Day 1: Arriving in Madrid
Day 2: Madrid to Toledo to Cordoba
Day 3: Cordoba to Granada
Day 4: Granada to Costa del Sol
Day 5: Costa del Sol
Day 6: Costa del Sol to Gibraltar to Seville
Day 7: Seville
Day 8: Seville to Lisbon
Day 9: Lisbon
Day 10: Lisbon to Salamanca
Day 11: Salamanca to Madrid
Day 12: Madrid
Day 13: Madrid (extra day after tour ends)

Summary/Conclusion

The Toronto Reunion (plus additional links)

Sign my Guestbook
View my Guestbook

The Royal Palace


The appropriately named Porcelain Room, the walls and ceiling made entirely out of porcelain




The Valley of the Fallen


Inside the cathedral at the Valley of the Fallen...inside the mountain


In the Joy Discoteca: Delia, Antonietta, David, Linda, Mary Cris, Kevin and Shirin


In the Joy Discoteca: Linda, Me, Elena, Shirin, and Landi


On the dancefloor: Magda, Armando, Audrey, Linda, and Me


On the dancefloor: Linda, Magda, Me, and Landi


The dancefloor below, from the 2nd balcony

Friday, September 8, 2000

Breakfast did not taste any better than our first go around at the Hotel Praga, despite the hopes of many. There was still a problem of replenishing the milk and bowls quickly, but not as bad as previously. We then boarded our bus, which would take us for a morning tour of the Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace was immense in size. Our local guide told us that there were over 2,000 rooms in the Palace (we were only going to see about 20 of them). At the end of the tour of the Royal Palace, we met outside and with hugs all around, we said our final goodbyes to Brenda as she left to continue with her travels elsewhere.

We boarded the bus to take us on our optional trip (for those who were going) to the Valley of the Fallen outside of Madrid. The Valley of the Fallen is a memorial, built for those who died in the Spanish civil war. It is essentially a cathedral built inside the mountain at the very top. The cracks in the rock that form the ceiling were clearly evident. The tombs of the leaders on both sides of the war were also contained within the mountain cathedral. In front of the cathedral was a large square, overlooking the land below. We had a bit of time to grab something to eat at a cafeteria near the entrance of the Valley of the Fallen before we would board our bus to head back into Madrid. We were delayed for ten minutes as Louisa had gone missing. Several people went looking for her and found her at another parking lot. Believing the bus had left without her, she was preparing to make her own way back to Madrid. Luckily, she didn't have to go through with that. We had yet to leave anybody behind on the trip and we were not going to let that happen on the last day. With all accounted for, we headed back into Madrid, our last bus ride with Manuel at the wheel. The bus made a few drop offs, at the city shopping district, the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum, and back at the hotel. Everyone said their farewells to Manuel for the very last time. I got off at the Reina Sofia Museum with several others. We had our bags X-rayed and then checked-in near the entrance to the museum. Most people who came to the Reina Sofia Museum were mainly interested in seeing the paintings of Pablo Picasso. After seeing his work, we came to the conclusion that he certainly had a warped sense of reality as well as an obsession for women's breasts. Also on the same floor as Picasso's work was Salvator Dali's many paintings. We all found his work to be more realistic and less abstract than Picasso's, and generally more pleasing to look at. Some in our group had split up, resulting in Louisa and I having to wait for Rob (who had our bag check tag) to reclaim our bags. Audrey, Naureen, Pat and Kristy had all left ahead of us. We didn't wait very long for Rob and Harumi (both from Australia) to come down to the lobby, and we were finally able to get our bags back. Rob decided to walk around on his own as Harumi, Louisa and I shared a taxi back to the hotel.

We had about 4 hours to spare until we were to meet in the hotel for our optional final dinner out and dancing afterwards. I took a shower then just lied in bed with the TV on and my alarm clock set, just in case I would fall asleep. I never did fall completely asleep, just dozing in and out of consciousness. Towards the time of departure, again I heard some noise from across the hall. I opened the door to my room to find, again, the door across the hall open. With Brenda having left, it was just Ashley in there, along with Victoria. Apparently, they had polished off an entire bottle of wine and was about to have shots of something called "After Shock", which contained 40% alcohol content. They poured me a shot and when Petula came in, one for her as well. All four of us then downed our shots. It burned as it went down my throat and I felt this warm sensation in my stomach. I saw all the others had cringed looks on their faces as they swallowed theirs. My sinuses were definitely cleared after that drink. Kevin showed up and had a shot as well, accompanied by a similar cringed expression.

