As mentioned, the only reason we had stayed in this part of Madrid was because we knew the Subway station and how to get around from there - and yes they prompty shut it down on our arrival - so was a waste of time staying there - We get up early and decide we may as well just walk to the main Railway Station, which actually Richard, turned out to be not a bad decision as we managed to take in a bit of the nice cultural things in Madrid, the Architecture around the central area is stunning and Grand - we walk past the Bank of Spain, that's pretty cool and then there's lots of massive parks - we have a sniff at the Botanical Garden but they want 6 Euros for that so we bail - We get to the Railway Station and deceide that we've got a few hours to kill - Grant does some online research and says let's do a cultural walk through one of the Parks that has a lake in it - So that was good, got a bit hot but really was a massive place. The Computer Generated Reality threw a few Doppelgangers in as well - so that was good.

Back to the Railway Station, we hang around in the Atrium part and the Computer Generated Simulation sends a Spanish Bloke over who has us helping him looking in the bushes for something he's lost - Grant thought he said ticket......so like idiots we're all going through these bushes but cant find anything - after 5 minutes we give up - So matey thanks us and wanders off - he comes back all happy saying he's found it - it wasnt a ticket it was a pair of Scissors - The Computer Generated Simulation is throwing some random stuff out today.

Our train shows up on the board and we now finally know which platform we're departing from - Security is still tight in there and it's up to airport standard....The weather is good and we head to the buffet care to watch the scenery go by - It's all good stuff - Mountain Ranges and plateaus - and then finally urbanisation -I say to Grant these small towns look almost deserted and alls have the same upside down communist type tower blocks - Not something I'd really thought about before, but Grant explained that these places were the idea of Franco - to get people to move into planned urbanisations where they would have factories etc in the middle of nowhere in order to build up the economy - this would have been done in the 1960's - Makes sense - When Politics go so far to the right, they go in a circle to the far left - so what we were looking at was an authoritiarian Version of planned communist industrial townships. We passed quite a few of those. We then arrive at Seville Railway Terminal.

They did attempt to link the subway to the railway station here but because there was so much history, they kept digging up Roman artifacts and settlements - so much so that they abondoned the subway line - bit of a pain in the arse really as the bus timetable may as well be in Hieroglyphics...and the smash and grab drivers dont seem too keen to pick up the 100 or so people who are wating in the taxi stand - Seville isnt that big and we sort of know our way around (if you believe that, you'll believe anything) so we just decide to walk - and it takes us about 20 minutes to get to our Air'n B gaff in the centre of town - (Will update the name of this area at a later date) There's a lady waiting in the office part of our apartment and she shows us round - I then realise there only one bed in there so congratulate Grant for booking this one - Grant gets to have the King Size double upstairs while I get relegated to the Sofa downstairs which resemle the Willerby 1999 Pullout beds you get in Caravans.

Falling off a rock .......

So off we go on our merry way - as soon as we get outside, I say to Grant, let's head over the Bridge to Triannon - to get some scran - that's the cheapside and where all the locals head for some street food - Grant's not having it and wants to head the other way to The International Bar and the Mexican Tacos joint opposite - I say that's a long shot as they may not be open and the last time we were there was 4 years back. I was right, the superb Mexican Tacos place had gone and The International Bar doesnt open till late - so once again I say let's go back and head over to Triannon - but Grant's off at his usual pace in the wrong direction - I'm getting annoyed at this and say we're heading in the wrong direction and we need to cross the river - yes, this is where it all goes pear shape - we cross a bridge but it's not the one I think it is and end up doing what we do best, getting completely lost - Grant brings out his app map and says this is the quickest way - I say lets just head back to the river - and off he goes in the other direction - it's dark and we end up up going from one dead end back street to another - we must have walked about 10 bloody miles - eventually I loose my cool and snap - all I need to know is where the river is so Grant tells me and off I storm on my forced march - I find the river and can see where we are, we've gone round and round in circles for bloody hours - I see where we've got to go and storm off down to a dark pathway and there's a loud crack from my ankle as I fall off a slope that turns into a step. So i'm yelping like Tom the Cat who's caught in a bear trap set by Jerry the Mouse - man it hurt - and the great thing was I know I had to walk another 2 miles to get back to the area where we we were staying. That was fun - so you can imagine how happy I was - Grant was keeping a low profile and eventually we got to Hostel Cairo and I said I think you better get the beers in as Daddy wasnt feeling his usual cheerful self.

We end up getting ripped a new one for food in the poncey area - complete with Oktoberfest Beer Glasses so the locals can laugh at us - I'm not a happy bunny but we manage to salvage something from the evening back at The International Bar - we discover dirt cheap Alhambra Beer and that's about the only positive I can take from the evening.