Denia

Today we rode the tram all the way to Denia!!
We had been wanting to do that for quite a while, to see what the coastline looks like from here to Denia.  We found a good parking spot for the car in El Campello and walked over to the tram station to get our tickets.

We finally got to see what it looks like to ride the tram in the area around where we live - usually when we take a tram we are going in the opposite direction.  It was very interesting.  Taking pictures from inside the tram was quite a challenge since the ride was a little shaky and for some reason, the windows tinted the pictures green.  But here are some scenes from along the way.

There were lots of vineyards, with vines that haven't started leafing out yet.

In the distance is the big rock by the town of Calpe.

When we got to Benidorm, we had to get off our tram and wait to get on a connecting tram that goes all the way to Denia.  We had about a 30 minute wait for the next tram.  Then, once on that tram, we rode through a few stations before we again had to get off and transfer to another tram.  But in that last case, the transfer was because a rail line was blocked since a tram had come off the tracks.  So, to get around that, two trams would meet on the other open track, people would switch trams to continue on, and each would go back to where they came from.  

When we got to Denia, we first went to the tourist office which was conveniently located across the street from the tram station.  The guy gave us some good advice on what to do in the short time we'd be there and where to eat.  We walked in the direction he mentioned and saw the row of buildings and restaurants way in the distance that jutted out into the water on a sand bar.  We thought we were heading in the right direction as we cut through a parking lot, but when we got to the end of the parking lot, there was no way out of it.  And we could see the street we needed just on the other side of the fence of the parking lot!  But we had no choice but to walk all the way back through the parking lot and around the fence to get to that street.  But it was a nice day and the walk was pleasant.  We heard almost as much German as Spanish spoken here.

When we FINALLY got to the restaurant area, we read each one's menu boards and decided to have lunch at El Bravo.  Turned out to be an excellent choice.  For the starter, Guillermo had salad with sausages and I had Tomato Basil Soup.  Here we are with our starters and a good glass of Sangria and a beer!

My short sleeved T-shirt is deceiving, I took my sweater off for only a few minutes but it was too cool without a sweater, so it went back on quickly!

Our main course was a fish trio (Monkfish, Salmon and Tuna) with roasted potatoes, eggplant, onion and zucchini.  It was delicious!!  For dessert, we had a dessert so good it was unbelievable.  It was a crepe filled with ice cream.  I cut one piece off before I thought to take a picture, but here it is.  I'd go back to this restaurant because the food was good, and this dessert was the icing on the cake. 

After lunch we walked slowly back to the train station.  Here are some views of along our walk.  

On the right is that fenced parking lot we got stuck behind.

When it ever warms up in Spain and these trees leaf out, I'll bet this street will be beautiful.

We decided that instead of buying a tram ticket for all the way back to El Campello, that we'd get one for as far as the town of Calpe.  We thought it'd be interesting to check that place out, especially the beach area around that big rock.  The only problem is that rock and beach area are far away from the tram station, so we had to figure out how to get down there.  When we got to Calpe, we got off, and they told us at the tram station that a bus would be coming around in about 20 minutes and it would take us down to the beach area so we waited for the bus.  

The bus driver was incredibly nice and helpful and he dropped us off at the exact place we needed to be.  The stop was called Estado Puerto  and when we walked down the narrow steps to get down to the beach area we were amazed at all the restaurants lining the beach, and the rock was RIGHT THERE!!  So, we were glad we took the time to make this little detour to the town of Calpe.  We walked along the restaurant row a bit.  Check out some of what we saw along the way.

There were restaurants with displays like this all along the beach.

Too bad we had already eaten, because everything looked so good.

Past the restaurant area, we got closer to the rock and this was as far as we went.

This guy was watching for any boats that might have fish parts being thrown out.

This was one of the little beaches there in Calpe.

It was a nice day, and one of these days we may go back to Calpe and try one of those restaurants!  We heard plenty of German here in Calpe, too!

Sticking around the house

Today Spain is having a general strike in the entire country.  People are upset over the new prime minister's proposed austerity cuts.  transportation was going to be minimal and many businesses supposedly were going to stay closed.  So, we thought today would be a good day to not go anywhere and just do stuff around the house.  So, we worked out in the yard this afternoon - sweeping the pine needles off the driveway, trimming plants and trees, Guillermo cut the little bit of grass there is with a weed-eater and we watered all the plants.  It was a nice warm day, so warm that we hardly used the heater in the house!!  That is a big change.  Let's hope it lasts.

