Friday afternoon, after our sumptuous lunch at El Rancho, we had a quick and relatively quiet ride back to Madrid. Everyone on the bus said their goodbyes (some of the Spaniards drove home, so they said goodbye at El Rancho before we boarded the bus to Madrid).
After getting off the bus and saying goodbye, Stewart and I took a cab to Plaza Santa Ana for his hotel and I walked the two blocks to Hotel Moderno where I was staying.
Friday evening, I spent another evening at the Friday Night English Speaking Group at Los Rotos Restaurant on Calle Infantas 6. Richard had copied a NASA problem for us to discuss and prioritize what was needed to survive on the moon if you became separated from the moon colony. While that was nice, the discussion later free formed into an excellent discussion of politics in Spain, the EU and the United States.
For most of the weekend, I read and did some school work. While out walking, I discovered that there was a street that had four stores for stamp collectors - this was a side street on the north side of Plaza Mayor. When my friend Terry B. was here, we visited the large stamp collector store that is in Plaza Mayor, but we did not notice this side street - so I had to take pictures for him and email them to him.
On Sunday, several of the Vaughan Town attendees met at Mercado San Anton. I had suggested that we do this, but never got a feeling that there was a commitment to do so - thus, I missed a chance to meet with them one more time. Instead, I went for a walk to Retiro Park. I found a shaded bench and sat to read. Much to my surprise, in spite of several adjoining benches filled with Spaniards, I was interrupted by Spaniards asking for directions to the lake in the park. I was surprised that they asked an American, that I was able to understand them and to give them directions. This happened not just once, but twice in less than 30 minutes - it made me wonder if I looked like a Madrileno. I later had a brief visit to see the artworks in Palacio Velasquez and the Crystal Palace, both in the middle of Retiro Park - the displays change on a regular basis and both were things I had not seen before.
Monday was a lllloooonnnngggg day. I got up at 5:00, showered, shaved and checked out of the hotel by 6:30. I took the Metro to the airport and the Aerlingus desk was not yet open. I had a brief breakfast, and then got in line. Thus, I was near the front of the line. I was fortunate to get an exit row aisle seat on the flight to Dublin on an A320- however, nothing was free; even bottled water and soft drinks had to be paid for. Also, no sales of alcoholic beverages on this flight. I had a nice lunch at the Dublin airport - but they had no charging stations anywhere in the airport. There were a few outlets around, but the plug adapter that works in Spain is not the adapter needed in Dublin - so I recharged the phone from my laptop battery. I have started using the Kindle reader on my phone more and wanted to be able to read on the plane. On the A330 Aerlingus flight from Dublin to Chicago, I was able to get an aisle bulkhead row seat that was across from an exit row. Decent lunch and snacks, with soft drinks and coffee were free - I did pay for wine with the chicken and rice lunch.
I got quickly through immigration, customs and TSA at Chicago - they now have self operated kiosks for immigration purposes. The kiosk spits out a receipt with the entry stamp on it, rather than the entry stamp in your passport. I still had to go see an immigration inspector, apparently because I was out of the USA for so long and had visited and transited so many countries - he was especially interested about passing through Kyrgyzstan but no questions about China or Mongolia.
My flight from Chicago to Phoenix was a code share flight operated by United, so I had no problem getting an exit row aisle seat, and I was able to sleep most of the flight. I arrived at our condo around 11:00 p.m. - some 27 hours after rising in Madrid.
Tuesday was a quiet day of unpacking, laundry, getting all of the held mail (and sorting through it) - and then there was the HOA board meetings (both executive and open) for our condo association. The meetings were interesting as I was the one taking the minutes, as well as participating in the meetings as a board member.
Today it is more adjusting to the changes caused by nine time zones, school work and getting things together to bring back to Vermont - my suitcase already is nearly full with the clothes I had brought from Vermont, but also from the many books and materials I need to bring to Vermont. The joys of being an itinerant college instructor - I think I will start cutting back on teaching in 2014 so I can have more time to exercise and travel.
After getting off the bus and saying goodbye, Stewart and I took a cab to Plaza Santa Ana for his hotel and I walked the two blocks to Hotel Moderno where I was staying.
