Wow, the week in Spain is coming quickly to an end and now I find myself with a little time to type and share some stories. But sadly it will be without pictures today - but you should check out Nelson´s pictures on facebook... amazing shots. As for me, the next chance I get I will be uploading many videos from across spain and putting them on youtube and plug them on here and on facebook.
Here is one to start you off: Madrid Video
We started our week really back in Guelph Ontario) see previous post. But the next stop on our Journey was Madrid. The flight in business class (you have to love travel points) was great and relaxing. It made our mid-day arrival in Madrid very cushioned. After dropping our bags and a shower we were out the door and on to a hop-on-hop-off bus. I have never really liked them, but with Mom travelling with us it makes for a really easy way to quickly see an overview of the city and for it to be accessible for her. It also gives you a quick visual layout of the city and visual stimiluation for about 1 hour. After the bus we stopped for a nice dinner at some small little cafe and began our drinking of copius amounts of water daily in little side walk cafes.
The next morning we hopped the train in Madrid´s Attocha station which is filled to the massive glass roofs with a tropical jungle. You descende into the jungle on the esclator and feel the humidity of the jungle - it is quite a lovely approach to a train station.
The trian ride was on one of spain´s fast AVE lines and in 2 hours we were in Cordoba (Southern Spain). What a sweet and lovely little city. I managed to find a cute hotel 1 block form the main attraction (The Mesquita). This very old Islamic mosque was a delight on the eyes and I must admit I shook my head and giggled when I read some of the litereature (clearly written by Christian authorities) that portrayed the Muslims as the big bad bullies and the christians as the innocent victims. The mosque was amazingly huge and so beautiful. It was so big that when the Christians took back this part of Spain they built a huge cathedrail right in the middle of the mosque and the cathedral looks like comparitively like a tiny tear drop in the ocean.... it is almost hard to find it in the middle. We walked around in the mosque for 30 minutes before we even saw that there was a cathedral. 
Next we ventured to Seville (about 40minutes by train). Again I found a great hotel only 1 block from the central cathedral and the Alcazar (a beautiful moorish palace). Spiritually the Mesquita in Cordoba blew us away, but the Alcazar palace was stunning. The tile work and the Islamic art was gorgeous. You could feel the amazing power of the moorish empire in Southern spain the wealth of days past.
We also enjoyed a few horse rides compliments of Mom in these cute horse-drawn carriages. Usually an older guy with a very hard (even for me to understand) accent telling us tales as he drove us around.
Finally we made our way to Barcelona and to our lovely apartment in the Xiample area of the city and interestingly on the edge of Gay Xiample. We rented the apartment online and it worked out great. Comfortable, 1 block from the metro and great food and grocery stores close.
We also had a great evening with my old friend Ruben from Venezuela. Ruben and I met over 13 years ago in Vancouver when he was in the city studying. Ruben now lives here in Barcelona with his hubby Roberto.
We also made our way around again by a hop-on-hop-off bus. What a great city - the architecture is amazing and provoking. The main draw for me was the cathedral Sagada Familia by the artist Gaudi - you have to see it to fully appreciate it.
So tomorrow we are off to Venice - may the canals open to us and that we float about soaking up the city of Venice.
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