Day 1 -- Madrid, Spain

May 28, 2007

MADRID, Spain -

We made it! We arrived in Madrid, Spain this morning around 9:30 a.m. We didn't waste any time seeing the sites even though many of us got little or no sleep during the flight here. Which led to us sleeping through the first bus tour. Let me explain.

After we got off the plane, which probably wasn't anywhere near as bad as we thought it was going to be, loaded the bus, met our tour guide Hernan and Dave from Basketball Travelers off we went. We started with a driving tour through Madrid. A lot of the team was a sleep during this. I think Kelly, V and Joss were the only ones awake. So, from what I heard, we went all through the city in our bus and saw historical monuments.

I think many of us woke up when we stopped at Palacio Real to stretch our legs and take some photos. The palace is said to have over 2,000 rooms! It was enormous.

We walked on the trail around the Palacio. We took a lot of pictures, and for some reason Joss had a to take pictures with peacocks that were roaming around. After seeing Palacio Real, we were on our way to a restaurant for our first Spanish feast. To say the least, it was an interesting experience.

Before we got to the restaurant we had to walk a ways because we couldn't park the bus in front of the place. After the walk, I think we all understood why. Our first brief stop came in Plaza Mayor. Basically it is a huge open square in Madrid that is surrounded by shops and restaurants. We saw this lady posing as a mud statue where you had to put euros in her in order for her to move.

Speaking of statues, in Spain there are many historical statues of soldiers in battle and we walked past many while on our way to the restaurant. Terri was telling us stories about statues and that if two of the horses' legs were up the solider died in battle and it all four legs are down the solider died of natural causes. I remember her saying the same thing when we were in Washington D.C.

Our tour guide, Hernan, is very knowledgeable about the Spanish culture and I am real interested in the bull fights, so he was telling me probably everything I ever wanted to know about bull fights. After dinner we also walked past a store that sold beautiful flamenco dresses and suits - of course it was closed for siesta! We are very lucky to have Hernan as our guide. He has helped out so much especially with translating the language for us.

Back to the food. We had a three-course meal that started off with a buffet full of appetizer type food. Although I may have not liked all of it, I was proud of myself that I tried almost everything. For the main course there was a choice between lamb, fish and pork. I ordered the pork, but I didn't care for it that much. Jasmine let me try her fish and I liked that.

After dinner Nelly (Janelle Harris) and I went window shopping with my mom sister and grandma who also came on the trip but are staying at a different hotel. We went to a seafood restaurant for dinner and had these huge shrimp that we had to cut off the head why eyeballs and the skin before we ate it. Nelly picked through hers, I don't think she liked it too much.

Everyone here is very nice and for the most part speaks both Spanish and English. We went to a store and the people are very quick to help out. It is a very diverse city where they walk fast and move fast. Usually you hear excuse me, but the people here just keep on going.

Tomorrow we play our first game. However, before that we are going sightseeing in Toledo. I better get my rest.

Adios!