We successfully caught our cab and got a very honest driver for the short trip to catch the bus for the Pueblo Ingles adventure, the English language immersion program for Spaniards. This week, the Spaniards are all from El Pais, a Spanish newspaper. There are 20 of them, from departments all over the country – editors, journalists, HR, marketing, accounting, administration, etc. We Anglos are from US, Canada, UK, and Australia. We were on the bus for 4 hours, riding to La Alberca, a remote little town in the north near Portugal. We are staying in a resort, just outside of town, made up of the central lounge, dining room and meeting room, and a group of cottages, each with 2 bedrooms/bath and a central living room and kitchenette. We are sharing our cottage with Juan Carlos, an archivist, responsible for providing the background information for journalists' stories. Both lunch and dinner are 3 course meals – lunch at 2:00 and dinner at 9:00. So far, the food has been very good, and there is always a big jug of red wine on the table. On the first night, we started with a couple of “ice breaker” exercises, i.e. pairing off with a Spaniard and then introducing each other to the group, etc.

The level of English proficiency of the Spaniards varies widely, although they all have at least a basic understanding. In Madrid, we had commented on how few Spaniards speak English. Apparently, during the Franco regime, the learning of any other languages was discouraged. Several of the Spaniards here have said that they are now really having to catch up with the rest of the world in order to compete. The primary activities of the day are “one to ones” where Anglos and Spaniards are paired off for 50 minute individual sessions discussing anything they want, two on twos where we discuss suggested subjects, or telephone conversations simulating everyday situations. The English language is very hard to learn, because we have so many words with different meanings, and phrases that do not adhere to the rules of English they have been taught. The Spaniards are not allowed to speak Spanish at all the entire week, even to each other, the waiters, etc. It is very hard work for them, but their attitudes were great. At each meal, there are to be equal numbers of Spaniards and Anglos at the tables......talk, talk, talk.

Each evening there is a different group session designed to require communication of ideas and teamwork..... and usually silliness. To relieve some of the stress, we had a party with a DJ where folks danced early into the morning. A couple of women from Reno, NV introduced line dancing, and we had a great display of Spanish dancing. We were “treated” to a local ceremony designed to drive away the witches, culminating in sipping a concoction of alcohol, fruit, and spices that had burned dramatically for 15 minutes – great presentation! There were a few excursions into the beautiful local town. The primary product of the region here is jamon (ham). The best of that is the Jamon Bellota – black pigs raised stress free, eating acorns. I have a package in the frig that we will open soon. All in all, the whole experience was wonderful and the program is very professionally run. We became quite close as a group and there were lots of tears at the final meeting.....but on the bus ride home there was very little talking – we were all exhausted!! We exchanged information with the Spaniards and will look up the Barcelona folks when we return in November – it will certainly enrich the visit. I am sure we will see some of the Anglos again as well – great group.

Spending a week doing nothing but talking, gives the opportunity for lots of discussion topics. One thing I found interesting, is that, while the Spaniards certainly respect the US and were great to us, only one said she would like to live there. Its primarily a lifestyle issue. They love the fact that they do not have the pressure to pay for their kids college education, that their healthcare will always be provided, and that retirement, albeit not lavish, will be secure. They know that Americans at the same “level” have a higher income, but the Spaniards are very satisfied to live on less without the uncertainty. I have read that It is a fairly consistent belief throughout western Europe. I am not trying to stir controversy here – I just thought it was interesting and thought provoking. Are our frenzied, harried lifestyles ( not ours :-)), larger houses, bigger cars, bigger bank accounts, etc. necessarily better than basic security, 6 weeks of vacation, and a slower pace? I am glad we have the choice, but it made for interesting conversation.

We spent our last night in Madrid, hitting some tapas places with other Anglos from the program. Madrid is really a spectacular city, and quiite easy to visit in that the central part, where most of the sights are, is walkable and easy to navigate. I highly recommend it.

Saturday was another dreaded travel day – our last mass transportation move with luggage until November. The trip to the airport in a taxi was uneventful, and would have been about $10 cheaper if I had remembered the right terminal. It was the first of two times that day, that reading the information I had so diligently printed out and carried with me, would have been oh so helpful! I have to remember NEVER to assume that things are like they are in the US, i.e., signs for departing airlines outside each terminal.

We arrived in Toulouse and called the number for the shuttle to take us to the Puegot lot to pick up our car. No answer. After a fairly tortuous conversation with a French rental car agent (nice, but not a lot of English), she called our Puegot guy at home! Kemwel, the third party agent in the lease deal, had neglected to tell him that our plane did not arrive until 7:30 Sat. evening. He tried to talk me in to waiting until the next morning to pick it up – he, too, had only very basic English. I explained that we had no transportation to our hotel (no shuttle to the cheap hotel we stayed in), but it was only after I told him we were hungry and had not had dinner (also not available in our cheap hotel), that he said he would be there in 30-40 minutes. The French always understand dinner! That's one of the reasons I love them.

