Around The World w/Scott 2011: These are the Days of My Life

Wow, I thought I HEART Barcelona..which I did, but Madrid is turing into another love of my life and I have only been here 2 days. The weather has cooled and the rain fell lightly today but it did not limit my day out in this fabulous city. I got to wear my wellies and tuck my jeans into my boots and tromp thru the puddles without worrying about cold wet feet. Yipee!

I ventured a bit out to the Palace and the Cathedral and the park all of which were either free or free. My favorite way to spend a Monday. All the major museums are closed on Monday so I picked the right direction to venture out on my own. I attempted to take the free walking tour but as I was the only one that showed up, it was cancelled. I can underatnd as they work for tips that only one person isn't going to well worth the 3 hours of their time. No worries, there is always tomorrow. I will try again. Hopefully they will show me a bit of the city that I have not already seen...lol.

You won't believe what was going on in the Plaza del Sol on Sunday afternoon....wait for it...yeah a political demonstration. Is the whole world gone to heck since I left my native land??? Protests, riots, countries going bancrupt, leaders being replaced to avoid financial ruin. I must have really been in the groove to leave to being my travel adventure to be paying much attention to what shape the world was in. Oh wait a minute, I was in the mode of not watching tv or listening to the radio so that all the negatives of the media didn't distract me. I have just recently been paying attention as so many of the places that I have recently been...Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Spain...Yikes have all had various travel warnings the i have been made aware of by all my Fb friends. Unfortunately, these kind warnings have been quite a distraction; as I then have to research via my traveling friend network to see if in deed what the media is putting out is really what is going on on the ground (local). fortunately reality is never anywhere near what the media is proclaiming. Yeah a handful of bad eggs are as usual spoiling it for the rest of us in the media anyway, but I challenge you to put down the remote, turn off NPR, change to chanelll to easy listening or some other non-crisis of the wrold reporting and take Your world into your own hands. Those that do will be rewarded.

Note to Scott: Upon return to the real world, do not I repeat do not get caught up in the media babble of how horrible the world is...you have been out there and experienced it and it is all good. THe focus is to be on what You Can Do, not on what other are not or should be doing. Keep your focus and enjoy the prosperity of what life is all about! Wow, I feel better already! Hope you do as well.

Now back to Madrid...

Another pair of shoes walked to death. these were the most comfortable daily walking shoes that I bought in Thailand for $12US on the street. Will miss you thanks for the mileage/memories.

Magic fountain show...do I look a little tan?? 5 days of sun on the Bacelona beaches!

The entire show is about 30 minutes played to various songs some mainstream, som local and then repeated 3 times but with different lights/music/water fountain displays...awesome Friday and Saturday nights from 7-9pm.

Odd brass plate in the sidewalk of Madrid?

How can you get lost not only street names but pictures...I heart Madrid...I will neveer be lost again...LOL

Templo de DEBOD..read about it below...

Autum is a real season...the trees are changing colors..who knew?

Framed with my crown..lol..Halo and/or horns optional...

For my Thailand friends...look what I found in Madrid..hardly the same...trust me...not in the Right Neighborhood!!!

If my church as a kid had half the elaborate details that these foreighn cathedrals have I would have been a better acolyte/alterboy...but we had nothing like these...I would still never have listened to a sermon but i sure would have been visually entertained...see below...