Day 9 - Flying Low

Day 9 - Sunday May 20th - Flying Low

First stop,,,, breakfast.  Katie and I made our way downstairs to the breakfast buffet.  I think the hotel was a little bit overwhelmed with the number of people that were showing up to eat.  I guess all of the wedding folks were waking up as late as we were.

Our car was coming at 12:30 so we figured we had some time to spend around town.  We were told that the Plaza de Espanya is not to be missed.  We found it on Google and walked over there.  Everyone who told us about Plaza de Espanya was right.  They built this place for the 1929 World's Fair.  We walked right up to the front door, up the front steps and in to the courtyard.  This place is huge!  Check out the pictures.

After walking around the Plaza we headed back to the hotel to pack our bags.  Our driver picked us up and we were off to the train station.  At the train station there wasn't anyone to help us get the bags from the car to the train.  Unlike an airport, there are no luggage handlers nor a street side checkin.  We figured how to make it work and we headed in to find our train.

The train station is enormous and very impressive.  We found our gate and headed down the ramp to the train.  Security was a piece of cake.  As we approached the train we just had to throw our bags on the belt, walk through a metal detector (clothes, belt, shoes, etc --- all stay on), grab our bags and walk another 25 yards to the train.  We handed our bags to the luggage handlers and walked the length of the train to find our car.

Inside we were both impressed.  We were sitting in business class so we had plenty of room to ourselves.  We set our stuff down and made our way to the bar for a drink.  Just as we were getting back to our seats it dawned on me,,,,, there is no one yelling at us.  Other than a short announcement after we started moving, no one was on the microphone speaking just to hear themselves speak.  They didn't try to sell us a frequent flier (rider) visa card or tell us which bathrooms to use, etc.  It was a nice change from the commercial travel we have all become so accustom to.  Another notable difference is that there are no seat belts and you are "free to move about the cabin" at anytime including while stopped, while starting and while at full speed.

Two and half hours later we arrived in Madrid.  The ride felt like ten minutes because we were having so much fun.  In Madrid we retrieved our luggage and dragged it through the airport to where our driver was waiting with a "Mr./Mrs. Biter" sign.  We handed him our luggage and followed him to the car.  Twenty minutes later were at the Westin Palace in downtown Madrid.

After a quick check-in, Katie and I went on a walking tour.  It had started to rain so we just jumped from one bar/tapas joint to another.  Around midnight we made our way back to the hotel bar where we hung out for a few glasses of wine before hitting the sack.

The rest of Enterprise Florida, including Governor Scott, arrive tomorrow so basically the vacation is over.  I'll write a summary blog after the four days of our mission.  Stay tuned!

--J