He actually arrived in about 10 minutes (I think the 40 minutes was an attempt to discourage me), and was very nice about signing us up for our car. I turned on our Tom Tom and tried to type in the address of the hotel (which our guy had never heard of), but the street name wasn't in there. We knew generally where it was so started driving. We finally realized that we were almost downtown, and had definitely passed all the airport hotels. We pulled onto a street to turn around, saw a little neighborhood type restaurant, and decided it was time to eat. I looked again at the hotel information, and read that the front desk was only open until 9:00 – this was at 9:03. I called the number anyway and got some convoluted message about making reservations, cancelling reservations, etc., but nothing about talking to a live person – there were so many restrictions – cheap doesn't come easy – that I was convinced that we had missed our check-in opportunity. Dick has a way of becoming very calm in a crisis, a wonderful quailty, and said that we would still eat dinner, and find another hotel later. The restaurant was very local, which I normally love, but that also translates into no English. I couldn't convince the waitress that I did not want the Sangria she offered, and ended up with the Sangria. We finally figured out the menu, and had a nice meal, considering the fact that I spent the whole time rationalizing the fact that although we had already paid for one room, we were now probably looking at $200 to get another one at the last minute. We drove back towards the airport in the rain, and when we were almost there, I remembered that I could go to Hotels in the Tom Tom, and voila!! Our hotel was listed...and open. What trauma could be avoided with a little more thinking! Now I know why I hate travel days.

After breakfast at McDonalds (our first ever in Europe), we started the journey to our next home. When the Tom Tom asked if we wanted to avoid toll roads, we decided that would be the most scenic (and economical) choice. Good decision – we really saw lots of very pretty countryside, lots of small town, and found a really nice little restaurant for lunch. By this time, I had found my menu translator books, remembered to say Bonjour and Merci, and ordering was much smoother. I had a wonderful goat cheese salad, and Dick had mussels and fries (moules and frites). That and a yummy chocolate mousse made for a very good experience. I do love a continent where wine is cheaper than soft drinks or bottled water. We have also noticed that the resistence to serving tap water, rather than 4 Euro bottled water, has lessened. I was emboldened when I learned last week that Richard Branson refuses to order the bottled water either.

Villa Capcollioure is a very interesting place. It is a huge home sitting on the top of a big hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was built in 1949 by a couple after the war. In 1939, she was a single American woman, traveling the world alone (gutsy gal), who fell in love with a French man. They lived in Casablanca until the war broke out, and then moved to America. After the war, they returned and built this large three story house. It is now divided into 7 or 8 very basic apartments, each with a terrace and spectacular view. Although prices here are high, the Europeans have a wonderful way of allowing you to choose your amenities. One example is the hotel room in Toulouse. There are a number of these very clean but very basic hotel chains (Etap, Formula One, Premiere Classe). They look like dorm rooms, with bathrooms that make RVs look roomy, they charge extra for breakfast, but they are only 45 Euro a night, In our current apartment, there are no sheets or pillowcases (which we brought with us), no towels, no kitchen linens, dish soap, bar soap, etc. All these amenities can be rented, at a pretty steep price, or you can bring your own. The first night, we bought a kitchen towel at the neighboring campground, so that we could at least dry our hands, and the next day (no towels, hence, no showers), we went to the store. It wouldn't make any sense on a short trip, but since we have a car and will be here for 6 months, it works for us. Also, the regional airlines are incredibly cheap, with absolutely no frills, no free soft drinks, fees for checking bags, but we only paid 24 Euros apiece to fly from Madrid to Toulouse. I really like the option to choose where we spend our money.....and you all know where that is!

Collioure is a beautiful little town, just 20 or so miles north of the Spanish border, in the Languedoc Roussilion region. It is very hilly, near the Pyrenees mountains, and while there seem to be more trees than in our part of southern California, we have seen prickly pear cactus, and grapes are the primary crop. There is supposed to be lots of fish, but apparently the local fisherman are on strike, protesting oil prices. They are blocking the oil tankers from delivering their oil to the larger vessels as well. We have run into a British guy a couple of times, who skippers a small yacht for a German businessman. He was on his way from Majorca, Spain to Monaco to meet up with the owner, but weather forced him to dock here. Now, he can't get out because the fisherman are blocking the entrance to the port, and he can't get diesel. The French love their protests – they are a feisty proud bunch. It also explains why the fish markets are all empty, and the skipper says that the restaurants are struggling to find fish for their menus.

We drove south to Spain yesterday on a twisty turny road along the water. The cliffs are rugged, and many of the views reminded us of the Big Sur in northern California.

