Madrid - muy caliente!

Our last day was a hot one, filled with fun, great sites, and great food. The day began with a guided bus tour. We stopped for photos at the monument to Cervantes, which featured a bronze statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Then we continued on to the Royal Palace. The courtyard was beautiful, as the photos show, but the opulence and splendor of the interior is impossible to describe - too bad no photos were allowed. The palace is the largest in Europe, with over 2000 rooms. Each room was decorated by a different famous artist, and each had its own purpose. We saw the dining room with portraits by Goya, the bedroom draped in gold-embroidered silk, the throne room with deep red velvets and brilliant gold leaf, the dinner room decorated all in porcelain, and the grand feast hall, with a single table that holds 145 people.

After the palace, we drove to the modern city center to see the unique architecture and the skyscrapers. Then we returned to the hotel for free time. Many people visited the Reina Sophia museum of modern art, which houses Picasso's famous Guernica. It was a popular stop, as the hotel is about a 30 second walk from the museum. Others used the time to shop or to take a siesta - a good way to deal with the near 100 degree temperatures. At 5 p.m. about 20 of us walked with our guide to a large park behind the Prado. There we saw a rose garden, a man-made lake, a palace made entirely of crystal, and a memorial garden for the Atocha Train Station terrorist bombings (dozens of trees were planted, each representing one of the victims). From there we walked to dinner, near the Plaza del Sol. For dessert we walked to a Chocolateria, where we dipped fried churros in cups of steaming, melted dark chocolate.

Now we are saying our good-byes to our new friends from Kansas (they need to check out at 5:30 tomorrow morning), with whom we have traveled the whole tour. We'll be packed and checked out by 9:30 a.m. and will bus to the Madrid airport to catch our 12:45 flight to Frankfurt (LH flight #4411). There we will have a 2.5 hour layover before we catch our 5:35 flight to Detroit (LH #486). We are scheduled to land at 8:30 p.m. Detroit time. Once we get our bags and clear customs, we will find the bus that will drive us to DeWitt High School. Once we are on the bus, I will pass around a cell phone to have your kids call you and give you an ETA. I expect to arrive some time around 11 p.m.

JVH