In Transit

Today was setup to be an easy trip to Florence... as you might guess from my use of ellipses, it wasn't. I hadn't heard back from my host on where to leave her key, and the little bistro was not yet open. But I picked up their wifi and saw an email reply from my host (interesting, considering her place has no Internet) to contact her sister, who was staying nearby. However, this was last night, so when I contacted her sister she was in the middle of Venice. This meant tsking vaporetto 1 (which goes to EVERY STOP) to meet her. By then, I'd lost a good half hour and all hope of making my train. Lucky for me, I'm travrling by Eurail pass so I only needed to fork over another 10 € for a reservation instead of 45. Yikes. So instead of leaving at 9:30 (original plan) or 10:30 (sold out), I was set to leave at 11:30. Oncr everything was sorted out, i plugged in my headphones and watched The A-Team on my phone. Finally, two hours behind schedule, I was on a train headed for Florence! Well... it was headed for Rome, technically, but Florence was on the way.

Home-free! Right? Nope, not yet. After finding my way tto my airbnb place here, no one answered when I rang the buzzer. Perfect. I had called them after the train fiasco to let them know, but never heard back. Finally someone coming out of the building let me inside. I finally got a hold of Alessandro and Azadeh and found out which apartment was theirs (top floor...meaning lugging my stuff up 3 flights of stairs). However, they werent home (since I had been running way late) and neither were their other guests. So... I tapped into their wifi and jumped on Facebook for half an hour until the other guests showed up.

The other guests, by the way were insanely cool. They were a couple from Bolivia named Mauricio and Adela, and they were on their way to Venice. We exchanged advice, suggestions, and maps on Venice and Florence and talked forfor a good hour before they left to catch their train. But not before we exchanged emails - they told me to let them know if I ever travel to South America. :) Plus one for traveling. They were awesome.

When Azadeh did arrive, she was extremely nice anand helpful. It turns out that they own a few apartments throughout Florence and rent them out to travelers such as myself and the Mauricio's. She set me up with suggestions, keys, information, and my own area for groceries iin the kitchen before heading back out.

So, by now it was early evening and I still needed to plot out where I would go and when. I ended up deciding kn dinner around here based on Azadeh's suggestions, gelato (I passed like six gelaterias on my way in) and walking to a bridge to look out at the Ponte del Vecchio.

Dinner was at the "open bar" of a super nice restaurant kn the Arno called The Golden View. And by "open bar" they mean one drink and an all you can eat buffet of appetizers and finger food. I ordered the most delicious mojito ever (those would be raspberries and a cherry you see there) and snacked down on the buffet. Half the time I wasn't sure what I was eating, but it was pretty good food. Here is my mojito and a few of the favorite buffet pickings:

Basically, today was a transition day - which is fine, because it meant I got to chillax for a bit before I literally bring it home with Florence and Rome sightseeing adventures.

Tomorrow? Why, I think I shall ride a horse through Tuscan vineyards and watch the sunset from Piazza de Michelangelo. What say you? (Doesn't matter, I'm going anyway.)

Getting Lost In Venice

Ciao from Ponte de Rialto! (Rialto Bridge)

Day 2 in Venice did not disappoint. I slept in a little again in preparation for the feats of sightseeing awaiting me in Florence and Rome next week. I ended up not visiting Murano/Burano/Torcello, and opted to simply wander the streets in the City of Bridges. What a great choice the turned out to be. Instead of turning left from my apartment, I went right and got busy on getting myself lost in Venice (everyone's suggestion). It was such a nice feeling to just turn on random streets with no destination. Venice is pretty small, so it's not like I'd veer too far from where I needed to be. I found a lot of small piazzas, canals, churches, and gelaterias (one of which I stopped at for chocolate hazlenut gelato - with little hazlenuts in it!). I ended up at Ponte de Rialto, crossed it, and continued my expedition on the south side of the Grand Canal. I finally sat down for a late lunch at a small pizzeria offering free wifi, where I published my post from yesterday. Observe the deliciousness below:

I don't have a lot of commentary on my day, as much of it was spent wandering and taking in the city. It is truly another world entirely, right down to its mode of transportation. Venice is exactly what you see in tthe movies and pictures - every single inch of it.