Our European adventure is underway, After months and months of planning, we were finally on the plane from San Diego to Galveston to board Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Sea and start the 13 day re-positioning cruise to Barcelona, Spain. We will spend 6 months traveling around Europe, returning on the Navigator of the Seas leaving Barcelona on November 10. Since we are planning to spend the majority of our time in smaller towns, going to markets, hiking, biking, etc., we are planning to rent apartments, where we can enjoy the wonderful food found at the many markets, and pretend that we are living there rather than just passing through. With few exceptions, we will stay at least a week at each place, and many times, more. We are leasing a Puegot through Kemwel on their buy-back lease program for 162 days, the maximum time allowed. I found all the apartments on the internet through the many sites that allow owners to advertize their apartments for direct leasing, rather than through an agency. I found these by Googling “vacation rentals by owner in Spain”, etc. I suppose there is some risk to doing this, but all of the people I have dealt with so far have provided me with enough information to convince me they are legitimate...we shall see. The cruises were booked through Crucon and Vacations To Go, depending on who had the best prices.

To stay in touch with the rest of the world, rather than taking my HP laptop, which Dick refers to as the “boat anchor”, I purchased the cutest little laptop through Amazon.com – an Asus Eee, a completely functioning, albeit small, computer with a 7 inch screen, and weighing just 2 pounds. It comes fully loaded with software (in my case, Linux OS, although, for another $100, you can get one with Windows XP), is wifi and internet capable, and costs only $400! For a travel computer, you can't beat it. For more info, Google “Asus Eee”. You will find hundreds of reviews.

Boarding the ship was a bit of an ordeal, made worse because we forgot to drop our bags off, as instructed, at the dock. Consequently, we had to drag them through the rain to the correct terminal and stand in line, only to be told to turn arounrd and take them to the baggage area – duh!! After an hour or so, we were on board. This is a beautiful ship with capacity for 3100 passengers.

Life on a cruise ship is a bit surreal. It is kind of like living in a shopping mall, complete with shops, bars, restaurants, and of course, the casino. We are experiencing significant, although not severe, “motion in the ocean”, making it a little difficult to walk. Dick is suffering some motion sickness, although he feels fine when he lies down, and his medicine seems to help as well. I have to admit that it was a little creepy last night when we turned the lights out and lay in bed feeling the ship rock and hearing the waves crash against it and the walls creak.

There are lists of activities every day – fitness, games, trivia, lectures, language classes, dancing classes, etc. We keep threatening to take the dance lessons – a different dance every day, but Dick always finds an excuse to get out of it. The ship's staff is wonderful, and works so hard. Except for a very few Americans on the Cruise Director's staff, including the director, it is a totally international staff.

One of our favorites has been a 9 part lecture by Thomas Kimmel, the oldest grandson of Admiral Kimmel, one of the two men who were officially blamed for the success of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. Thomas also spent 10 years in the Navy before leaving for a 28 year career with the FBI. He has done extensive research and lays out a very compelling case for the injustice of this ruling, the primary points being that Admiral Kimmel and Stark were deliberately not sent the intelligence revealing the plans for the attack, and the ordering of officials to lie about it at the pursuing investigation. Neither Kimmel nor Stark were asked to testify, and Kimmel did not learn of the existence of the intelligence until February of 1942. If you have any interest in this subject, go to www.PearlHarbor911Attacks.com.

In the evenings, there is some sort of live show, and several musical options at the various bars. We particularly like Paul, a young Australian, who plays at the piano bar. Another entertainment highlight was the ice show last night – we saw some routines we have never seen and may go again to the Sunday show.

A highlight for us was Dick's performance in the Guest Talent Show yesterday. It was held in the auditorium and had quite a large crowd. He was pretty nervous, but did very well – played St. Louis Bues and brought the house down. We have found a piano on the 14^th deck for guests to play, and he is playing as we speak. I imagine we will be spending quite a bit of time up here.

We are enjoying the infamous cruise ship food, and were happy to see that they are offering quite a few healthy dishes. Luckily for me, the desserts are not so good that I can't resist and we have not been up late enough for the midnight buffet. I am trying to save myself for the food in Europe. The fruit carvings are beautiful, and they do quite a nice job of producing meals for almost 3000 people.

We thought that with the USD problems discouraging many folks from European travel, the ship might be quite empty. Boy, were we wrong!! Not only do many Americans (especially Texans, since the ship leaves from Galveston) use the cruise as their vacation, flying home right after we get to Barcelona, but loads of Europeans fly to the US just for the cruise. One British guy told us, tho, that Royal Caribbean will not sell the cruises as cheaply to UK and European citizens as they will to us, due to the exchange rate discrepancy – probably the only “bargain” we will see this year!