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| Room 301 is a nice, quiet interior room at Hotel Moderno |
Friday evening, I spent another evening at the Friday Night English Speaking Group at Los Rotos Restaurant on Calle Infantas 6. Richard had copied a NASA problem for us to discuss and prioritize what was needed to survive on the moon if you became separated from the moon colony. While that was nice, the discussion later free formed into an excellent discussion of politics in Spain, the EU and the United States.
For most of the weekend, I read and did some school work. While out walking, I discovered that there was a street that had four stores for stamp collectors - this was a side street on the north side of Plaza Mayor. When my friend Terry B. was here, we visited the large stamp collector store that is in Plaza Mayor, but we did not notice this side street - so I had to take pictures for him and email them to him.
On Sunday, several of the Vaughan Town attendees met at Mercado San Anton. I had suggested that we do this, but never got a feeling that there was a commitment to do so - thus, I missed a chance to meet with them one more time. Instead, I went for a walk to Retiro Park. I found a shaded bench and sat to read. Much to my surprise, in spite of several adjoining benches filled with Spaniards, I was interrupted by Spaniards asking for directions to the lake in the park. I was surprised that they asked an American, that I was able to understand them and to give them directions. This happened not just once, but twice in less than 30 minutes - it made me wonder if I looked like a Madrileno. I later had a brief visit to see the artworks in Palacio Velasquez and the Crystal Palace, both in the middle of Retiro Park - the displays change on a regular basis and both were things I had not seen before.
Monday was a lllloooonnnngggg day. I got up at 5:00, showered, shaved and checked out of the hotel by 6:30. I took the Metro to the airport and the Aerlingus desk was not yet open. I had a brief breakfast, and then got in line. Thus, I was near the front of the line. I was fortunate to get an exit row aisle seat on the flight to Dublin on an A320- however, nothing was free; even bottled water and soft drinks had to be paid for. Also, no sales of alcoholic beverages on this flight. I had a nice lunch at the Dublin airport - but they had no charging stations anywhere in the airport. There were a few outlets around, but the plug adapter that works in Spain is not the adapter needed in Dublin - so I recharged the phone from my laptop battery. I have started using the Kindle reader on my phone more and wanted to be able to read on the plane. On the A330 Aerlingus flight from Dublin to Chicago, I was able to get an aisle bulkhead row seat that was across from an exit row. Decent lunch and snacks, with soft drinks and coffee were free - I did pay for wine with the chicken and rice lunch.
I got quickly through immigration, customs and TSA at Chicago - they now have self operated kiosks for immigration purposes. The kiosk spits out a receipt with the entry stamp on it, rather than the entry stamp in your passport. I still had to go see an immigration inspector, apparently because I was out of the USA for so long and had visited and transited so many countries - he was especially interested about passing through Kyrgyzstan but no questions about China or Mongolia.
My flight from Chicago to Phoenix was a code share flight operated by United, so I had no problem getting an exit row aisle seat, and I was able to sleep most of the flight. I arrived at our condo around 11:00 p.m. - some 27 hours after rising in Madrid.
Tuesday was a quiet day of unpacking, laundry, getting all of the held mail (and sorting through it) - and then there was the HOA board meetings (both executive and open) for our condo association. The meetings were interesting as I was the one taking the minutes, as well as participating in the meetings as a board member.
Today it is more adjusting to the changes caused by nine time zones, school work and getting things together to bring back to Vermont - my suitcase already is nearly full with the clothes I had brought from Vermont, but also from the many books and materials I need to bring to Vermont. The joys of being an itinerant college instructor - I think I will start cutting back on teaching in 2014 so I can have more time to exercise and travel.
Crossing NINE time zones really adds perspective! WOW!
ReplyDeleteExactly - three time zones on July 10 going from Vermont to Arizona, nine time zones on July 13-15 going from Arizona to Mongolia, six time zones on August 8 going from Mongolia to Spain, nine time zones on August 19 going from Spain to Arizona and three time zones yesterday, August 25, going from Arizona to Vermont. I am not sure what time I am supposed to get up or go to bed or eat.
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