On the road (3) A (hopefully) sunny September road trip to Spain COMPLETED - Page 19 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I'm finally catching up.... what can I say - beautiful photos everywhere. Love the bit about Walt and the Spanish castle! I was surprised at the landscape as well in Spain, it's quite pretty! I'm glad you guys finally arrived to Madrid to such a nice retreat at the Hilton.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss. 's for you and your family.
__________________
Tanya
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Oh Cheryl...I didn't even read that your grandmother passed until I noticed everyone was giving you pixies. I'm so sorry, and right now I can completely understand what you're going through. Here's hugs that today is easy for you.
Thanks so much everyone for the and I really appreciate them. I just didn't want you guys to worry when suddenly there were no updates over the last couple of mornings.
The funeral went really well and my dad did a lovely speech about his mother, then we all went out for a meal and dedicated dessert to my grandmother, as she was quite a chef, being French.
We're back home now, so it's on with the trip report...
Tuesday 7 September – part one: “I’ve got a headache”
Today started well enough, with a good night’s sleep for both of us. I only woke up at 7.40am, which I thought was really good. I guess it showed I needed the sleep. We got going slowly and then headed down for breakfast about an hour later.
Oh my goodness, this has to be the best breakfast spread I’ve ever seen at any hotel ever – and we’ve seen quite a few, especially at Hiltons, which are usually very good. The starring points, for me anyway, were the grilled zucchini (something I’ve never seen at a buffet before), the grilled tomatoes, which were amazing, complete with a herb topping, and the fruit smoothies, again a new introduction to me at a buffet. As well as those items, I grabbed some cheese, smoked salmon and salad and some fruit, along with scrambled eggs, mushrooms and hash browns. In the same casket as the hash browns were chicken sausages. Let’s just say that the look of those left a lot to be desired... I wasn’t surprised when Mark told me he’d decided not to bother with the sausages.
It was while there that the day started to go downhill rapidly. Mark didn’t look right and commented that he had a headache, so I suggested he take something for it and lie down, as he didn’t look in a good way. We both suspected the scrambled eggs, as they were quite milky and, with his dairy allergy, that could easily have triggered a reaction.
An hour or so later, he was feeling well enough to get going, so we set off quite gingerly. We stopped to get some bits out of the car, so I took the opportunity to get some photos. As you can see, the sky was looking pretty gloomy today.
it’s a big hotel
We headed for the nearby Metro station, following the directions I’d been given by reception the night before. The literature we’d received when we booked told me that it was a seven minute walk, but last night she’d said 10 minutes. By the time we got there, it had taken us 15 minutes. We immediately figured we’d come back to the airport and catch the free shuttle bus back to the hotel, but that’s another story for later...
We got our 10 journey tickets each (and still have some left on them, so if we ever return, perhaps we can use them again... ) and set off for our first stop, which was Retiro.
I had had the Parque del Retiro down on my list of things that I might want to see, but a friend who’d recently come back from Madrid raved about it so much, I put it straight up to the top of the list of must-do’s. He was right, as it was a stunning place. Formerly a royal garden, the aristocracy were allowed to enter in the late 18th century and then, another 100 years on, everyone else was allowed to enjoy it as well.
Next: from a walk in the park to the heart of the city
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Sorry for your loss Cheryl.
Claytrgtshooter (Minnie Lor's Hubbie)
PassPorter Guide Author
meal and dedicated dessert to my grandmother, as she was quite a chef, being French. 
I wasn’t surprised when Mark told me he’d decided not to bother with the sausages. 
it’s a big hotel 
We immediately figured we’d come back to the airport and catch the free shuttle bus back to the hotel, but that’s another story for later... 
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