Madrid July 25 2011

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Back in Europe

After 9 hours flying with Iberia our plane lands at 9 in the morning at the airport of Madrid. We could not sleep last night. The time difference is 7 hours. Our next flight to Nice will leave late in the afternoon. So we have some time to visit Madrid. The airport is ultramodern and though we have to change two times the metro brings us in half an hour to the centre. We walk to the Prado where the Museo del Prado is. We would love to visit it to see the famous collection of Spanish painters like El Greco, Goya, Velasquez, but we are too tired. Instead we walk a bit over the Prado, eat some tapa's and then back to the Plaza Mayor. We love the old buildings.
Madrid is a nice place to look back to our trip across South America. We planned to stay there three months, but instead we stayed 7 months and still we have the idea we like to come back to see more. Originally we planned to visit only Brazil, Argentina, Chili, Bolivia, Suriname and Trinidad. But during our trip we changed our mind, so that Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and French Guyana also became part of our trip. Actually we saw all countries of South America, but Paraquay, Uruquay and British Guyana. It was not our purpose to see as many countries as possible. We just wanted to see the places we were most interested in. Big surprises were Ecuador and Colombia. Biggest disappointment was Venezuela. Venezuela is like a rotten spot in a fresh apple. What struck us most of all was the endless variety of nature, the high Andes, the jungle, the Pacific coast, The Atlantic coast, the Caribbean coast. Every time we thought we had seen it, we discovered new things. The distances are big. We crossed the continent from south to north and from west to east. But transport is wonderfull. We do not have that quality in Europe. Highlights were Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, the Saltlake in Bolivia, the cloudforests and paramo's van Ecuador and Colombia, Suriname, the trip by boat over the Amazone, Buenos Aires and Medellin. Everywhere we met nice people, though the countries we visited were completely different. We are sure we wil come back. As soon as possible.

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