N. Africa
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The room was noisy overnight. We feel
suffocated with the windows shut in our bedroom so we kept the
window open. But there is a major roadway outside. I went down
and read in the lobby while DW & AD continued to attempt
sleep. The room didn’t include breakfast so we had bought some
Dunkin Doughnuts. While schoolwork was done, I went to an
internet location and made our weekly transfer for the
website.
Our
morning activity was a trip out to the Madrid Real Futbol
stadium. It was an easy Metro ride to get there. The stadium
sits in a mixed commercial/residential neighborhood. It was
first built in 1947 which answers how it got developed in the
middle of the city. In 1947, it was probably the first thing
built in that area. The stadium has had a number of
substantial renovations which doubled the seating, improved
access and covered the upper tier seats. The tour allows you
to view the stadium from different vantage points, visit the
visiting teams locker room, and sit in the team seats
(boy
are they comfortable). The Madrid Real is one of the world’s
best soccer teams and has a trophy room to prove it. Of
course, most of us went because of the famous “Beckham”, an
English player who was traded to Madrid a few years ago. The
merchandizing has taken advantage of that fame. You can buys
jerseys, shirts and even underwear. An autographed picture was
7 Euro ($8.50). AD bought a Beckham t-shirt in a medium size
so it will last a while.
After
dropping our new t-shirt off at the hotel, we went to Plaza
Mayor for lunch. Plaza Mayor is a huge square surrounded by
decorative buildings on all sides. Sidewalk cafes sell drinks
and lunch to the hoards of people. At each corner of the
square is a covered passageway for access. Lunch was good and
the sun warmed us as we sat and ate. Most of the shops close
from 2 to 5 for siesta. We don’t know how businesses survive
with those hours.
The
Crown Prince of Spain is getting married in May, which meant
that the only time we would be able to visit the Palacio Real
was today. Good thing we stopped and investigated! The palace
was built in the late 1700’s at the height of Spain’s colonial
wealth. Carlos III built himself quite a place. The rooms
decorations rivaled any we have seen in the world. The palace
sits on a hillside with sloping gardens on one side and a huge
church on the other. There is even a drive into the building,
on the ground level, for the carriages to unload passengers
under cover. There was lots of cleaning and
sprucing
up for the coming wedding which took away from the grandeur.
It did however answer the question of, “how do they clean the
chandeliers, the huge tapestries and the furniture?“. This was
the first place we have ever seen that has a royal pharmacy
intact. There are many rooms with shelves lined with old
medicine and herb containers. It even had a distillery for
brewing potions.
We returned to the hotel just in time to gather our bags and
catch a taxi to the airport. Check in went without a snag on
Air Tunisia. We wondered how many different airlines we’ve
traveled on so far. Madrid’s airport isn’t very special. There
were some designer shops but very little to eat or do,
compared to some really nice ones like Bangkok or Singapore.
After we arrived in Tunisia a bus took a group of passengers
to the town of Hammamet, on the Mediterranean coast. You know
how you see a stranded tour bus on the side of the road and
wonder “what do they do in a case like that?” Well, our bus
broke down at 10 PM a few kilometers from the hotel and the
answer is, you wait for another bus! It wasn’t very long
before a replacement came and took us away. The Hotel Phenicia
turned out to be a huge, 5 star resort with two large swimming
pools, pool tables, ping pong and a great list of daily
activities.
The
word for the day is “gluttony”. Our hotel not only has a lot
of activities but it also has several kids running around. The
buffet breakfast is incredible. There’s an omelet maker, a
crepe maker, and a chapatti (Indian bread) maker. There are
many stations with cereal, fresh and dried fruit, cheeses and
meats, salads and breads. Plus my favorite, coffee!! We are
afraid we will gain several pounds with the buffet breakfast
and dinner included in our hotel package.
I decided that with all the food, must come some exercise, so
I went to the 10:00 stretching program and really enjoyed the
30 minute workout. After that we shot some pool and AD found a
French boy to buddy up with to play darts and ping pong. About
noon we headed into Hammamet to check out the town and buy
some snacks. We are definitely back in the third world with
rutted roads, limited shopping and lots of litter. The city
center of Hammamet is crowded with tourist shops and
restaurants. I am tired of shops and the dealers trying to get
you to buy something.
After
a quick lunch, we bought our supplies and headed back to the
hotel. TD and I read while AD went to shoot pool and take
archery lessons. We joined him at the archery field and
watched as people took their turns. Everyone seemed to be
enjoying it and AD had started using a Velcro arm protector to
avoid a burn from the string. The hotel provides one and he
shared it with another player. Not far from the archery court
is the horse stables so of course we went to see it. AD wants
to go riding one day so I’m sure we will return. Back inside
the hotel AD went swimming while TD and I continued reading
and enjoying the solitude. Although the pool is heated the air
is quite cold so swimming for me is out of the question,
especially late in the day with little sunshine. We have found
that the hotel charges for everything, like a towel for the
pool and a mat to lay on. These additional costs wouldn’t be
bad if we were using them all day but for an hour or so forget
it.
Dinner is served from 7-9 and is another magnificent buffet
affair. The line begins with hors d’ouevres like cheese
wheels, fresh fruit, veggies, meatballs and soup. Next come
the salads, followed by the hot foods and desserts. There is
also a station where they prepared fresh pasta dishes and a
stir fried chicken. I am going to need a lot more than that 30
minute exercise program to keep these buffets off my waist!
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