I found a small piazza with a big church and a museum, as well as a street musician. However, this guy was rocking Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, and John Lennon in his thick Italian accent. And he was tearing up the guitar. I spent a good 15 minutes filming and listening to him.

Then I went inside a museum I'd heard about called Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where the walls and ceilings were covered in paintings. Here is a staircase before you get to the room where they yell at you for taking pictures:

I eventually found myself at Piazzale Roma, at the "mouth of the Fish", where I hopped aboard a vaporetto. I quickly realized it was one going in the opposite direction of the Grand Canal, but I stayed on anyway. Why? This direction would take me around the southern edge of Venice and back around to my San Marco stop anyway. This was a wknderful experience. I basically took a little cruise around the city. The horizon was constantly stunning and i soaked in the sea air (which isn't that ocean-y smelling, surprisingly).

By the way, I'd like to point out that I have yet to get sick on this trip, including in the busy Venetian waters. Anybody who has ever traveled with me knows that this is an extremely exciting piece of news. Also, I just knocked on the table in front of me so as not to jinx my good luck. (For those that are unfamiliar, traveling is always a gamble for me as I can get terrible cases of motion sickness at the drop of a hat if I don't play things right.)

I decided to continue splurging (as I expected to do in Venice) and ate dinner inin Piazza del San Marco next to one of the little orchestra groups. I had the richest, thickest hot chocolate in my life, and a small "toast quadri" which had prosciutto ham and mozzarella on toast. Observe:

Yep, right up in the music. It was an exquisite setting, where everything came on a silver platter and more waiters in white coats and bow ties catered to you. The music was just wonderful, and the three or four music groups in the square would trade off every ten minutes or so. Just perfect.

Now I'm back at the little bistro by my apartment using their wifi and sipping a Coke. Venice was wonderful to me, I found some wonderful gifts for people and a few for myself!), and I am ready to hit the sack. Early train tomorrow...next stop: Florence!

Bongiorno, Venezia!

Milan was wonderful, but the time came quickly to pack up and on once again - but not without a lovely morning with my host, Elisabetta. I had not gotten a chance to meet her family, so she showed me some pictures of her husband, Marco, and her two adorable little boys, Lorenzo (10) and Davido (4). She also offered to make me Italian coffee while I got ready. We talked some as we drank our coffee, then I gathered my things and left with a hug and a kiss on each cheek. Best AirBnB experience ever.

10 minutes later, as I approached the metro station, my global phone started to ring. It was Elisabetta calling to say that I left my iPhone. Cue heart attack. But she rushed to the dtstion to bring it to me and assured me I would make it to my train in time, which I did...with about 10 minutes to spare.

I'd say my day smoothed out from there, but not quite. As I hauled my luggage onto the train, a woman also boarding offered to help carry one of my bags. Then demanded money. Sometimes I hate Europe. It was a really heavy suitcase, so it did help at least. I gave her a euro and she wanted more, but I closed my wallet and sat down. It quickly became apparent that she probably did this all the time. Her strategy wasn't pigeons, it was a heavy suitcase. She really ticked me off. I'm sorry, but in Texas we practice hospitality for free. The world could use a little more southern kindness.

The train ride was great though, as we passed through northern Italy, withtge horizon dotted with mountains. It was beautiful. Here was my view out the window virtually the whole time:

Finally....I arrived in Venice! Not five feet out of the train station, it was already stunningly different. Boats of all shapes and sizes passed by, and the sun shone down and reflected a thousand different directions off of the waterways. I hopped my vaporetto (waterbus) and set to taking pictures, as my stop was on tthe opposite side of the city (meaning I got to ride through the entirety of the Grand Canal). It was the perfect introduction to Venice. Check it:

Then, I hit another road bump. As I followed my instructions to Angeles' house, I realized that I didnt have the house number. Um...important. It was time for the cleaning lady to leave, who had my keys, so I went to call her...but my global phone was dead. Awesome. So I went into a little bistro and plugged in the charger. Went to call again, and she didn't speak English so she hung up. Awesome. Then I go to call Angeles, who can't seem to hear anytbing I'm saying. I go to call again, but I'm out of minutes. Awesome. I call the self-service recharge number and get redirected to customer service after entering in all of my information already, and they take me through the whole process again. AWESOME. At some point, the madness ceased and I got a hold of Angeles, got the keys from the bistro owner (turned out to be the one she had mentioned before) and got inside the house. Which is actually awesome, and not just sarcastic pretend-awesome.