The willow tree on the left was trimmed way back so we could see more of the yard.

The willow tree was nice and graceful with its long flowing branches, but we like being able to see across to the back.

Showing our appreciation for good internet

Another excursion into Alicante today on the tram.  We got off at the last stop on the line and headed straight for a little cafe along a major thoroughfare to have breakfast.  We enjoyed croissants, tea and churros.  We have decided that churros just aren't as good as we remember them and are probably not going to order them anymore, but the croissants were excellent!  We should have ordered two of those instead.  This is the view of the street we had from the cafe, amazingly enough, there wasn't a single car passing when I took this picture.  That is extremely rare on this street.

From this cafe, we meandered slowly up the street.  We stopped in a bookstore and looked around for a little while.  The we came to the big department store called El Corte Ingles where we planned to buy a little plant.  Then we made our way to the store called Movistar which is the company that we use for our phones and internet.  We bought the plant to give to one of the employees there who has been so nice to us and so incredibly helpful.  We also wanted to ask her how to access our account online.  We waited a little while for her to wait on us, since she was with another customer but when she was finally free, she was so happy to see us and was so excited about her little plant.  We felt good about giving her the plant.  It's because of her that this time Guillermo and I each have our own little USB modems, and we both have unlimited internet.  That alone right there merits more than a meager little plant, but we had no idea what else we could do to show our appreciation without overstepping boundaries.  

From the Movistar store, we walked down some little side streets towards the direction of the castle in Alicante so that we could check some things out.  We found a little flower shop that was selling the exact same plant that we had given that employee at Movistar - only bigger and less expensive.  So,we know where we are going next time.  We'll probably give her another plant right before we leave Spain.

After our nice little walk around the streets of Alicante, we took a tram to a restaurant along the beach that we had been wanting to try.  It's the downside of trying new places, we were not impressed with the food at all.  Oh well, but now we know.  Then we walked back to the tram station and waited for the tram back to El Campello.  We took these pictures while we waited.

Looking intently at something in the distance.

How 'bout that hair, huh??

The high today got into the upper 60s.  That is still quite cool with the wind blowing off the water.  Even so, there were people on the beach in bathing suits and going in the water.  But not many.

Beach promenade

Guillermo and I drove into El Campello, parked the car and walked along practically the entire beach front of El Campello.  It was interesting and the weather was nice.  Sunny with a cool breeze.  We looked at all the restaurants along the way, we admired the beach and were amazed at how some people didn't think it was all that cool since they were out there in their bathing suits soaking up the sun.  On our way back along the beach, we stopped at a restaurant to have a little tapa and a drink.  The tapa was good - rice with squid.  The wine, beer and the two little tapas cost us 3 euros which is almost $4.00.  Not bad.

Weather may be looking up

Wow, the extended forecast calls for the high to get close to 70 degrees this coming week!  With the lows still being in the high 40s.  Close to 70 is getting better, but it's still not warm enough, especially when the nights are so cold.  But maybe now, the temperature will start inching up ever so slightly and hopefully by the beginning of April we'll be able to start wearing something other than sweaters and long sleeves.

We were going to drive to Santa Pola yesterday so that we could catch a ferry to Tabarca Island.  It's a good thing we decided against it, because the weather was cloudy and cold and it would have been rough to be out there on the water.  We have decided to not even attempt that trip again unless the weather is clear, and hot!  We may leave Spain before the weather gets like that, though.

Better late than never!!

Just today, I figured out two new things on the ipod Guillermo got me for Valentine's Day.
The first thing is, there is a right-side up and an upside-down when taking pictures.  Should have been obvious, but that only became obvious to me when I uploaded the pictures of the snow on the mountains to the computer and they were all upside down.  Thankfully I had already learned how to deal with how the ipod transfers video to the computer, so it was easy to turn the pictures around.
The second thing is, and I sure wish I had known this before, the ipod camera DOES have a zoom feature.  I had been looking all over for any way possible to zoom in on pictures but just couldn't figure it out.  But last night it came to me, and today I tried it and sure enough there is a way to zoom pictures.  That picture with the snow covered mountains would have been a lot more meaningful if I could have brought the scene in a little closer.
I really do like that ipod touch.

