Welcome to day one of the Ludwick Family (minus half our members) Christmas in Spain vacation. We will be trying to blog the experience for our (many) reader's pleasure.
I arrived at the airport at 8:40am, to find that the trip's first curveball had been thrown; the crew (Dad, Mom, April) would be arriving 45 minutes later than scheduled, at 9:45. This was not be a big ordeal, but rather the first of many malfunctions which would keep us on our toes while touring this country. Part of my waiting process was spent listening to chanting and protests from people whose flights were canceled by AirMadrid. This airline crisis also resulted in hundreds of people sleeping strewn across the floor. But I digress...
By 9 o'clock I was already suffering from boredom and impatience, so I came up with an idea: to predict the appearances of Dad/Mom/April upon arrival. Here is what I wrote
*April's is very predictable, she will be wearing a minimum of three new items (exclusively purchased for Spain). Maybe more. One of these items will be her new boots, I would bet my life on it.
*Dad's is a bit more complex. I would normally go with the standard Hawaiian shirt tucked into blue jeans with cowboy boots. However, having given him significant warning of cold and cultural differences, I feel like he may be equipped accordingly. To be safe I am going with blue jeans, dress shirt, and sport coat (but I'm not throwing the cowboy boots out).
*Mom will also certainly be sporting her new gear, but not to April's extent. A couple new items (her new boots for sure), and her contact lenses! She will be looking beautiful any way she goes about it, so no further comment is needed.
They arrived at 9:45, but emerged from the baggage claim around 10:15 looking awake, excited, and ready to adventure.
I snapped this candid of Dad as he was exiting. Notice the excitement...and the inaccuracy of my prediction!
We went and got the rental car keys, and sat down for a quick coffee and breakfast (despite it being Saturday night according to their bodies). I should mention that my predictions were very mediocre, but I will chalk that up to not having seen them in four months.
1.) We began our search for a parking spot at about 11:25am...by 1:15pm, after finding nothing (and I mean nothing), we ditched Madrid and the Rastro altogether.
2.) Dad was pulled over (just one hour into the visit!) for talking to me on the cell phone while driving. Fortunately for him the officer spoke no English, but he did understand "One hour off the plane from California". He was let go without any punishment.
3.) Let us just say the whole experience was entirely a nightmare, and it was 100 percent my fault. Having not driven in the city at all I was unaware of the scarcity of parking and the general confusion of the streets.
After a minor detour in Sevilla we arrived to our hotel just before 8pm. We were all quite tired and ready to settle in for the night. We ate dinner at the hotel, most of the time as the only guests in the restaurant. By 11pm we were all asleep and dreaming of the coming day's adventure.
We went and got the rental car keys, and sat down for a quick coffee and breakfast (despite it being Saturday night according to their bodies). I should mention that my predictions were very mediocre, but I will chalk that up to not having seen them in four months.
The Alfa Romeo meets its match
Our next stop was the Rastro (flea market) in Madrid, before hitting the highway to Sevilla. I could spend numerous paragraphs describing the extent of to which the attempted Rastro visit failed, but I will leave you with a few details.
1.) We began our search for a parking spot at about 11:25am...by 1:15pm, after finding nothing (and I mean nothing), we ditched Madrid and the Rastro altogether.
2.) Dad was pulled over (just one hour into the visit!) for talking to me on the cell phone while driving. Fortunately for him the officer spoke no English, but he did understand "One hour off the plane from California". He was let go without any punishment.
3.) Let us just say the whole experience was entirely a nightmare, and it was 100 percent my fault. Having not driven in the city at all I was unaware of the scarcity of parking and the general confusion of the streets.
Finally out of town, and underway on our vacation, we were able to relax. April and Mom went to sleep quickly while Dad and I plugged away on the "Autovia del Sur" which was to take us directly to Sevilla. We stopped for lunch in Manzanares, where we found the only place open to eat on a Sunday afternoon.
Our first taste of Spain was here
After the meal we switched positions and I took the wheel. I felt great about driving once again, although I am unlicensed and doing so against the law. I powered us through the drive while Dad and April slept this time. April was awake for about twenty minutes of the six hour drive, a real road-tripper.
April...really soaking it all in
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