Oh and by the way, I have this apartment TO MYSELF. Less than 10 minutes walking from St. Mark's Square (Piazza di San Marco) in the back streets of Venice. For something like $70/night. Not bad since I'm only here two nights.

Now for Venice - it is wonderful! Exactly as advertised. Canals everywhere, ridiculously narrow streets, colorful buildings, gondolas everywhere, clothes lines and flowers and balconies, musicians around each corner, and just wonderful. I decided to hit the touristy area tonight since I was staying so close by, so I grabbed my directions (altering them along the way to match the actual street signs) and headed for Piazza di San Marco.

Which was incredible. There was a quartet playing that included a piano, cello, violin, and accordian to provide a wonderfully Italian ambience as I took in the square and the basilica and the sheer immensity of the buildings around me. I did a little shopping and picked up my postcard for Venice (I've gotten one in every city thus far) and some very special gifts for a certain mom and grandma... and the thing I got also came in red - Grandma Virginia, you can bet the farm that I would have gotten it for you.

I spent a lot of time wandering mostly, taking in the feel and rhythm of another new city. I took everyone's advice and wandered the smaller streets, where I found tonight's dinner choice. Now, I never ate lunch today and have been eating pretty cheap, so I splurged a little tonight. The restaurant was on the corner of a tiny piazza and had waiters in white coats and shirts with black slacks and bowties. White coats and bowties - how could I go wrong? My waiter was an older Italian gentleman with a sweet demeanor about him. And he kept calling me signorita. So cute. Check out my spread:

From left to right: mineral water, rolls and breadsticks, LASAGNE, glass of Pocello sparkling white wine, and the fanciest parmesan dispenser I've ever seen. Everything was delicious, and thst lasagne was freaking phenomenal, but I guess that makes sense. Dessert was crème caramel, pictured below:

The desert itself was very light, and the caramel was thinner and less artificially sweet than I'm used to. It was definitely a dinner worth splurging on.

Now I'm in a cozy bed in the midde of Venice. What? I am so blessed. Tomorrow I think I'll do a tour of the three more famous surrounding islands. Or maybe not. We'll see.

Traveling alone can be kind of awesome.

Milano: More Than Just A Delicious Cookie

Well, folks. I'm at it again. Crossing borders and whatnot.

But WAIT! DON'T GO ANY FURTHER! Today is my wonderful mother's birthday!!! Happy birthday mom! (I know you're reading this.)

Okay. We can continue. Sorry to leave you in suspense, but it had to be done. After waking up at 4:30 this morning, scaring my AirBnB host (she got the days mixed up and thought I was leaving tomorrow...fatal error), and getting a little lost finding the right bus stop while wandering the empty streets of residential Barcelona...I had a pretty easy trip into Milan. The only downside... it was RAINING when I got here. Now, if you've been paying attention, you know that I'm packed for an entire month. It's pretty good considering, but it's a lot to lug around. Add puddles, an umbrella, and overdosed cobblestones into the mix, and you have my walk from the metro to Elisabetta's apartment. It's okay though! I've got my own room and bathroom, both quite spacious.

I was wiped out, so I lay down for a while to see what I would do today. Milan was on my list of ddstinations for a select few reasons, so I decided to keep it short today and rest for the evening to recharge for the second half of my trip. First stop? Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" (or "Cenacolo Vinciano").

So, maybe I'm just uninformed, but I was unaware that this painting isn't actually a painting, but a giant mural on a wall. Oops. So guess what - this painting was BIG. It's deteriorating, so they are hyper vigilant about controlling the light and airflow into that room. You had to walk into pod bay doors and let them close before going into the anteroom, and let THOSE doors close. THEN you were allowed into the room to see The Last Supper.

It was stunning. I kept thinking, "There's no wayy this.is real. It must be a reproduction." Except...there has to be an original, and I was staring at it.

They were strict about not taking pphotos (with good reason), but thanks to the stealth front camera on my iPhone, I conducted missions to capture this moment. My missions were successful 5 times, but this is the best one (see photo below). The resolution, mind you, is from the FaceTime camera, so it doesnt do well zoomed in. But hopefully we are all familiar with The Last Supper by now.