Snow on the mountains

Here's a picture that we drove all the way back to the grocery store to take.  We were just pulling out of the parking lot of the store when we saw the mountains in the distance covered with snow!  We were so surprised!  We drove on towards home but ended up turning around so that we could get a picture.  Too bad we didn't have our cameras with us and had to use the ipod to take the picture, but at least we have a picture.  The mountains in the very center of the picture have snow on them.  You can see clouds above the mountains and the white below the clouds is all snow.  That just shows how cool it is around here!

Spring?

So much for the first day of Spring.  It is COLD here today, with a constant cold rain and very windy.  It looks miserable outside and we're not going to set foot out there if we can help it.  You'd think it be nice, warm and sunny here in Southern Spain, and it WAS sunny for the last two weeks although not that warm.  But now,  further south from where we are and of course at a higher elevation, there is even snow in that part of Spain!!!!

But we don't feel alone.  We've been watching the weather in the other places we care about.  Tucson, where Rebeca and Jason are, the nighttime lows are in the low 30s.  Now that's cold.  In San Antonio, they've had some fierce thunderstorms and the temperature is in the mid 50s.  In Calgary, where Fernando and Eva are, the nightime temperature is in the low 20s!!!  So, it seems the weather is miserable for a lot of people, not just us.  Maybe this is the last hurrah for winter.  Anyway, we certainly hope so.

It's cold here again

Well, that was short-lived, but nice.  We've been back in Spain exactly two weeks now and the weather has been fairly nice.  It's been sunny everyday but still a little cool.  As long as you were in the sun, the temperature felt really comfortable.

Yesterday, the wind was really blowing and it felt even cooler.  Well, that must have been a front coming in because today it is quite cold and there isn't much sun since it's so cloudy.  And here we thought the cold was over and done with.  Tomorrow they predict rain all day long.  Bleahh.

Funny video

Here's a really short video that Guillermo didn't even realize he was taking when we were having lunch at the La Cova restaurant the other day.  He was trying to take a picture of me, and since it was his first time using the ipod to take a picture, he didn't know what he needed to press.  Little did we know that the camera wasn't on, but the video was.  Anyway, it's good to know that we can take video when we're out, if we want.

Maybe we are done

Today we drove into Alicante, using that trusty GPS which got us RIGHT to where we needed to be.  We were going to turn in all our documents today which we feel is the last step to getting our ID card and to be considered temporary residents.
We found an excellent parking spot along the street real close to the building and walked over to the long line that was snaking outside the building.  At 9am, the doors opened and we all went in slowly, getting a number for our turn to be waited on.  It went really fast.  We got in, and waited maybe 5 minutes before our number was called.
We go to the desk and present our documents and the guy tells us we have to pay the fee to get the card, which we actually paid in Houston but it didn't matter, we had to leave there, find a bank and pay the fee if we wanted to continue.
So, out we went.  We got back in our car, giving up that nice parking spot and drove to where the guy said we could find banks.  It went well at the bank and we decided to leave our car where we parked it by the bank and walk back to the building we had come from, since it was only about a 10 minute walk away.
We get a new number and hardly had time to sit down before our number was called.  We liked that!!!  So, this time everything went through.  She separated our multiple-page forms, stamped other forms, looked at our passports, placed our pictures on card stock, and sent us on to get fingerprinted.  And that was it!!!  They gave us receipts and told us to come back in one month to pick up our ID cards.  We could hardly believe it.

We still have to wait one month for those cards, but we feel like the process is finally coming to a close.  It's been a long and sometimes frustrating journey, but maybe the end is now in sight.

Working on getting our resident card

The past few days we have spent most of our mornings out, trying to do the final steps to getting our resident visas finalized.
Yesterday, we took a tram to Alicante and then walked to the police station, where we were told we would need to go somewhere ELSE to get our visas finalized.  And that before we go to that new place, we'd have to get a certificate that proves we are living in El Campello, and we'd need to get two small pictures of ourselves, etc.
So, we took the tram back to El Campello, where we had parked our car, and went to the city hall in El Campello, where we were able to "pass" their test of residency in El Campello.  All we needed to do now was pay the fee at a bank, but it would have to be done the next day, since banks were already closed.
So, we left and went to eat lunch and then did a little grocery shopping.

