Day 4

Yeah! I finally figured out the bugs and got it to work! Phew! Today was not nearly as eventful as yesterday, but was exciting, nonetheless. After breakfast we checked out of Hotel Opera in Madrid and loaded up the bus. Our bus driver's name is Jose-Luis, and he will be with us until Avignon when we board the TGV to Paris. He's from Mali and is very nice, but only speaks Spanish. The scenery was beautiful! There were many olive trees stressed so they would remain short, thus easier to harvest the olives. Spain is known for its olive oil as well as its oranges. We stopped along the way to use the restrooms. They were very nice at the "Quesos y Jamones." We stopped in Cuenca to view the hanging houses "las casas colgadas" and the Abstract Art Museum. You might be wondering why I took pictures of the toilets in the museum. In Europe many bathrooms are shared by both men and women. This was one of them. The urinal is located just outside the stalls. If you look in the picture of the stall you can see white in the lower right hand corner...that's the urinal! Mrs. Frank was not too fond of the idea of sharing a restroom with the menfolk so asked me to stand guard for her! lol We went to the center of the old part of Cuenca and had lunch at one of the many cafes along the street. There was a wedding going on, so we were serenaded by bagpipes during lunch! We continued on to Valencia where we checked in to this very modern, very squared hotel. It is even nicer than the last one! We then set out for the beach. We took a city bus, which cost 1,20 euros each way. The beach was so much fun! The waves were pretty high, so we went body surfing! Mrs. Frank and Guy swam farther out than anyone else. We met many friendly people, too. There was a group of gentlemen playing volleyball. Part of Guy's commentaries this morning explained that the Spanish spoken in Valencia is different than in Madrid and Barcelone. Instead of "calle" meaning street, they would say "carrer." I tried to understand those gentlemen speaking to us in the sea, but could only understand one of them, who seemed to speak a more standard Spanish. There was also a woman and her daughter from Bulgaria there on vacation. I am so impressed in general at how the participants are learning some Spanish as well as the customs here. They are frequently seen writing down key phrases here. One of the more common ones is "Vale!" That one is heard quite frequenty. It means "Okay!" After the beach we returned to the hotel (on the crowded city bus), took showers and met for dinner. This evening we had the most popular and authentic meal yet: Paella. It is made in an enormous pan. It consisted of rice, prawns, chicken, beans...I think that was most of it. Saffron is used to obtain that yellow color. We started with a salad which had not only lettuce but also beets, corn, tomatoes and tuna. After the Paella we had Valencia oranges. Yum! Since we didn't start eating until 8:30pm, we went up to our rooms to get ready for bed right after dinner. In Spain they don't typically eat dinner until around 9 or 10pm. See you tomorrow (I hope!)
Mme