I resolved to find a restaurant on my way to the other main attraction of Milan, the Duomo. I came aacross a tripAdvisor stamped place called Nota di Musica, and most of the dishes were named after classical pieces and composers. Nice. It (and one of the waiters) was absolutely adorable. The waiter had the whole tall/dark/handsome thing going with his dark brown eyes and cute little smile as he pieced together English for me. As for the restaurant, check it:

Lunch was a 4 formaggio pizze (4 cheese pizza). Not any old pizza though. I forget the fourth cheese, but the other 3 you see below are mozzarella, parmesan (the fresh thick white pieces), and yes - that is brie under everything. Dessert was this psrticular place's interpretation of tiramisu. Deeeelicious.

Then I ran across my first authentic Italian gelato place and had the best mint chocolate chip I'd ever tasted. I mean, look at this stuff!!! How hungry are you right now?

Finally, I found Piazza del Duomo. Oh my goodness. Another one of those imposing structures.

Low point of the dday followed: I'm usually alert and avoid scams, but I was ambushed....by pigeons. Yes, the street scam artists have sunk to teaming up with pigeons, perhaps forming an alliance against tourists invading their turf. A guy grabbed my hand and put dried corn into it and told me to watch the pigeons and hold my arms out. I didnt have time to think before like 15 pigeons were swarming me. Another guy grabbed my camera (NOT OKAY) and told me to smile and started taking pictures with the giant arch and Duomo in the backgriund. Meanwhile, someone kept putting corn kernels in my hands. I'll admit that this was kind of cool, but the whole time I kept thinking, "Great, they're going to want money for this." And I was correct. It's kind of a great strategy, to use the pigeons to distract someone long enough to start scamming before they can avert your eyes and say no. Jerks. One idiot shouted "100 euro!" I laughed and sharply replied, "Heck no." Normally I'd get out of there, but there were 3 or 4 nice sized guys bugging me. It was a huge open public place, but I figured since I was traveling I wouldn't push my luck. I snatched my camera back first and foremost, and talked them down to 5 euro and a small fistful of change to get them to go away.

This would have ruined my day, but a). I actually got some awesome pictures from it, and b). I saw this next:

That would be the Duomo, Catedrale di Milano. Google it - It. Is. Massive. Inside was beautiful, but the real treat was the lift to the terrace. The terrace is all throughout those towers and buttresses you see there. You get to walk around the roof and all throuhh the architecture of the cathedral. It was unbelievable. Man is capable of some pretty amazing and beautiful things. Terrible things as well - but today, I'm focusing on the good in us. Yes, its still in there, despite our mud-slinging, violent destruction of each other, and our pigeon alliances. Ambassadors may be assassinated, but beautiful and ornate structures are also built in honor of God. I wish more people would tune into their heavenly roots and use it for good and for kindness, for art and for innovation. For God.

Anyway, the day turned out to be a good one. I turned in early and made a few phone calls and rested my poor feet. My poor, poor feet.

Tomorrow comes my.most unique experience yet.... Venezia!!!

Exploring Spain By Cable Car

I spent a lot of time high today. *snicker snicker*

What I meant to say was that I spent a lot of the day in cable cars and on mountains. Day trip to Montserrat and exploring Park Montjuic - what an experience each was.

The first part of my day was nothing short of fantastic. I caught an early train to Montserrat and rode their not-so-little yellow cable car up into the mountain and monastery, where amazing views such as this one awaited me:

It was, simply put, breathtaking. The whole time I was there, I kept singing Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons" to myself - there were at least that many in that first view, and more than enough for God's glory and holiness to fill my heart. He makes everything glorious - today was evidence enough of that. And I am His. (DCB* shoutout)

My ticket was the "Trans-Montserrat" which included round trip fares for the train and cable car, museum entry, and unlimited use oof the funicular trains that took you to two other parts of the mountain. Here is a view from further up on the opposite side of the mountain after riding a funicular up:

I'm also beginning to master the art of getting strangers to take your picture - something I was never comfortable with.

