Day 3

Hmm, just a quick note, apparently I forgot to upload this….

Today we’re traveling from Madrid to Barcelona. Along the way we’re stopping in Zaragoza for lunch. A couple of things I noticed about Zaragoza right away, besides the beauty of the basilica, is that it’s very bicycle friendly and there appear to be more people of African descent here than in Madrid. I was also pleases to see a giant stone globe in the square, being a geographer and all. The landscape along the highway is dotted with castle ruins and the occasional giant black bull billboard. They look like huge cardboard cutouts of bulls and used to be advertisements for a company that made sherry. At some point Spain banned advertising along the highway, not a bad idea, but the bulls were saved after a national outcry. The landscape is also very similar of most of California; dry, beige, and barren, about the only thing missing are the oaks that dot the California countryside. Along the way it was also unite exciting when we crossed the Prime Meridian! It’s marked by an arch that crosses the highway. Unfortunately we didn’t stop so I was unable to hop back and forth between the eastern and western hemispheres. Have I mentioned yet that our tour guide who was born and raised in Madrid speaks with an English accent? It’s a little confusing at first. She also uses a lot of England English idioms like “brilliant” and “right”.

Haven’t uploaded today’s pics yet, here are a few more from yesterday:

Prado entrance:

Goya statue:

Oldest operating restaurant in the world: (or maybe just Europe)