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)

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Saturday, September 9, 2000

With the trip officially over, there were no wake up calls, no planned tours, and unfortunately, nobody left from the Contiki crowd (with the exception of around ten of us, who were going to get together for one last meal on this night). I didn't actually get out of bed until after 10:00AM. The maid had actually opened the door to my room as I was still in bed. By the time I got ready, breakfast was over. I bumped into Petula and Victoria in the lobby (they were just checking out of the hotel), and we exchanged goodbyes one last time. I then got on the #23 bus (again) to Plaza Mayor. I had no definite plans for the day, except an assignment from my brother to pick up a shirt from the Hard Rock Cafe. This was actually a fairly long walk from Plaza Mayor, but with the whole day free, I certainly had the time. I picked up a few souvenirs along the way for some friends back home as well. While browsing through a music store, I bumped into Roni. He was also staying an extra day in Madrid, but had to go to a different hotel for this night as the Hotel Praga was completely booked.  He was already getting bored, walking around Madrid, so he tagged along with me wherever I was going. We then bumped into Antonietta, who also doing a bit of shopping. We bumped into her not once, but twice.

The sign says "37ºC"!

With our shopping all done, Antonietta and I headed back to Plaza Mayor to catch the #23 bus back to the Hotel Praga, as Roni went back to his hotel. Back at the Hotel Praga, Antonietta and I just hung out in the restaurant/bar for a while until it was time for her to check out and take a taxi to Barajas Airport for her flight out. I went back up to my hotel room, took a shower (a 37ºC temperature can really give your sweat glands a workout!) and took a nap for a few hours. I needed as much sleep as possible, as I would be going straight back to work the day after flying home.

I got dressed and headed downstairs to the lobby to meet up with Roni, Tass, Martha, Maria, Delia, Mary Cris, Bash, Eric, and his friend Tony (also from Toronto who joined us for dinner the night before). We were just about all who were left from the Contiki group. We hopped on the #23 bus, again, to Plaza Mayor. From there, Maria lead us to a restaurant. As we were waiting to be seated outside, I heard a voice call my name. I turned around to see Jenia, whom I had gone to university with in Toronto. I was completely dumbstruck. She was having dinner, on vacation with her husband. This just proved how small the world really is. I was so shocked that I didn't even have the presence of mind to get a photograph taken just to prove I bumped into her. We were finally seated, our chairs on uneven cobblestones. Seafood paella was the dominant dish that was ordered. The shrimp were some of the largest I had seen, and they were fully intact, heads, legs, everything. It actually disgusted some at our table as I ripped right into the shrimp, eating everything underneath the shell. I did just about the same for the crayfish (which were cooked this time, unlike the seafood pizza from Salamanca). The paella, all of us thought, was the best meal we had during our whole two weeks on vacation. This night, I would also forgo having any alcohol. I had my fair share over the last two weeks that I just didn't have the desire for any. We all said our goodbyes and hugs and kisses, as Delia, Mary Cris, Martha and I took a taxi back to our hotel, while the remaining few decided to stay out for a couple of drinks.

Sunday, September 10, 2000

So this was it. Vacation over. Time to head back to reality.

I woke up to my alarm clock, got packed, went downstairs for breakfast, then checked out of my room. There was not a soul left from the last two weeks hanging around. As I left the hotel, with my luggage in tow, I saw the manager of another tour group put up a notice on the notice board for his group, right on top of the Contiki day sheet that had been up for the last few days, covering it up, out of sight. There were a couple of taxis already waiting outside of the hotel. I got in one of them and headed to Barajas Airport. The older gentleman driver shook my hand and wished me a safe flight home, as I took my luggage from the taxi and walked into Terminal 1 to check in for my KLM flight to Amsterdam. Within a few hours, I boarded the "Abel J. Tasman" Boeing 737-300 and was on my way home shortly after 10:30AM. Even though we arrived early at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, I still had to rush to board my connecting flight to Toronto. The lineup was huge, as everyone's carry on baggage was being scanned, and some even being searched. I boarded the "Indus" Boeing 747-300, which was the exact same plane I flew to Amsterdam in at the beginning of the trip. This time, I was seated towards the rear of the plane, again with my window seat, and again, with an empty seat beside me! We were literally fed with food and drinks every hour during the flight back to Toronto. While flying over Canadian airspace, the pilot told us that flying beside us at a slightly higher altitude was another KLM Boeing 747-300. It was truly an amazing sight, to see another jumbo jet, flying at full cruising speed at cruising altitude, with a big vapor trail being left behind it. As we began our descent into Toronto, the other KLM 747 continued onwards. It was something I will never forget seeing. It was a perfect sight to see, a perfect way to end my flight home from two of the most fun and exciting weeks of my life.

On my way home, over Canada, another KLM 747 flying beside us

> Summary/Conclusion >