There was also the monastery, where I roamed some courtyards, but the line to go inside and see the Black Virgin shrine (the main attraction there) was wicked long and moving at a glacial pace, so I skipped it and grabbed a panini in the cafeteria before heading back down on he cable car. In case youre wondering what THAT looked like:

The train came back to Placa de Espanya, which is a stone's throw from Park Montjuic and the monstrously huge Museu Nacional d'Arte Catalunya. I walked through there for a bit and grabbed some - wait for it - TIRAMISU ICE CREAM out front. Talk about God's wonderful creation. Here are some shots from a lobby in the museum:

I wandered through Park Montjuic, which is massive and a small mountain, by the way. I found the Olympic Stadium from 1992 and they let you go in and wander some of the main level for free! That was quite insanely cool.

I then boarded a cable car for the third time today. The views were stunning - you could see practically the entire city, park, and out into the Mediterranean. Again, man's ability to build and innovate really is astonishing. I shared the car with a woman from Santiago, Chile who was traveling alone as well. She congratulated me on doing this while I'm young, and I competely agree with her.

Oh, and there was a surprise castle at the top. Rock on, Spain.

On the way back down, I had a car to myself. I thought I'd take advantage of this and took a few self-portraits...

After running a top secret, hush-hush paternal birthday related errand, I got to Museu Picasso as fast as I could. I had enough time to thoroughly peruse the museum before they closed. I was so tired that I contemplated skipping dinner and just eating a granola bar, but I ran across a tapas place near the museum (Taperia Princeso) and had bread, grilled shrimp I'm garlic sauce (like...the WHOLE shrimp), and a creme brulee variant, the name of which escapes me. All for about 15 €. Dessert pictured below:

I'm sad to say goodbye toto Spain and a language im actually familiar with, but tomorrow it is off to Italy!!! See y'all in Milan!

Barcelona On Foot

So today, in light of the public transportation strike, I walked. A lot. Although,the frequency change must not make anhuge difference (at least at the times I was using it) because there was a train within a minute of my swiping my metro card both times.

Today's plan was originally to go to Montserrat, but I desperately needed to rest. So I decided to sleep in a little this morning. :) After eating a granola bar and buying an apple from a street vendor, I walked in a general direction of landmarks and got lucky when I checked one of the metro stops.

I figured that while I had a train already, I'd hit some stuff farther out. First stop was one of Barcelona's main landmarks: Sagrada Familia. It's another thing that falls under the category of "imposing structures." I forgot to take a picture with my phone, but here's one from google. I'll let you draw your own conclusions on which building I'm talking about.

Yeah, I know.

Next I walked a ways down to the Museu de la Musica. It holds over 300 instruments and documents the development of music in Spanish culture. Also a highlight of this museum was when I learned the difference between a regular exit symbol and an emergency exit symbol. B-t-dubs, they're both green. On the bright side, I got to wander around their concert hall where I wasn't supposed to be.

I kept going and found Barcelona's Arc de Triomf to add to my picture collection. A few parks and several narrow, antiquated European streets later, I found the cathedral. I can't get enough of all this gothic architecture. It blows my mind sometimes what man was able to accomplish before he accomplished technology. Seriously, look at the inside of this place:

Before leaving that area, I watched some guys breakdance in the plaza for about 10 minutes. Then I went to Las Ramblas, which is a reeally popular touristy place akin to Champs Elysees in Paris. I wandered into Placa Reial off of La Rambla, and ended up at a small restaurant in a courtyard-type area for dinner. I had a dish that was basically marinated chicken with rice and raisins (yes, raisins, and it was actually delicious), and, per the usual, the bread was super fresh. Dessert, pictured below, was "toffee and almond pie over coffee, cinnamon and hazlenut cream." With a name like that, I had no choice but to order it. Dinner, dessert, and a Coke Zero for just shy of 15€. I'm eating a lot cheaper than I anticipated. And I'm definitely not complaining.

Time for bed - visiting Montserrat early tomorrow morning! It's basically a monastery built into a jagged mountain (Montserrat literally translates to "serrated mountain"). Maybe I'll meet Liam Neeson and join the League of Shadows.

Barcelona!

Oh hey, Barcelona!

Today I caught a train to Barcelona. People aren't kidding - the European train system is kind of awesome. Anyway, getting to my apartment here (I'm in the guest room staying with two younger girls, Yanina and Vivianna) was relatively simple, as was getting to Placa de Catalunya. I went there first to redeem my vouchers for my Barcelona card (discounts and unlimited use of transportation) and my ticket for Montserrat. However, locating the tourism office was an annoying experience (weird, right?). It was actually in the square in the middle of the plaza downstairs underground. And guess what? Public transportation goes on strike every other day I'm here. They still run st "minimum service," but that means a train every FORTY minutes instead of every FIVE. Poor timing indeed.

