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Geo: 45.5872, -122.582
Greetings from the kitchen table at the Bednarek homestead in Salem, Oregon, two days before we leave for Spain, setting up the blog for our trip, getting it up and running, configuring e-mail alerts, and coming to grips with how much more there is to do to get ready.
Our bags are stacked to overflow, so there's some narrowing down and decision making to do, such as how many undies to pack and whether or not to plan on laundry in the sink. Also, we've got Spain train passes but no specific trips reserved, as well as two nights in Granada at the end of the trip but no tickets into the Alhambra yet. I'm finding that Spanish web sites are hard to navigate and quick to reject foreign credit cards, so a lot of computer time has wound up on dead-end 'error' windows. Part of the adventure and getting outside the comfort zone, I guess!
We're going to try something different on this trip and do the blog postings by iPhone app; the laptop and its excess weight is staying right here on the kitchen table for this trip. A small Bluetooth keyboard is going along for the ride, too.
We leave Salem early Tuesday AM and fly out of PDX to Chicago to London Heathrow to Barcelona, arriving Wednesday at noon (nine hours ahead of PDT), so the first actual posting may not be until Wednesday evening.
Writing this next retrospective post on the 9:00 PM Thursday night high speed train from Barcelona to Madrid. First time that I've been able to muse on this blog since leaving PDX Tuesday morning.
Today was Day 1 of our trip to Spain, a 10-day romp through Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, and Granada. Yes, way too much ground to try to cover in 10 days. But, as we approach these once-every-one-or-two-year trips abroad, we're not sure we'll get the chance to return to any of these wonderful countries and places, so we try to balance seeing everything we want to with a sense of reality.
(BTW, now traveling at 300 km/hr. Writing this on my sweet little Bluetooth keyboard using Word on my iPhone. A bit of an experiment since I don't have an iPad yet and didn't want to bring my laptop. I'll just dump these scribblings onto the TravelPod app when we get to the hotel in Madrid and hope that its WiFi is functioning better than the one in Barcelona.)
We rose at 3:30 AM Tuesday and left the house under bright moon glow at 4:15 AM for our 7:00 AM flight out of PDX. Unusually quiet and calm without the dogs around to see us off; they were already out at the Daree Schnauzer resort in Aumsville.
Our travels today (and overnight) took us to Chicago, London Heathrow (more on that later), and finally to Barcelona. Planes were jammed full; long distance flying is not fun nor romantic. What's new? Nothing can sugar coat the journey, so you just gut it out and hope the destination is worth the discomfort getting there. (You'll find out soon why I'm leading with this.)
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Jack and Paula
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We are so glad that you've been able to take this trip. Sorry about the 0 dark thirty wake up time in Salem, the crowded flights, the regimented English, the lack of sleep, dirty traveling areas, more transportation, etc.etc. On the other
hand, you are in Spain and eating Tapas and drinking the local color. How fine is that? And Sharon loose her temper, never...