[W, 22 June 2005 (Madrid, Spain)] I got to Madrid late this morning and settled in at the hostel. Just went by the Monumento a Colón and am about to do the Archaeology Museum. I'm so tired. Partly it's a physical tired, possibly brought on by the heat, and a heavy lunch and a desire to do a Spanish siesta. But there's also a general travel weariness, a tired that comes from over three weeks now on the road. A month (more, really) is a long time to travel. I'm afraid of burnout. I don't know if it's something that could have been averted with a sort of day or two vacation from vacationing. Maybe...

Parque del Retiro: very nice (though hot!). A very large, nice park for walking, relaxing, picnicing. It again makes me wish I had a travelling companion.

	I especially liked Estatua del Ángel Caido. It's Lucifer, fallen from grace, and he really looks the part, so torn by it all, bewildered by what's happened, confused, lost. Very striking.

One of the people in my room is Damian, a Scottish guy. When I said "I'm from the U.S.," he said, "yeah, I already figured that." He's the 2nd person to flat out say that so bluntly, the first being an Irish woman I met in Barcelona. The American accent is obvious enough, so I'm not very surprised or even bothered. But I am curious. He followed by saying, "I suppose your contrymen talk more than they should." Do I have to defend myself in relation to my country every time I meet a foreigner? :(

So as I finished writing the above Damian came in with a German woman he'd met named Melanie. They were asking if anyone wanted to join them out for beers and I said yes, though I may not drink.

We had a good time and spent the rest of the evening on the city pub crawling. Damian leading the way. We'd hit a place, have a drink (for me, it was wine, water, or nothing), maybe a few tapas, and move on. We must have hit 8 or 9 places in all. We got back after 1:30.

We had a good evening, with lots of good discusion. Little by little it's opening me up more in how I see the world. I don't think I can say much yet except that perhaps Americans (along with everyone else) could learn a thing or two from listening to what other cultures have to say about how to live. If everyone would stop talking so much to impose their way and start listening, perhaps the world would improve.

R, 23 June 2005 (Madrid, Spain)
Damian and Melanie invited me to join them on a self-guided walking tour of Madrid. I like the idea, so I'm joining them. If there's still stuff I want to see after that, I do have a lot of time tomorrow.

We walked for a bit, then had a picnic lunch in the park. Damian and I came back (Melanie went on to an art museum), I sewed a hole in the back pocket of his pants, and took a nap. When I got up, he had gone out to get me a shot glass to say thanks (I'd told him about getting one from each country).

The Monument of Cervantes with his most beloved characters in front of him: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

F, 24 June 2005 (Madrid, Spain)
I went to the Templo de Debod, the remains of an Egyptian temple donated to Spain. It was fun to crawl around a bit inside. It's about 2,200 years old and how they got it here is beyond me.

Madrid has some very lovely (and large) parks and gardens. I like a city that takes time to do such beautification of public space.

I'm now at the Real Monasterio de la Encarnation, awaiting a tour (in Spanish...this could be interesting...The Monastery was okay, but I understood little to nothing of the Spanish tour. (Yes, I know the pictures are hard to make out. The one on the left is a skull and the one on the right is supposedly the dried blood of a saint that reliquifies a certain date of each year.

On to Córdoba!