My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Roger and Gayle ordered a taxi for 7:30am this morning to take them to the Barcelona airport. We had a wonderful time traveling with them and we’re sorry to see them go.
Roger and Gayle leaving.
We ordered a taxi for 8:30 to take us to the train station for our 10am train to Madrid. When we got into the taxi the driver said getting to Sants train station could be very difficult because today was the Barcelona marathon. We made it to less than a mile from the station but then there was no way to get to the station. We told the driver we would walk, got out and walked the last .7 of a mile. Along the way the marathon leaders ran by us.
The leaders in the Barcelona marathon.
When we got to the station I wasn’t sure how we would get across the course and the runners. But an old guy suggested we use the metro station and it worked!
The metro station we used to cross the marathon course.
We caught our high speed train to Madrid with no problem. And then walked to our Madrid hotel.
Walking to our hotel in MadridAfter resting a bit we enjoyed our complimentary welcome drinks.
Driving into a city like Madrid to return a rental car is always a bit stressful. The rental car we have been driving for the last week or so is from a new company, OK Rental Cars. When we picked up the car they couldn’t really tell us where to return the car in Madrid. First we drove by their office near the Atocha train station. We saw nowhere to return the car there. Then we went to the place near the train station where we have returned every other car we have returned to Madrid, but OK Rental Car was nowhere to be seen. Then drove back to the office and Duke pulled into a handicapped space while I ran in to ask where to return the car. They gave me a paper with the address of a parking garage a few blocks away. We managed to find the garage, go down three levels in the garage and finally deliver the car. All of this was done through heavy Madrid traffic!! We survived!
We walked to our hotel and left our bags since the rooms wouldn’t be ready for a while. Then we found a lab that was doing Covid test and walked there. Roger and Gayle got there preflight Covid tests. We found a cafe to have beers and toast the fact that we had successfully completed all today’s must do tasks.
We made it to Madrid.
We decided to check out the Museum of Money but it wasn’t until we had walked another mile or so to get there and had been told that they were closed that we realized that today is Monday and most museums are closed on Mondays!
We stopped to rest and have coffee and then headed to the hotel because it was after two and the rooms should be ready.
Refueling
On the way back to the hotel we walked through Retiro Park. Today was the first really nice day we have had for a long time and the park was peaceful and beautiful.
Retiro Park
When we got back to the hotel, and got to our rooms, we had walked almost seven miles and we were ready for a rest. We played some cards and then about eight went out to find tapas for dinner. We started out with roasted peppers.
Tapas placesRoasted peppers
The next place we stopped was just perfect. It had a friendly Madrid tapas feel and our waitress was very friendly and helpful. We had the fried shark and it was fantastic.
Alhambra Tapas BarFried fishAlhambra, a wonderful Tapas bar to end this portion of our trip.
Roger and Gail fly home to tomorrow. We have had a wonderful couple of weeks with them.
Duke and I got an early start this morning. We packed up, had breakfast and headed to Madrid to pick up our friends Roger and Gayle at the Madrid airport. We assumed they would be arriving at terminal 4, the international terminal. Which is a couple of miles from terminals 1, 2 and 3.
We followed the signs for arrivals, pulled in and found ourselves by the terminal 4 parking garages. The signs said if you don’t want to park keep going. We did and found ourselves back on the freeway leaving the airport! That was not the plan! I texted Roger; “We are going in circles but we will find you!” Maps on my phone said it was 15 kilometers back to the airport!
Apparently we were on a toll road because the next thing you know we were at a toll booth. Duke pulled up and said to the toll taker “Estamos perdidos! (We are lost!). Luckily there was almost no traffic and she was very helpful.
As we were making our way back to the airport we got a text from Roger saying “we are at T1 number 12”. Terminal 1! That was unexpected! I quickly changed the Maps destination and we managed to get to terminal 1.
It looked like we were on the rental car pick up area but miraculously we saw Roger and Gayle up ahead. It was one lane road with no where to pull over but the bus in front of us stopped. Roger and Gayle jumped in, and mission accomplished, we were on our way to our hotel in downtown Madrid.
We made it to the hotel without getting lost and checked in.
Checking in at our hotel in Madrid
Duke and I took the car to the rental car return place and walked back to the hotel.
Returning our rental car.
This afternoon we went to the Madrid Archaeological Museum (MUSEO Arqueológico Nacional – MAN).
Display of a woman’s tombVisigothic Guarrazar Hoard
It was a lovely day for a walk so we walked to and from the museum
Plaza Cibeles
After resting for a while back at the hotel we went out and had tapas for dinner. They were wonderful and a great end to a busy day.
We made it home. We left for the Airport in Madrid about 6:20 am Madrid time on Monday and finally arrived home 36 hours later. There was a long line to check in at the airport in Madrid but it moved fairly quickly.
The check in line in Madrid
Our flight from Madrid to Miami was quite good. It was only about half full. Getting through health screening, customs and immigration and rechecking our bags in Miami took less than an hour. In Madrid airport they were making regular announcements to keep a one meter distance between people. In Miami that didn’t seem to be a concern.
Our flight from Miami to San Francisco was almost full. My middle seat made for a long flight.
My daughter and her family left our truck for us at the airport in San Francisco. About 1am Tuesday morning we were on the road home to Reno.
Loading our truck in San Francisco
There was very little traffic. We stopped to nap a couple of times. Interstate 80 was closed through the mountains so we sat in a parking lot in the town of Colfax for several hours.
Interstate 80 through the Sierras
It feels surreal to have been in the middle of a two month trip one day and be home the next. Duke is busy working on trying to get refunds. We are doing laundry and going through the mail. I will update our itinerary and the final videos of the trip on my YouTube channel in the next couple of days.
We woke up this morning to the news that all hotels in Spain will close tomorrow. We were able to get a plane ticket home for Monday. In Córdoba we went to the bus station. Almost everything was closed up but luckily the rental car office was open and we were able to rent a car.
Archaeological ruins in the bus station parking garage where we picked up our rental car.
We drove the four hours to a hotel next to the airport in Madrid where we are now.
Sign on the freeway. “It is prohibited to travel without justification “.
Our flight leaves early Monday morning. We have a connection in Miami and if the U.S. entry process isn’t too slow we will be in San Francisco by midnight. We have our fingers crossed.
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