Day 1 - September 3, 2004 - Flight from Denver to Chicago to Frankfurt We were able to do our regular Friday morning chores as our flight was not scheduled until 3:55 PM. We drove to Denver at 11:30, had lunch at Chipotle and were at DIA at 1:30. Pikes Peak Parking was running a lot of buses so we had a short wait. We checked in with United and went to the B Concourse to wait ...
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Day 2 - September 4, 2004 - Flight to Frankfurt and on to Madrid We arrived at Frankfurt at about 1 PM and had 45 minutes to find our flight to Madrid. The Spanair flight was very good and we were served a tasty meal. When we arrived at Madrid, we had a long wait for our luggage to arrive. I had researched the subway (Metro) and we decided to use it. People were very helpful ...
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Day 3 – September 5, 2004 – Madrid We slept in and it was enjoyable. After a late continental breakfast we went out for a long walk around the streets of the hotel. It was cool as we started but as we finished my shirt was soaked in the front and back. We took pictures of the people, balconies, streets, and flowers. The people were, for the most part, very hospitable, smiling ...
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Day 4 – September 6, 2004 - Madrid Sightseeing & Toledo We were up a 6:45 to have breakfast at 7:30 with Barbara and Kerry from Queensland, Australia. We were on the bus at 8:30 for a city tour and more sights of Madrid with Carmela. Our driver today was Antonio who is Portuguese. We are still missing 6 people who have been delayed in Miami by the tropical storm. We began our ...
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Day 5 – September 7, 2004 – Madrid to Burgos to Santander Our wake up call was at 6 AM but we were up at 5:45. We went down to breakfast at 7 AM but they were not open or ready for us. The wait staff had a mad scramble to keep up with all of these American coffee drinkers. The whole group was ready on time and Francisco had all of the bags packed under the bus so we could leave ...
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Day 6 – September 8, 2004 – Santander to Bilbao to San Sebastian to Pamplona After a wonderful buffet breakfast with many choices of fresh fruit, breads, eggs, and meat we were on the bus at 8:30. We were then on Route 10 or A-8 going east toward Bilbao in the mountainous Basque territory. Ellen gave us a history and philosophy of the Basque relationship with the ...
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Day 7 – September 9, 2004 – Pamplona to Zargoza to Barcelona Today was another 6 AM wake-up with a very nice breakfast and cool morning. The city was just starting to come alive as we left the hotel at 8 AM. All of the signs in northern Spain are written in Basque as well as in Spanish. The Basque language as a lot of X, Z, and K and is very similar to Hungarian and Finish. Our ...
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Day 8 – September 10, 2004 – Barcelona Sightseeing & At Leisure We got to sleep until 6:45 today. We again had a great breakfast - everything was presented so well and with much variety. Our morning city sightseeing was with our local guide Pilar who told us that the male/female population in Barcelona was 1 to 4. Yes guys, move to Barcelona! She met us at 8:30 outside our ...
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Day 9 – September 11, 2004 – Barcelona to Peniscola to Valencia This morning Saturday, September 11th we left Barcelona. The BBC and CNN International are paying tribute to the 9/11 tragedy in NYC and Washington, DC. There is very little traffic as we move out of the city at 9:00. Even though we got back relatively early last night people seem to be dragging this morning. ...
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Day 9 – September 12, 2004 - Valencia to Guadix to Granada Please note that the included pictures have been labeled as there were houses dug into hillsides that we had to note. This morning we had breakfast at 7:30, the worst we have had as it was very limited and being in Valencia there were none of their famous oranges or orange juice we had been looking forward to. For a 5 ...
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Day 11 – September 14, 2004 - Granada to Costa del Sol We had another early wake-up call and nice breakfast. When we returned to our rooms after breakfast we saw that our luggage was still outside our rooms. The luggage porter was late and this was the one day we had no flexibility. We were scheduled to be at the Alhambra at 8:30 and with Francisco driving we made it. The ...
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Day 12 – September 15, 2004 - Costa del Sol After our late evening last night, we were able to sleep in a little bit and bring in our laundry from the deck, a beautiful place to dry clothes. We had an excellent breakfast buffet at 8 AM and then met about 24 of the others from our group for an excursion to Malaga and a wine tasting. We started with a panoramic tour of the city ...
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Day 13 – September 16, 2004 - Costa del Sol to Seville We had an early morning - our wake up call was at 6:00 - breakfast was just rolls, juice, and coffee as we have to get out on the road at 7:45 and beat the traffic to Gibraltar. At 7:45 the sun has still not come up over the horizon of the sea. A few of the small food markets were open as we left town, but most were still ...
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Day 14 – September 17, 2004 - Seville Sightseeing & At Leisure We were able to get up a little later than usual as we have our second day in Sevilla - Seville. Unfortunately, my internal alarm had me up by 7 AM and we were done with the showers by the time the wake-up call arrived. We went down for breakfast and it was another very good one with a large number of selections, ...
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Day 15 – September 18, 2004 - Cordoba Our wake-up call was at 8:00 today so everyone had a leisurely breakfast and talked in the lobby until it was time to get on the bus. We started for our short trip to Cordoba along the Guadalquivir River Valley. We traveled over rolling hills and this reminded us of our travels to Iowa through Nebraska. Most of the grain was harvested and ...
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Day 16 – September 19, 2004 - Madrid Even though our wake up call was at 6:45, breakfast did not start until 7:30 and they did not start to pick up the luggage until 7:45. I guess Saturday is a sleep in day for the Spanish! It is 72 degrees outside at 8:15 as we left the city. Only a few joggers and a few walkers were out in the parks this morning. As we left Cordoba for our last ...
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Day 17 – September 20, 2004 - Madrid to USA Sunday morning was up and out. We had a taxi waiting for us and the ride to the airport was fast and easy – 20 Euros with the early morning surcharge! We got seats on the Lufthansa flight, made the two hour jump to Frankfurt and were there by 9:30. We went through the three security screens and sat down to wait for our flight. ...
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