Good afternoon all,

Today is our last day in Madrid before heading back home tomorrow.  Tom Shymanski advised me  to enjoy myself and forget about having to go home, so I am going to "live in the moment" for the rest of the trip. But first I need to dive into the past and tell you about yesterday.  I have usually been sending these out in the morning, but we had some Internet problems this morning so it actually is going out around 9 p.m. on Friday evening. 

You may recall that we decided to catch the AVE (alta velocidad) train from Madrid to Valencia.  We got up early yesterday and hoofed it down to Atocha station, which is the busiest rail station in Spain.  It's about a ten minute walk from our hotel.  We were able to secure two tickets on the 8:40 a.m. train, which put us in Valencia around 10:00 a.m.  The service just began in December 2010.  The train looks sort of like a bottlenose dolphin.  When you are traveling at speeds up to 300 KM per hour, you need to be pretty aerodynamic.  Here's a photo of the train and the seating:

Arriving in Valencia, we hit the tourist office, got a map and some advice on what to see, and set off to explore Valencia.  The first thing you notice is that although it is a major city, its scale is lower and wider than Madrid.  The people seem a bit more relaxed and casual.  There are palm trees everywhere, which you really don't see in Madrid.  The city is very ancient, having  been founded by the Romans in 137 B.C. We didn't see any Roman ruins but you do get the feeling that it is a city with a great deal of history.  We wanted to see the Mercado Central, the main market where Valencians purchase their meat, fish, cheese, and produce.  The Mercado Central is gigantic, packed with vendors selling their wares  and customers anxious for the best quality at the best prices.  In this age of industrialized food it is so enjoyable to watch people buying farm fresh produce, seafood right from the sea, and mountains beef and ham.  Have a look at this lettuce: 

Strangest sight of the day had to be the fresh live eels slithering around on a metal tray, awaiting their purchasers.  We bought some saffron from a spice purveyor and got a recommendation on a restaurant where we could obtain a true Valencian paella.  I forgot to get a shot of the saffron vendor, but here’s one of his neighbor, the paprika vendor.  As you can see, the Spanish use a lot of paprika:

We saw the sights and walked around town, stopped for the occasional coffee or beer, and generally enjoyed the great ambience of Valencia.  Finally lunch time rolled around and we presented ourselves at the Café Ronda in the Plaza Redonda.  The saffron vendor at the market had told us they make a very good paella, and they use real saffron in their paella, which most restarants do not, because of its great cost.  We ordered the seafood paella (Cath not being partial to rabbit) and waited for the requisite 30 minutes for it to be cooked. By the time it arrived we were plenty hungry!  We didn’t think we would be able to eat it all, and we didn’t, but we did make a pretty good dent in it for two people.  Here’s about where we gave up:

It seems almost impossible for any paella in Valencia to live up to its billing. But this one was very good.  Very flavorful, a fair smattering of seafood, but a bit too salty.  I would not ever say this to our Spanish hosts, but I can tell you:  I really think we make better paella at home with California grown Calrose rice.  Heresy I know, but that’s what I think.  But I’m keeping that opinion among us. I should probably quarantine this post until I clear Spanish customs tomorrow.  

After lunch we made a quick visit to the Museum of Ceramics, where they display ancient Spanish and Moorish ceramic pieces.  The Museum is housed in a palace much of which is intact in its original state, so that was worth seeing all by itself.  We also happened upon a decorative food show, which featured lots of cakes and other items.  I thought you sports fans might like to see one of the cakes: 

Then we had to get ourselves back to the station to catch the train back to Madrid.  We had another fast train ride and as usual I fell asleep right away (putting me on a train is like putting a baby in a car seat on top of the clothes dryer).

When we got back to Madrid we heard someone behind us calling out “Hey Orange County!”  It turned out to be Terry and Greg, a really nice couple from Philadelphia whom we met on the Ford Focus Global Drive.  They were staying at the Palace too so we shared a cab back to the hotel. By that time we were too lazy to walk for ten minutes.  The cab driver wasn’t too happy about getting a 5 Euro fare after having waited in the taxi line for an hour or more, but those are the breaks; I gave him a nice tip.  We had a farewell aperitif (well, two) with Terry and Greg at the hotel bar.  Greg is a filmmaker and has produced a few award winning short films, which can be seen here: 

We finally got back to our room after midnight, justly tired out after a long day. 

We were really glad to have gotten a chance to see Valencia.  It’s a city that most Americans probably haven’t gone too in the past, but with the AVE train, I suspect that more visitors will decide to take a day trip to Valencia.  It’s totally worth doing. 

Today (Friday) was spent shopping and walking in the neighborhoods around the El Retiro Park.  Jane had asked us to look for a pair of Spanish boots for her, which turned out to be a very big job. We had specific instructions on color, heel size, adornments, etc.   We actually found a very nice pair (on sale!) that fit the bill, so we went ahead and bought them.  Now we just have to pray they fit. 

After all the shoe shopping there wasn’t’ much time to do anything else so we came back to our hotel to drop of our loot and regroup.  When Cath awakes from the regenerating nap she’s currenting having, we will go out for a final dinner, probably in the La Latina neighborhood where we got lost a few nights ago.  This time we’re on our own, but we’ve got some cash!  We think we might stop by the Taberna Bilbao for some more of their great tapas. 

Tomorrow will just be packing up and going to the airport, so I think this will be my last post unless something really exciting happens tonight.  It’s always possible that something exciting will happen though: I was listening to Leo Laporte’s webcast this morning and he mentioned that John C. Dvorak, (a tech columnist sand participant on our Ford trip), had lost his wallet and passport to a pickpocket while he was in Madrid.  The same thing happened to my dad when we were here about 12 years ago.  So I will keep the wallet in the front pocket tonight and hope to thwart the pickpockets! 

Anyway, it’s been fun sharing our experience with you. I don’t get much of a chance to write for personal enjoyment these days, so this was a fun exercise for me.  And when I start to lose my memory I can always refer to jimslaughter.posterous.com and refresh my recollection.  Thanks for the many nice comments that you have sent.  We’ll see most of you back in our home corral soon enough.  

I hear Cath stirring from her nap so I think it's about time to live in the moment and enjoy a final evening in Spain.  

Hasta la vista,

Jim S., reporting (one last time) from Madrid