Oh well, I'm still having fun. Pictured above is a view of the city from the front of the famed Park Guell, which includes landscaping and mosaic awesomeness from a famous Catalan artist from Barcelona. Pictured below is a small fraction if the kind of stuff you'd find there:

So yeah, Barcelona is a pretty cool place. The parts I've been to thus far are not as pretty as Madrid, but I still have a lot to see!

After locating the tourism office and letting time get away from me in Park Guell, I hurried to a metro station to make it just in time to my next stop: Palacio del Flamenco.

Yes, you read it correctly. I went to an authentic flamenco dinner theatre in Barcelona, Spain. The outside entrance was quite small and some of the posters looked a little cheesy, and I found myself doubting my vacation activity planning prowess, hoping it wasn't about to be a waste of money.

For clarification: it most definitely was NOT a waste of money. For starters, it was very classy and dinner (pictured below) was high quality and delicious. Fresh rolls, water and a glass of sangria, salad and my choice of a chicken and veggie dish, followed by a sort of cerements brulee/flan hybrid covered in chocolate sauce. It was a nice step up from the Snickers bar I had for lunch.

Then the show began. Most of the music was live, performed by the guys pictured below. The guitarist was unreal, playing traditional Spanish guitar that I couldn't even get my head around. Click here to listen to a clip I uploaded to YouTube from my phone.

I have a tendency to tear up for some reason when I see live performances that are extremely well done (i.e. Wicked, Dave Barnes concerts, Newsies most recently). Something spiritual happens when I'm listening to live music and watching incredibly talented performers. It's weird. At any rate, that happened last night watching these dancers and listening to these musicians. Click here to watch a video of one of the dancers, and scroll down for a few pictures from the performance (I took MUCH better pictures and video on my actual camera).

Toledo: Spain's Oldest City

Today consisted of a day trip with Syd to Toledo! See photos below:

Toledo is Spain's oldest city, and its former capitol. As you can see, the city mostly lies on top of a hill and was originally a fortress. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella used to live there, too. Impressed yet?

Okay, so it's hard to capture the city in a few pictures, but I definitely tried. There was just no way to really do it justice. This city is truly from another time. The streets were insanely narrow and covered in various types of cobblestone, winding their way through small plazas and stairways and a giant cathedral. See THOSE pictures below:

Here they were in the process of restoring and adding new sections. Awesome, right?

The Holy Church Cathedral of Toledo is one of the oldest and largest in Spain. Pictures weren't technically allowed...but everyone took them anyway. Guards walked right by people using giant DSLR's and even taking photos of guards not enforcing the rule. You gotta love Spain. Also, there was a cellist - yes a freaking CELLIST - playing a beautiful, peaceful melody outside of the cathedral entrance. I didn't get a photo on my phone, but i got some good ones (and good video) on my camera, and they will definitely show up on Facebook soon.

We seriously walked all, and it just never got old. This city is unbelievably beautiful. We did, however, require sustenance, as we'd gone through the ordeal of buying train tickets in a Spanish train station and didn't leave Atocha station until 12:20. As Syd ever so eloquently stated, "Well, you're getting a true Spanish experience." She wasn't kidding - everything is a process in Spain. Anyway, back to the sustenance...

We found a tiny hole in the wall with a special including an appetizer (gazpacho, salad, paella, etc.), entree (grilled.chicken, beef and veggies, seafood plate, etc.), a dessert of your choice, delicious fresh baked bread, and wine or water... all for 10 €. I'm not even close to joking. And all of the food was incredible. The chicken was so tender that it didn't need much more than a small jab of the fork to get a piece off, and it just melted in your mouth. Everything. Was. Delicious. Oh, and this was our view:

All in all, a wonderful day. On our way back to the Toledo station, we found a delightful old British couple that we had helped that morning in Atocha. We talked with them on the walk back - they have really traveled the US. Like, as much if not more than I have. And they are some of the sweetest people I've ever met. Traveling is wonderful.

I snapped this shot going back to Syd's. Gots to.

And finally, a souvenir from Madrid of its symbol - a bear eating from a tree. Sic 'em Spain.