My tour of Spain and Portugal has begun! This Blog covers Days 1 & 2. The trip started with a flight from Puerto Vallarta to Dallas where I spent the night. I was able to have dinner with an old friend. Thanks, Chris, for a lovely steakhouse dinner!

My direct flight to Madrid departed from Dallas at 5pm. It was an 8 hour and 8 minute flight, so the pilot told us.. It was an uneventful trip, we even arrived a 1/2 hour early! The flight was full. There was a dad and a 6 year old next to me.. The little boy was well behaved although fidgety. Who can blame him? Bottom line is, I didn’t sleep. They fed us dinner as well as a light breakfast…

Upon arrival I.quickly got through Immigration and I didn’t see any sign for Customs.. So I exited the baggage claim area and was immediately met by a Tour Representative and was whisked away to the bus. When I arrived at the hotel around 11am, a clean room was not available. I left my luggage and decided to go for a walk along the main Boulevard. It was a hot, sunny day and very crowded. I ordered a Spanish tortilla in a small bar/café . Which is like a potato omelette.

After my meal, I walked along the Gran Vía which was bustling with people shopping or simply walking from point A to B. I had to make a quick stop at El Corte Inglés, a very nice department store. I remember it well when I lived in Madrid while in college..There was a nice rooftop gourmet food market and several restaurants. An exterior balcony seating area provided a good view of the city.

We had a lovely group dinner that night, where we met everyone on tour, a total of 23 plus the Tour Director and Driver.. On the walk over we stopped at the Palacio Nacional (Royal Palace) and Plaza España. This completed our first day.

Day 2 started with a wonderfully full buffet breakfast at the hotel. We then boarded the bus for an hour ride to Toledo. What used to be Spain’s capital, is an impressive city built 500 meters above sea level. To acces the “old” city of Toledo, we took 7 escalators! I can assure you, those escalators did not exist 40 years ago!! There is so much history in Toledo. The ancient architecture is amazing . We spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon here. It was a lot of walking. But really worth it for the history and views.

Later in the afternoon, once back in Madrid, we went to visit El Prado Museum. We only had a short time there and so were only able to see a bit of history in art. We saw plenty of Goya, Velasquez and a couple from El Greco. All very famous Spanish painters. The museum is impressive but hardly ample time to see even a small piece of it. We had now been walking for hours and were all tired and jet-lagged.

Once back at the hotel for a bit of a rest, we were off on the bus again for a group dinner. This was a unique location. It’s dinner and a show. But just not any show. There’s a piano in the middle of the room. And before you know it, one of the waitresses breaks into song!!! And it’s Opera 😯 She and two other waiters are opera singers. It’s quite a show. The female was incredible!

My first two days were great. A little tiring, but no complaints from me. I enjoyed every bit of it.

Day 1: 16,797 steps. Day 2: 12,482 steps. Onward!