Today, we drove into El Campello and got quite a lot accomplished.  We paid the residency fee at a bank, we got our pictures taken, we turned our receipt into city hall and we were so happy to receive the certificate of residency that we will need to take to that place in Alicante.  We will go there tomorrow.  The place we need to go to deals with foreign matters and they are hopefully our last stop before our visas will be finally approved to be "year-long" visas.

After city hall, we went to the fruit and vegetable market in El Campello and came away with WAY more than we needed but everything looked so good.  Oh well, we'll just have to fix lots of fruit and vegetable dishes!!!

Late pictures

Here are some pictures that I FINALLY took off of the Ipod.

Taken at the San Antonio Airport.

This was taken in Madrid in the Plaza Mayor.  That shape in the near center there with glitter had a deer like face and made animal type sounds.  The person doing that interesting costume was excellent and had kids entranced.  I could see how it really did look like a real animal in the eyes of a kid.  Should have taken video of it.

Taken while having a very nice lunch at La Cova restaurant in El Campello.

This was the view out the window of La Cova restaurant.  I don't know if you can see it, but there are a bunch of sailboats coming into the harbor in the distance.

Then after our lunch, we walked around for a little while near the restaurant.

It was a beautiful day to be out walking.

Well, those pictures aren't quite as good as pictures taken with my regular camera, but they are certainly better than no pictures at all!!  It's quite convenient to have the ipod!

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and I want to wish her a very Happy Birthday!  Here are two pictures of Mom - one from the past and one from the present.  Here's hoping she's having a very nice day today.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!!

Car inspection in Spain

Well, the car we drive (which is Miguel's car) has been out of compliance for a few days - the inspection ended at the end of February.  So, we finally figured out what we need to do today and where to take it.
So, we drive ALL the way out to over by the airport and we get to the inspection place where they look over our papers and tell us we're missing 2 papers - the original title to the car and some other green paper.  Aarrgghh!!
There was nothing we could do except try to get those two papers so we decided to go back to the place where Miguel bought the car.  The guy at that car lot comes out to our car and looks in some shelf that we hadn't even noticed above the front windshield.  Sure enough, there were the two papers that we needed.

So, we drove all the way back to the car inspection place, we were accepted this time and we get in the long line to wait for our turn for the inspection.  When we finally get in the bay, it was amazing what they do.  It is certainly nowhere near like what they do in the US (thank goodness).  They go over the car like their life depended on it.  Checking the brakes in these little things on the floor that rattle the car front and back.  They check the emissions TWICE, the go over all the lights and horn and stuff, they look under the hood, they shake the car back and forth looking for who knows what, they look over the tires and so much more.

When we finally get out of the bay, we thought we were done but we weren't.  They said the car didn't pass inspection.  Two of the tires were no good, a brake light in back didn't work, and there was no light over the license plate.  And that if we didn't get the three things fixed by the time they closed today, we'd have to pay all over again for a new inspection.  We had no choice but to find a place where we could get those three things taken care of.

Fortunately, nearby we found a garage which told us they couldn't do the tires but if we went to the business next door, they could take care of us.  So we went over there and they waited on us right away.  When they took the car to the back, we decided to go to a nearby restaurant for lunch which turned out to be really good. It was actually a restaurant at that first garage and from the outside it looked rough, but walk in the door, and you were inside a really nice restaurant.  It was so surprising!

Anyway, soon after we finished lunch, our car was ready.  We took the car back to the inspection place, the guy looked for the three things that had been wrong, he was satisfied and we got our sticker.  Whew!!!  What an ordeal that was.  We started at 9 from the house and by the time we were finished with the inspection place, it was 1:30.

Sure makes me appreciate the inspection process in the United States!!

It's still quite cool here

Even though it's March already, it is still cool here by Alicante.  The daytime highs are in the low 60s and the nighttime lows are in the low 40s.  Which would be no big deal if this whole house was warm, but it's not.  The sun is usually out every day, so when you're in the sun, it feels nice and warm.  Today, when we got back from the store, I put on a jacket to go IN to the house.  The sun doesn't really come in to the house all that much, so there's no getting any of that passive solar heating which would be so good.

At least we have the little heater to help heat up the room we are in.  That has been really helpful especially when we go to bed and when we get up in the morning.  Really, I thought it'd be getting warmer here by now.  I am so glad we were in San Antonio for January and February when it was much colder here in Spain than it is now.  So, I'm thankful for that, anyway.

