Hola from Madrid

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Evening all,

Just a quick note to let family (Hao, Hung & San) you know that I am alive and well and have reached Madrid in Spain. To the rest of you, I´m alive and have stumbled into an internet cafe despite my lack of spanish.

You´ll be surprised/disgusted to hear that Delta Goodrem has reached Spanish radio. Those of you not in Australia won´t have any idea what that means, but anyway.

I´ll keep this brief because it´s almost time for dinner. As mentioned, I´ve begun my tour and we started in Paris and worked our way down the west side of france and into spain and have finally reached Madrid. For me, the highlight has been the different food that´s been available for sampling.

The duck gizzards in Bordeaux were a highlight, as well as the tapas in San Sebastien. San Sebastien has definitely been the highlight. I think for me, the thing I love about travelling most is being able to see what the locals do and observe (and sometimes participate).

My favourite thing about France and Spain so far is the lifestyle. On the stifling hot night in Paris, the parisians all headed for the parks and riverbanks for picnics with family and friends and copious amounts of red wine. In bordeaux, they have lovely squares where the locals dine al fresco. One group of friends I saw pulled their coffee table out of their villa and onto the laneway and proceeded to drink and gamble with dice.

In San Sebastien I came across a plaza where the different basque regions had congregated for a local food fiesta and I managed to try many dishes, cheeses and wine. Gorgeous.....In another little laneway, two old men were playing flamenco on guitars whilst locals got up to clap and dance flamenco, it was an utterly beautiful view. I think it´s more the enjoyment they have which in turn warms the hearts of the people around them. This gets tempered with the harsh reality of homeless people sleeping under the arches of these beautiful old churches.

Anyways, I will take leave of you for the moment and promise to write a more indepth chapter when I get the chance.

Miss you all. I do wish I could share these moments with you guys.

Cheers,
Ben

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