On the road (3) A (hopefully) sunny September road trip to Spain COMPLETED - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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Tuesday 7 September – part seven: a touch of Disney magic
From there, we headed back towards our starting point, but we took a very unusual route. We went up the Gran Via, which is the Madrid version of Broadway, with shops and theatres all along the road. As a result, this was pretty full of pedestrians and we had some interesting encounters, with Alex showing off his humour again, threatening to run down various people and dogs. He was only joking though – I promise! He also kept picking up various cards that were offered free (if you’ve been to Vegas, you know the sort of card I’m talking about! ) and then pretending to hand them to Mark. They were all binned eventually by Alex.
At one point, there must’ve been some form of personal appearance, judging by the crowds here – and Mark did get this shot while on his Segway!
From there, we were then into a pedestrianised section of Madrid, and I started to realise where we were, as I had seen those designs over the top of the street earlier. We were heading towards Puerta del Sol and so it proved to be.
We had no time to stop here, as Alex told us that we were running late. As Emma said later, “bloody cheek, he was late starting” and indeed he had been, as we hadn’t even started our instruction until 4.15pm!
We followed the same route we had earlier towards Plaza Mayor, although by now, Mickey Mouse was sadly gone, although fat Spiderman was still around. Well, he’s got staying power at least!
We headed out of the plaza and then a few roads later, we were back where we started from and our adventure was over. I was the first to get off the Segway, as I’d made it through OK, but my goodness, I was feeling it now. The rest carried on zooming around the square for a few more minutes, all threatening to buy their own Segways. So I guess you can say that Adam and Emma enjoyed their adventure then!
And finally the adventure is over
Eventually, they all got off and we bid farewell to Alex. Adam and Emma, who’d been sitting in the square earlier having a drink asked if we wanted to join them for one and we agreed. Everyone got a cerveza (beer), although I opted for vino blanco (white wine) and mine was actually very good. Considering that we were right in the centre of Madrid, I didn’t think the price was at all bad, coming to just €13.50 ($17.50) for the four of us.
When we finished our drinks, we sadly said goodbye to them, although we’d given them our e-mail address, so we could hook up when we got home and exchange the photos we took of them.
We walked back to Puerta del Sol, which was just as busy as earlier and headed into the Metro. Our next destination was the new Disney Imagination Store that our Cast Member friend had told us about on Facebook the night before. Apparently, from what I’d then read on Google, it’s the only one in Europe at the moment, so I figured that merited a visit and it wasn’t that far out of our way for getting back to the hotel.
A change of Metro line later and we got out at our station. We’d been told that we should be able to see the shops, but we couldn’t, so my Spanish came in handy, as I asked a newspaper seller and he pointed us in the right direction. It was literally just a five minute walk and then we were inside. We consulted the guide to the mall and found that the store was on the floor beneath us and just a short way away. You couldn’t miss it. :
I will admit that it didn’t live up to the hype for me. Sure, it was very nice, but as Mark said, it was very similar to the Disney Store that we’d been into in Tokyo and I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s where they got the idea from. There wasn’t much to see inside. The theming was very nice, but at the end of the day, it was a small store, with very little to appeal to us. After grabbing a few photos, we headed out.
We got back on the Metro and this time transferred to the airport line, noting that we’d have to pay a supplement when we got there of €1 each. Fortunately, when we arrived at the station, there were machines where you could pay it easily enough.
We headed out of the station and were confronted by perhaps the most confusing airport I’ve ever seen. You know how most airports sign you to check in and arrivals and departures? Not here. : No signs for ground transportation, all that you had signs for were the various terminals. There were three here, with terminal four a connection away, so we headed for the nearest one, number two, and managed to find our way to check-in, which was about the only thing that was signed.
We made our way outside and couldn’t see any hotel buses anywhere. Mark suggested maybe we should be on the arrivals level instead. We asked at the information counter inside, as I couldn’t see where on earth arrivals were. Apparently it was two levels below, so we took the elevator down and found the airport hotel buses area. There was no sign of any bus for the Hilton and no timetable, so I stupidly suggested getting a taxi. Well, it did seem like a good idea at the time....
Firstly, he couldn’t understand the word “Hilton”, which was a bit worrying. When he finally did get it, his next words didn’t fill me with confidence. “I’ve never been there before”. Oh goody! He did Ok, taking all the same junctions that we had done the night before, until we got to the final one. Mark and I looked at each other and said “we should’ve gone that way” and seconds later, the guy realised his mistake. To his credit, he stopped the meter immediately, which was a relief. We drove around for the next five minutes, with him frantically programming his sat nav (ironically, it couldn’t find it, the same result we’d had last night! :whistle) and even stopping to ask another taxi driver, who was also lost, looking for another hotel.
Finally, his sat nav got him back on track and we recognised the route we’d walked that morning and I put my Spanish to good use, telling him to go right, straight on and left and finally we made it. I must admit there were points where I had wondered if we’d ever see our hotel again.... We paid up and he profusely apologised. I guess he won’t be making that mistake again in the future.
We headed to the executive lounge to get some food and drink and it was really busy tonight. We couldn’t get over how many people were in it tonight, compared to the same time last night. The food selection was much better for me tonight, with veggie spring rolls on offer, along with a prawn and pineapple snack, so I had some of those, followed by various desserts, including a wonderful lemon meringue pie. Having finally filled up and grabbed some time online, checking e-mails, and then it was back to the room. It had been a fun day, after a not so promising start.
Today we drove 0 miles. The weather today was mainly warm, with some clouds, some sun and a tiny bit of rain and temperatures in the mid 80s. The best thing today was the Segway tour. The worst thing today was how ill Mark felt first thing Today we tried visiting the Palacio Real in Madrid And the result was I’m glad we did, as it’s a beautiful place. The most magical moment today was seeing Mark’s face on the Segway tour.
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He also kept picking up various cards that were offered free (if you’ve been to Vegas, you know the sort of card I’m talking about! 
) and then pretending to hand them to Mark. They were all binned eventually by Alex. 
I was the first to get off the Segway, as I’d made it through OK, but my goodness, I was feeling it now. 
: 
Oh goody! He did Ok, taking all the same junctions that we had done the night before, until we got to the final one. Mark and I looked at each other and said “we should’ve gone that way” and seconds later, the guy realised his mistake. To his credit, he stopped the meter immediately, which was a relief. We drove around for the next five minutes, with him frantically programming his sat nav (ironically, it couldn’t find it, the same result we’d had last night! :whistle) and even stopping to ask another taxi driver, who was also lost, looking for another hotel. 
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