Yesterday we went to the market to buy our fruits and vegetables and that was something we had missed in San Antonio.  The quantity of good fruits and vegetables here is amazing!  And yesterday we also went grocery shopping to resupply the house after being gone.  That first grocery outing when we get to a place is always a high-priced one but now that we have all the staples again, it will be much better next time.

Facebook hasn't been working for me on my usual browser of Chrome.  Not sure what the deal is there, but at least it works sometimes in Internet Explorer, which I'm not a fan of, but it's my friend now!!!  ;-)

March 5th and 6th

March 6th
Today we needed to return the rental car so we got up early and drove both cars into El Campello, parking our car there and driving the rental car to Alicante.  We found the car rental place at the train station and it was easy dropping the car off.  From there we went to the Movistar store to get our phones reactivated and to start up our internet again.  That took a LONG time, probably 2 hours, but it needed to be done.  We were so glad to get out of there.
We walked up to one of our favorite restaurants to get some lunch and then we took the tram back to El Campello, got our car, picked up a few groceries and went back to the house.

The next thing I did was unpack everything from my big suitcase and wouldn't you know it, there among my clothes were the house keys!!!!  You'd have thought it'd be exciting to find them, but my first thought was "Oh, no!"  Yes, I was glad to find the keys because that meant that now we knew where they were and didn't have to wonder anymore.  But just knowing that we could have saved ourselves a lot of stress if we had just looked inside my big suitcase a little more carefully when we first arrived in Madrid took away the excitement of finding them later.  If we had found those keys when we first arrived in Madrid - THAT would have been a huge happy excitement.  There would have been no stress, no phone calls, no having to meet people bringing another set of keys, no worrying if those new keys REALLY would fit.  Finding the keys after having to go through all of that, although a good thing, was more like I said above, "Oh, no."

This is what we think happened.  When we weighed my big suitcase at the hotel in San Antonio, we found we had ten pounds to work with, so I was looking for things to take out of my carry-ons to make those lighter.  I had taken the keys out of my backpack and placed them in an extra purse and this extra purse I had placed in my rolling carry-on.  Looking for more stuff to put in the big suitcase, I took the extra purse out of my rolling carry-on and placed it in the big suitcase.  At some airport, the inspectors probably went through that purse and left all the little compartments unzipped, causing the keys to fall into the clothes.  When I didn't see the keys in that purse when we were at the hotel in Madrid, and I didn't feel any keys when rifling through the clothes in the suitcase, I just assumed that somehow I had lost those keys somewhere.  It didn't help that all this searching for those keys was taking place when we were so very tired from that long trip.

March 5th.
Left the hotel early, took a taxi to the train station.  Rental car place was packed with people so it was a long wait to get our rental car.  Renting a car at the train station in Madrid is horrible.  There is no good place for the taxi to drop you off, so you walk a LONG way to get to the rental car office.  Then, once you get the paperwork done at the office, they make you walk a very long way, over rough pavement with your luggage to the lot where the cars are.  Thank goodness, that even though it was quite cold, it wasn't raining.

Our drive to Cala D'Or went just fine.  And what a relief it was when we got to the driveway and the key
to the gate worked!  Then the key to the front door worked!  We were in.  We were so happy.  It was such an incredible relief.

What we've done in Madrid

Sunday, March 4th.

We had breakfast in our room today with stuff that we had picked up from a little grocery yesterday, so that made the morning nice and leisurely.  Then we got ready to go to another art museum today - the Sorolla Museum.  We found our way quite easily through the maze of the metro system to another section of Madrid.  The Sorolla Museum was a painter's home so going to this museum was basically touring the home where his paintings were hanging on the walls and there were still pieces of furniture on display. 

Two pictures outside the museum.

Some of the paintings in one of the rooms.

A fun place to sleep.

The dining room

After the Sorolla Museum we walked to a different metro stop to catch another metro to Madrid's Retiro Park.  We walked through the park, and by the lake where most of the people were hanging out.  We watched the boats on the lake for a while and then found a bench where we could sit and eat a few potato chips.  There were vendors across the way from us who had their wares all spread out on sheets on the ground.  They were selling stuff like CDs or sunglasses or iphone cases - stuff like that.  As we were sitting there, we all of a sudden saw one of the vendors grab a string in the center of his wares which effectively pulled that sheet up from all four corners and made a quick bundle of his wares.  In seconds, he had his stuff packed up and was walking away.  Then we saw the other vendors doing the same thing and it was about then that we noticed a police car slowly coming up the lane behind us.  When the police car had passed, we noticed that the vendors had already started setting up shop again just a few feet down from where they had been and from where the police car had passed.  It was amazing how fast they could pack up their stuff!