May 14

We arrived in Barcelona on Saturday and uneventfully made our way to the airport and on to Madrid. That is where the action began! Coming from the airport on the subway, we got hit 3 times by pickpockets! We had to change subway trains twice with our luggage, so were real targets. One woman even got her hand in the inside breast pocket of Dick's sport coat! Luckily, we had everything in neck pouches and they got nothing. They are really slick - one guy saw us looking at subway maps so was very helpful and then followed us closely on to the subway, got both of the zippers on my backpack open and his hand in Dick's back pocket before jumping out, just as the train was to take off. Another group of women got between Dick and me getting on the train, blocking him. While he was pushing the doors open, they had their hands in every pocket and then again, jumped off just as the train was taking off. The "old" Europeans blame the "new" ones (eastern countries), since there are now no border controls. Between that excitement, dragging our suitcases up and down several flights of stairs, and walking the last 2 blocks in the rain, we were tired and sad-looking puppies. I was really glad that I had spent a little more on a nice apartment – we needed some pampering. Our landlord, Juan, was very upset about our experience and came back in a few minutes with a nice bottle of red wine to calm our nerves. It seems that our first day of every European trip starts traumatically, but it always improves immensely after that.

The next day was beautiful, and we spent the day following Rick Steves' walking tour. Our apartment is in a great location, near the Puerto del Sol, in the center of Madrid and within walking distance of most of the major sites. We found a festival in Plaza Mayor with lots of local entertainment with folks in traditional garb, and ate at Museo del Jamon (Museum of Ham). There are rows and rows of whole legs of ham, a wonderful deli counter with meat and cheese, a stand up bar, where you can get ham sandwiches, and a sit down restaurant. One of the things I love about Europe is that, while you can certainly spend lots of money eating, there are also very cheap tasty alternatives. In most cafes, you can drink coffee for less money standing at the bar than at sitting at a table, and less sitting at a table inside than outside. We had beer and wine priced on the menu at 1.50 Euro, but because we sat outside on the terrace, it was 3.50 E each. But then yesterday, we had wonderful sandwiches from a pastry shop for 2 E each, a bottle of water for 19 cents, and a lovely lunch sitting on a park bench, They have mastered the art of eating frugally without sacrificing taste. And, you know me – as long as I can eat good food and drink wine for a reasonable price, I am happy! Just a few doors down the street from us is a wonderful restaurant , catering to the locals (until both Rick Steves and Lonely Planet discovered it), where we have eaten the last two nights and will probably continue to eat for the rest of our stay. They take no reservations, and people start lining up at 8:00 for the 8:30 opening. I am going to add to the blog a list of everywhere we stay and eat, for those who are interested.

One of the treats I had read about as being traditional is Churros con Chocolate – deep-fried pastry sticks dipped in dark chocolate pudding – now, how's that for South Beach friendly??? But it seemed culturally ignorant not to try it, don't you think? On a previous walk, we had found one of the places that Rick Steves says is the best for this nasty little delicacy, so we walked back there to indulge. It is on a little side street, and we came in from the opposite direction. We found our table, a waiter appeared, and we ordered. The churros were a different shape from those on our neighboring tables, and the chocolate pudding was lighter colored. Too late, I realized that our chairs were also a different color, and our waiter came from the wrong cafe – we had missed it by one table, and were stuck with what appeared to be a poor imitation of the good stuff next door! Darn!! I am thinking we have to go back and try again.

On our way to Puerto del Sol, we walk down a street that, while safe, is a bit on the seedy side. It is sad to see the young beautiful prostitutes standing in every doorway – not the hard core looking ones in the US. Rick Steves says that many are young girls from eastern countries and Africa who come to Madrid and find that they can't make it here any other way.

Today, we took the bus to Toledo, a historic walled city about 50 miles from Madrid – we were advised that it was much cheaper than the train, and the best way to go. Sure enough, we took the subway to the bus station and headed for Toledo, a direct one hour ride. After a day walking around in this beautiful town (at the top of a very steep hill, as all walled cities are), we boarded the bus home. Not long after we got on the A road (their interstate), we exited again. Dick said, “This isn't good” and he was right. We were on the milk run, stopping in every little town to pick up and drop people off. Two hours later, we were home. Actually, it was kind of interesting – we saw lots of smaller towns and non-touristy areas of Madrid than we had planned, but we were dragging big time by the time we got home. Ah, the joys of traveling – I reminded Dick that we had had two perfectly good days where he wasn't miserable once, so to buck up!

Today, I think we will take this morning off, while I get this posted. This afternoon, we will go back out, perhaps for another try at the Churros con Chocolate and a couple of hours at the Prado, Madrid's famous art museum. On Friday, we will begin a week at Pueblo Ingles near Salamanca, where we will volunteer with 28 other native English speakers from around the world at an English immersion school for a group of Spanish journalists (www.puebloingles. com). We meet the other Anglos tomorrow afternoon at a luncheon where we will be treated to paella, the famous Spanish dish of rice, meat, seafood, sausages, and saffron, and Flamenco dancing.