 years ago.
An outdoor cafe for dinner.
Beautiful food...wonderful atmosphere ...and then we had 3 Spanish singers entertain us.
Just so much fun.... So touristy...but hey, I'm a tourist.
I loved it.
After that, on the bus for a tour of the Madrid lights.
Saw all the beautiful fountains lit up.
Our bus driver would take us 3 times round a roundabout so we could take photos.
Then onto Plaza Mayor.
Absolutely amazing....built in 1619
The Square is totally enclosed by apartments...and there are restaurants and shops on the ground floor.
Huge white market umbrellas all around the edges of the square as people dined outside.
About every 30 seconds water would spray from the centre of these umbrellas....in a fine mist down onto the diners to keep them cool.
Madrid is beautiful....I didn't know what to expect and the history and spectacular old buildings took me by surprise.
Oh, and I saw the most amazing statue of Don Quixote and Sancho.
Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.....( I've got Internet...can you tell?)
Our guide told us that after The Bible, this book is the most translated book in the world.
So, in the marvellous Plaza Mayor, I went looking for a replica of the statue....you know, about 2 inches high.....anyway....My pronunciation of Don Quixote must be way off....the poor shopkeeper got it in the end...but only after I gave a mimed version of tilting at windmills!
All that...and he didn't have any.
I'll keep looking.
So a wonderful day and night in Madrid.
I've got the air conditioning on in my room.
Off on a bus trip to Toledo tomorrow ...then afternoon and evening free of planned activities.
A group of us have already decided on a couple of walks to do.

Great day.

PS Didn't see any ducks.