Boating on the lake there in Retiro Park.

Guillermo on the Paseo de la Argentina.  As we walked this pathway to our next museum, we remembered how we had walked this same path with Rebeca and Fernando back in 1984.

So, our next museum was the Thyssen Museum which is another art museum.  This museum was very nice and very big, so again, we enjoyed the art but it was very tiring.  We had a little lunch before starting the museum and after we were done at the museum, we stopped at a Starbucks for a little while to rest.

We were going to take another metro back to our hotel, but decided it was just as close to walk back.  After a short rest in our room, we went out again looking for a place to have dinner.  The place we had in mind to eat at tonight was closed and we were very disappointed about that.  Now we had no idea where we were going to go.  We ended up at an outdoor table at a restaurant by the Plaza Mayor, which was nice but nothing memorable.  

Saturday, March 3rd.

On this day we took a metro to Plaza de Cibeles from where we planned to walk to the Prado Museum.  There was a big police presence in the area around Cibeles because a bunch of protestors were gathering there, evidently to protest the economy in Spain.

Standing near the Plaza Cibeles.  We had just gotten off the metro.

 Looking in the other direction

The Cibeles Fountain

Part of the Police presence

Some of the protestors

Then we walked to the Prado museum and were shocked to see the lines all around the building.  Guillermo tried to get information from employees there and we decided it wouldn't be worth it to wait in those lines, since we have been in the museum before.  This picture doesn't show the extent of the lines, I just couldn't get it all in.

So, we decided instead to visit the Queen Sofia Art Museum, which was a little further up the street.  Along the way, we passed this statue of Velazquez.

The Art Museum was very nice but VERY big and it was quite tiring.  By the time we got out, it was time for lunch and we stopped at this little place to have a Fried Clam Sandwich, Potatoes with hot sauce and a Tortilla Espanola, which is sort of like a quiche.

From there we walked back to our hotel and rested for a while.  We went out again in the evening to find a place to have dinner.  We walked around for a while, not sure which place we should pick to eat at - and there were TONS of places from which to choose.  We ended up at an excellent restaurant called Cuevas El Secreto.  We were seated at a table down below in a very nice cozy room.  We had a really good glass of wine, Gambas a la Plancha (which is grilled shrimp) and a salad, followed by a Tangerine sorbet, which was delicious!  

We made it to Madrid

All our flights were good.  Our flight over the ocean was EXCELLENT!!!  We asked to change our seats when we were in San Antonio, and we ended up getting 3 seats in the middle of the aircraft ALL TO OURSELVES!!  It was great.  We were able to spread out, lie down and generally be quite comfortable.

It is quite cool here in Madrid.  One bit of bad news is we cannot find the keys to Miguels house.  So, we do not know what happened to them, but hopefully, in a few minutes, we will be meeting his cousin who might have keys to the house.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.  Can you BELIEVE it???

Anyway, other than that little worry there, things are good and we hope to be totally recovered from the flight by tomorrow so that we can do a little looking around here in Madrid.

So, an update to what is above.
After a short rest in our hotel room (Hostal Adriano), we walked to Plaza Mayor.  It was very interesting there, with so many people milling about and people trying to earn a little money doing different things.  We stopped at a little cafe to have some churros with hot chocolate and that was good.  Then we made our way back so that we could meet with Miguel's cousin Manolo and Ana in front of our hotel.  When they came we talked a while and then they handed us the keys which look like they could work.  Both of them were so nice and we were grateful to them for coming into town to give us those keys.  We invited them to have a tapa or two and so we went to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed a some wine, beer and juice with a small slice of bread and ham.  We felt so much better, and although we aren't inside the door yet to the house, at least there's some hope that we'll be able to get inside the house.

Later that evening, we walked back to the Plaza Mayor and from there tried to find a restaurant that Manolo and Ana recommended - Casa de Lucio.  After walking just a LITTLE more than we thought we'd have to, we found the place.  It was PACKED inside and we had to wait a little for a table, but once we were seated we were able to enjoy a good wine with some bread before our meal arrived which was very good.  It was a good choice for an evening meal.

And it's back to Spain today