We then headed downstairs to meet with most of the group for our last night out together.

In the hotel lobby, before heading out for our last big night of dinner and dancing

We didn't have our bus tonight, so instead, we took public transit, all paid for by Contiki. We got on the #23 bus again (I must have taken this bus about six times since arriving in Spain) into Plaza Mayor where we would be having our last big dinner together.

The last big dinner on our last big night

We had specified ahead of time which of three main courses we wanted: salmon, leg of lamb, or ox. I had the salmon myself, which was good, but I think all the seafood was starting to taste the same to me. The winners appeared to be those who got the leg of lamb. David absolutely loved his so much that he devoured it with nothing left but the bone. Everyone who ordered the ox got a tough piece of meat that was still very red in the middle, and essentially inedible.

With dinner finished, we headed back out and into Plaza Mayor to meet up with those who did not come to the optional dinner, but who were joining us all to walk to the Joy Discoteca for our final big night of dancing. We all said our final goodbyes to the newlyweds, Pat and Kristy, as they were heading back to the hotel early because they had a very early flight out of Madrid.

After dinner in Plaza Mayor: Pat with the ladies: Naureen, Audrey, Magda, Mandy, Holly, Petula, Victoria, and Ashley

After a short walk, including Jacquie standing in the middle of the street holding up traffic for all of us to cross, we were at Joy. Unfortunately, Jacquie couldn't swing her magic again and get us in for free. The cover was very expensive, 2500 pesetas, but it also included a free drink. I suppose when you're rated as one of the best nightclubs in Madrid, you can get away with charging that much. There were already some other people there, and it wasn't even midnight yet. The music hadn't even started playing yet. Many of us used our free drink coupons at the front bar. There were couches towards the front of the club, away from the dance floor, where many of us stayed around until the music started. Pink Floyd's "Time" came on to signal the start of the night. I sat around the couches for a while, just chatting with others in our group. There were also many pictures taken, as cameras were passed around to capture the last photos of everyone. We eventually migrated to the inner dance floor area of the club, where there was yet another bar and the large dance floor in the centre (empty at first), surrounded by couches and tables. There were also several floors above, all were large balconies overlooking the dance floor. Appropriately, the first people on the dance floor were people from Contiki, Victoria and Petula. The crowd on the floor then slowly grew, with the music very much like what was played at the Joy nightclub in Torremolinos. The dance floor was eventually packed full of people, without very much room to move around. The close quarters didn't seem to bother anyone, as everyone on the dance floor had a singular goal in mind: have fun and just dance the night away. I did take one break from the dancing during the night, as Linda, Elena and myself walked around trying to find an empty seat or table that was not taken or did not have a "reserved" sign on it. We eventually found a place to sit on the second floor balcony, overlooking the dance floor. It was a sight to see the jam-packed dance floor from higher ground, and fun trying to locate all the Contiki people within the crowd below. The alcohol was not flowing in abundance tonight, partly because it was so expensive. However, seeing how much fun everyone was having, alcohol was not needed on this night. The three of us eventually went back downstairs and back onto the dance floor. A couple of times during the night, the dancing was broken up by a show of up to six dancers on a stage in front of the dance floor, once to the tune of Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb" and the other to Lou Bega's "Mambo #5". There was even a laser light show later on. The dancing went on for hours, this time though, with none of the attention-grabbing incidents that occurred in Torremolinos or any of the other nights out we had (at least none I was witness to). This final big night was my latest night out during the whole trip. Heartfelt goodbyes, handshakes, and hugs and kisses were exchanged with the handful of Contiki people remaining, as I left the club along with a several others, just before 4:30AM. Some were off to get some coffee, as afterwards, they were pretty much going to head straight back to the hotel, check out of their rooms, and continue on to Barajas Airport for their departing flights. (I didn't have to worry about that, as I was staying an extra night in Madrid, as well as about ten others). The rest of us hailed taxis to head back to the hotel. Again, there were more hugs and kisses and goodbyes all around as we called it a night (even though it was approaching 5:00AM!) and for most, the end of a fantastic trip.

> DAY 13: Extra day in Madrid >