Thursday, October 13, 2022

01 May -- Burgos

May 1st is a festival day. Most shops closed, but restaurants open.

Walked everywhere! Beautiful city!!

02 May -- Burgos

Went to the Cathedral.

Finally found phone store! Recharged my SIM card.

Called RCI, got a 4 star resort booked in Malaga, now to figure out how to get to Malaga!!

Got bus ticket to Madrid then high-speed train to Malaga.

03 May -- Burgos

Walked downstairs to have coffee and breakfast, had a spinach and cheese filled crescent at the cafe down the street from the hostal, um good!

Walked to the Hospital del Rey, the oldest pilgrim hospital in Burgos. Dates back to the 12th century. It was closed, we were too early for a Saturday morning. It was SO COLD that we walked back to the Hostal to warm up and get more clothes on. Frank started reading his book so I went downstairs to update the blog since the wifi doesn't reach the 5th floor.

Met a family from Malaga! They are here to sightsee for a few days. Took photo of little girl with Paddy. They said to be sure to have the excellent seafood in Malaga.

Went back upstairs and Frank was asleep, so I had a siesta too.

Woke up after lunch and walked downtown to try to find some decongestants for Frank. The pharmacist didn't know what I was asking for. So I typed "decongestant" into my translator and it came back as "decongestant" I showed it to him and THEN he understood -- LOL, go figure.  He only had the same stuff we had gotten in Santiago that consisted of 650mg of ibuprofen an just 10mg of cough suppressant, no decongestant. We tried another pharmacy, no luck.

Walked to the Castille (Castle) of Burgos. Too many stairs, lots of rocks.

Nice views from the top, though.

Had espresso con leche and churros at the cafe.

Picked up more ham at the corner grocery for supper. Back to the hotel to rest. Frank is still not feeling well.

05 May -- Mijas Costa, Spain

At the Riviera Resort in Mijas Costa

Went to Information meeting at Marbella this morning where we met a nice couple from Norway. Tor and Minnie(?) I had breakfast from their buffet, but Frank only got some coffee. It was good, but very expensive. Then we took the hotel minibus to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the condo (FULL kitchen!!)

Washed a few loads of clothes and hung them out on the terrace (Laundry horse) to dry. So nice to have access to a washing machine. The clothes actually look clean!

Finally got internet access, picked up a couple of books from the lending library, signed up for the trip to Morocco on Wed and the "Blanket" tour on Fri.  

Went back to the condo, cooked chicken with the left over saffron rice from the Indian restaurant, fixed a salad, and had an apple tort for dessert.

Catching up on the blog, relaxing ....

14 May -- Lisbon

Got up early because the construction crew woke us up.

I am really sick today, my eye is swollen shut, I am congested, my throat hurts, and I have a brutal headache.

Took all kinds of meds and went for breakfast.  Ate at a nice little cafe on the corner.  Good breakfast and coffee. Frank and I have decided that we'll have to get a coffee press when we get home. We both LOVE this European coffee style.

Felt a little better after breakfast and went back on the Redbus Tour. Hoped off at Jeronimo's Monastery. Then we walked back to the discovery monument, Belam Tower, and Tomb of the Unkowns.  We then caught the bus again and headed to Restaurant Ave to get lunch. Ended up eating at a McDonalds!  It was a good deal and decent chicken burgers with fries.

Then we walked back to the hotel and on to the supermarcado for bread for dinner.  We also walked to a bargain center and bought a new duffel to replace my damaged one.  On the way back to the hotel, we noticed everyone walking around us was wearing red football jerseys and heading to the park. We went up to the terrace to see the view, it was spectacular, and noticed hundreds of people heading to the park.  Frank realized that they were going to watch the final match between Lisbon and Seville on a huge screen in the park. At the spur of the moment, we decided to go too.

I put on a red t-shirt and we took off for the park.  When we got there, there was already a huge crowd surrounding the stage with the screen. We followed a group of young people that were cutting through a hole in the fence and squeezing through a hedge to get to the front of the crowd.  I noticed that after we went through the fence, the police came over and sealed it off. We made it in just in time. But then we realized that there wasn't a way out!  We thought we would be stuck for the duration. The crowd was many young men and they were drinking, smoking, yelling, dancing, and pretty much having a great time. We watched the game on the screen until half-time and then we made our way through the crowd snaking back and forth until we got to the back of the crowd and the open fence to get out.  Someone had set off a smoke bomb and the crowd went wild.  We noticed that there were many ambulances as well as hundreds of police here at the park. Also news crews and satellite vans everywhere.  I was worried about what they thought might happen here.

30 Apr -- Santiago to Burgos

Took the train to Burgos.

The Hostal Via Lactea is NOT near the Cathedral!! Long walk, but beautiful trail (along the Camino) on the riverside.