Monday 23 October

Train ride to the big city. QB still suffering from or with her cold; hacking stage now.

View from our window at the now departed from Parador.

Spanish cultural concept of space is different than ours.  Get too close, rarely move out of the way, need to shout over them to order.  

Train ride highlight was the ride through the Guadarrama tunnel just outside of Segovia.  Train got dark, no phone connection and stayed that way a long while.   Looked up tunnels in this region and found the above named. 28+ km long, longest in Spain.  Two tubes.  

On the way to dinner passed a bean and other stuff store.  Lower center are the beans in last nights dinner.

Dinner at the Mercado of San Miguel.   Have eaten here before with G&M.  Not as crowded early on a Monday night.  We got seats with only mild difficulty.

An interesting Mozzarella dish as well as a seafood dish, both small but expensive, pictured.  Along with the usual.  

A big square, actually square.  Lots of life.  

Tuesday 24 October. continued warm and getting warmer.

Stopped down at the concierge desk to ask why some rooms are marked “SPG Preferred Guests”, what that means and what do they get.   Nada.  A plaque.  Thats it? Yes.

Went to Starbucks and asked for a coffee.  You want an Americano?  No, just a standard Starbucks coffee.  Sorry, we do not have that.  She showed me the drip machine which was set up to dispense hot water.  Similar story at another Starbucks.  “No demand” I was told.

Went to Correos to inquire about shipping a jamón to Bobby. The post office, Correos, is in the big department store which sells a fine selection of jamóns.  Can you ship to London I ask.   Several people attempt to answer the question.  One consults the screen, one calls a colleague, both consult and ask me to wait.   Upon return we are told, effectively, maybe.  

The intertubes make it clear that the answer is yes, EU rules, but the concern at the Correos as well as an estimated shipping charge put us off.  Bobby’s dogs will just have to eat his usual table scraps, fine scraps that they are. 

Bobby nicely had his Street repaved and renamed, Queen Boog Blvd.