Amekaya's Blog: Our Arrival in Spain and Days in Mardid

Unpacking our bags when we got back home on Amekaya.

We returned from our whirlwind 2 month trip to the States with our 500# of luggage. When we passed through Customs at the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras we hired a porter to move our luggage through customs and to our waiting cab. For the first time in our many trips there was Customs Officer present and he wanted to check our bags. He opened then, pulled out some things looking at them, put them back and said ok. We have found hiring a local porter helps a lot.

Out to dinner at one of our favorite places Dreamcatcher's for the Saturday night special and entertainment with singers from Argentina.

We were only back in the Rio for a week before we were leaving for Spain so we really didn't get too involved in provisioning, heavy boat projects or local activities. We put away everything we brought

back (with lots of room to spare) and did some minor projects with things we carried back and needed doing.

Off again aboard our Iberia Airlines flight to Madrid from Guatemala.

In no time we were off to Spain. Our flight wasn't until 1730 so we were able to convince our driver we didn't need to leave until we could ride the lancha from the hotel at 0600 in the morning. The ride

El Fuego volcano as we took off from Guatemala.

from Fronteras to the City was slow but uneventful. It does help to leave earlier but we got to the airport just after noon and the airline counter didn't open until about 1500 so we had lots of time to kill. Eventually everything happened and the plane left on time.

Our first dinner in Madrid at the Green Pepper (Pimiento Verde) a bit jetlagged.

We used American Airline frequent flyer miles for our tickets and booked business class. Flying long-distance is so much more comfortable in business class. There is better service, more amenities

View outside our hotel window

and seats where you can actually sleep. It also gives you access to airport lounges that may not normally be available even if a regular airline club member. We were flying on Iberia Airlines which is a partner of American Airlines. The flight from Guatemala City stopped at San Salvador before

The entrance to Del Prado with the Statue of Goya out in front.

returning to Madrid. At San Salvador we had to leave the plane while they cleaned and serviced it but because we were in business class we could use the VIP lounge and got some food and drinks. We ate breakfast at 0500, had a small snack about noon so we were ready and it woud be awhile until we had dinner on the plane.

The statue of Spanish artist Francisco Goya in front of Del Prado.

The flight was uneventful. We actually arrived early but waited for a gate finally landing just before our scheduled arrival at 1430. Our check-in was quick so we got our rental car and headed for our hotel.WAZE is great and got us right to the garage. Getting through our first toll plaza and into the garage was a challenge but we made it without mishap. Everyplace is different. Just takes once to learn the rules.

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard Princessa which is in a very nice neighborhood out of the tourist area. I would recommend the hotel to anyone traveling to Madrid. We had originally planned to stay

Monument to Alfonso XII in El Retiro Park.

in Madrid 3 nights but through some confusion I only booked it for 2. We used Marriott points for most of our stays in Spain and the hotel was unable to extend us another night on points because they were heavily booked. So we did our two nights and moved on to Barcelona.

The Royal Palace in Madrid.

Thursday evening we pretty much unpacked and went to dinner at a very close restaurant that was recommended by the hotel staff. The Pimento Verde (Green Pepper) was a fantastic place. Food and wine were great and then we headed back to undo the jetlag.

The rear of the Royal Palace.

The Royal Gardens behind the Palace.

Friday morning we took a cab to the Museo del Prado to see if we could get tickets. The line for tickets stretched pretty much around the building so I went online and bought tickets for Saturday. We then left the line and walked through the Retiro. A beautiful park next to Del Prado. Then we began a wondering that took us to Plaza Mayor, the Mercado and then the Plaza Real. From their we

Almudena Cathedral which is nest to the Royal Palace. The sun was directly over the spire.

The rear view of the Cathedral.

wandered back to the hotel. Before we went to our room we went into the supermarket in El Cortes Ingles (the English Court) which is an all-inclusive shopping mall chain in Spain that was adjacent to the hotel. We bought some fruit and some rum. They had one bottle of Arehucas 18 yo rum! When we were in Spain many years ago I fell in love with Arehucas 12 yo and have never been able to get it. The 18 yo is excellent. Not as good as Centenario 25 yo but very comparable to Zacapa for much less money.

Plaza Mayor

The next morning we took a cab to Museo Del Prado and spent several hours browsing the exhibits among the hordes of people there. The museum was very crowded but we were able to try and work

Views of the San Miguel Market.

around them and had access to many key paintings. The Del Prado is among the many major museums in the world like the Louvre. Seminal works are here and it has inspired many of the great world artists over the past several centuries.

Plaza Del Sol.

After spending our time in Del Prado we took a cab back and packed up to leave. We went down to the supermarket and got some food to eat on the way to our next hotel in Barcelona. our time in Madrid expired and we went to our next stop, Barcelona.