MADRID/FRANKFURT/SFO/FAIR OAKS Day Nine: Monday, November 26, 2007

DAY NINE: Monday, November 26, 2007 • The Long Road Home
We woke up at 3:30 a.m. as we wanted to leave the hotel by no later than four. (This, by the way, would be 6:30 p.m. on Sunday our time.)We had packed the night before, so it didn't take long to get ready. At about ten 'til four, Christine decided to be sure that Sue and Zoë were up, and they weren't! So they had just ten minutes to get ready. I went down a few minutes early to settle the bill, and somehow we all managed to get down to the lobby by four.

The two taxis that I had ordered at the front desk the night before were there ready to go. I had spoken with a guy at the front desk who said the trip to the airport would take about 12 minutes and should cost about 16 euro. So the big concern was what would the guy actually charge us and what would I do about it if he overcharged us. the cost when we goth there was 21.50 and at that moment (about 4:30 a.m.) I didn't really care that much so I just paid. Christine's cab was just about the same. So I guess either that's what it cost or we all got ripped off. Still seems very pricey.

When we entered the terminal there was quite a line at the Lufthansa counter so we got in it.
I then decided to see if I could check in and get seat assignments at the little self service kiosk. It took me awhile to enter in the data, but I got all out tickets, so all we had to do was take our bags to the checked in with baggage line. So we beat another line. We got through security very quickly and I don't think that anyone actually looked at my passport. We made it to the big waiting area by about 4:30 a.m. and the wait began. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 6:05 a.m. The flight to Frankfurt was smooth, even got a nice little breakfast. We were into the Frankfurt terminal by 9 or so. Turned out we got o stay in the same part of the terminal we arrived in so we did not have to go through security again. I found out what gate we were suppose to leave from and so we found a waiting area to begin out nearly five hour wait.
Right as we got there a plane was leaving for SF, but it would have been cutting it very closely.
There was a huge video screen playing news reports in German and English and we read USA Today, our books, and I read three research papers. We subsequently found out we were at a different gate so we went there and finally took off at about 2:40.

A four hour wait for the next plane from Frankfurt to SFO

This time we got to keep out aisle seats, but the 11 hour flight became a true war of attrition. It was another 747, so the video set up was embarrassingly horrible. I gave up on watching the Harry Potter movie, but I did manage o see most of Hairspray and a Napoleon Dynamite ripoff Hot Rod. (who would win in a fight? a cheese sandwich or a taco.) I also corrected a few research papers. I think I got down to 12 to go.

We got in by 4:40 and were through customs and to the car by 6. It was really pretty amazing. Traffic wasn't bad; we stopped at In n Out and were home before 8.

MADRID Day Eight: Sunday, November 25, 2007

DAY EIGHT: Sunday, November 25, 2007 Sundy Sessions • Rastro • Plaza Mayor • Plaza de Los Toros • Retiro Park • Dinner at Museo de Jamon
I woke at about 4:20 to take Kate down and help her get a cab. She was just about ready when I went to their room. Down at the front there was only one cab and she got in and was off. Pretty easy really. I went aback to the room and got back into bed and it wasn.t too long until Kate texted us and said the cab cost €23. May have been a bit off a rip off.
We all got up at 7 and we went down to breakfast and they all headed off the Rastro flea market, the most famous in Spain, at about eight. It was listed in Top Ten Madrid’s top ten list (10). I worked on my sessions for awhile and then went down and have my picture taken with Michelle Daughtry to send to Bob.

Jim and Michelle Daughtry, ECIS Events Manager

I also met Dixie McKay, the head of the organization, and she said how she had heard many good things about the critiques and my sessions and that they will be even better when I come to Nice again next year.
I headed up to my room and of course it wasn’t open and wasn’t opened until about five to nine. There wound up being about five in the photography session.

My final presentation

It really does only last about a half an hour and then I went through photo of the day/captioning keynote. Jonathon came, the guy from Bilbao, a woman from Luxembourg, Mustafa from Turkey, and another guy I didn’t know.

Just half of my audience.
A Guy from Bilbao, and Mustafa from Turkey

For the final session I had basically the same group and it went well but it is kind our ironic when most of them do the books themselves. I would really like to know how many ECIS schools actually have student-produced books.
A guy was coming in right behind me, so I got right out and was done. I went back to the room and gathered my stuff and then walked down and did a little internet and posted day two on my España blog. I went back to try and find Michelle to give her some almonds and she was up in the board meeting so I went up and found her. Dixie was up ther too and I game them both a can of nuts. I guess it actually was Dixie’s birthday. Apparently she is retiring in 13 months and will probably move back to the states. She came from Oregon but will probably move to the Seattle area.

Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Los Toros, Retiro Park, Paella at Museo de Jamon

Sunday morning at at cafe near Plaza Mayor

I finally headed out the meet the gang at about 11:30 and the trip went really smoothly. Christine texted me and said they were in a café right across form the espadrille store. When I got out in Puerta del Sol, it was unbelievably crowded so I fought my way over to Plaza Mayor and then down Toledo Street to where they were sitting. It was right next to the Italian Beauty place. There was a string group playing and all sorts of statue people around Plaza Mayor. The guide books all talked about the Sunday swap of coins and stamps and you could see it happening everywhere. As we walked back down to Sol, we saw at least six different statue people. The best was the witch, but I also liked the Spanish brown statue man. But what was up with the guy in black face?

2007 and a guy in black face?



Los Petrificados



The witch

As we walked Sue bought a hot sweet potato from a street vender and we all shared it with a spoon.


Hot Yam! Ever had a hot sweet potato on the street?

Plaza de Los Toros
We took the red 2 line from Sol to Ventas to look at the Plaza de Toros to see where they have the bull fights. The bull fighting ends in October, so none were scheduled. It really is an elegant structure built in 1927. At the moment a circus was setting up, and we walked around and eventually followed two women who went in but we eventually were told there were no tours, so we went out.

Plaza de los Toros

Retiro Park
Next we got back on the two line and went back down to Retiro Park. It also was on the top ten list.

Retiro Park and the Estanque

We had to walk quite a way to find the entrance, but we did see the Plaza de la Independencia and the Puerta de Acala. We walked up into the park and we were trying to find a public rest room, but we never did find one. We did find the Estanque, the made-made lake with the row boats. There were tons of people out walking. It’s a great place for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I looked all over for a WC and ran ito this interesting building with a log art exhibit.




ANDY GOLDSWORTHY - Art exhibit. En las entrañas del árbol

I never did find a restroom and the girls and Robert all bought something to get to use one in one of the cafes. I was stubborn as I didn't want to pay so I never did go. We saw a whole bunch of musicians and artists and a guy doing magic. It really is a beautiful park. At about three we headed back down to the Metro to go back to Sol.

Museo de Jamon
We had decided to try and eat early so we decided on going back for paella at Museo de Jamon. We tried the one on the other end of Sol, but it was too crowed and we went back to the one we had been to before. I went in first and up to were we had been before and I got us a table. Zoe came in first and then went back to find the rest. We had a great table in the way back. We ordered a Tortilla España and a plate of ham and cheese, and Robert had a bocadilla, but our main course was paella por quarto. The total meal was €49. Our lowest yet. We found a little maket and bought some supplies for the hotel and then were on our way home. The journey home really began at that table in Museo de Jamon. We got back on the two to the nine then the 211 bus and we were back at the hotel a little before six. I asked someone at the desk and they said the taxi to the airport should cost about €15.
Since then we have been watching TV and I have been catching up on this journal.

MADRID Day Seven: Saturday, November 24, 2007

DAY SEVEN: Saturday, November 24, 2007 • ECIS Sessions • The Zoo
I was wondering all night about when the alarm was going to go off which I thought was at 7, but I wound up getting up at 6:45 and showered and dressed before the alarm ever went off. I made it down to breakfast before 7:15. This time I found the yogurt and they even had waffle fries. I really like those little pastry things filled with the tomato or bean paste.

Sessions at the Conference–What I Actually Came to Spain For.
My session was at 9 but they didn’t open the door until about 10 til. A woman (I think her name was Marsha Postelnek) stopped by who used to teach at Barrett and Pasteur who lived on Galewood who was now teaching in Warsaw and loving it and both her kids went to Del Campo. How nice she stopped by. My session had over ten people which was great and they seemed to enjoy it a lot. There were advisers from Spain, Switzerland, Nigeria, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Austrailia, Italy, and Portugal. They especially loved the prizes. The nuts were the biggest hit. It is amazing how well it goes once you stop thinking about it and just get started with the teaching.
I came back to the room and Robert was still sleeping so I went down and found the girls at breakfast. We finally went back up and they got Robert ready and left a little before 11. Their plan was to head for the zoo. I sat around the room for over an hour working on my sessions and writing in my journal. I went down a little after noon and went on line and while I was sitting there Russell stopped by and then Michelle Daughtry walked by. It was actually the first time I had seen her since I’ve been here. She let me know that she thought all my critique slots were filled but one. I went back to the room and got all my stuff and I went back to the ECIS desk and gave Michelle her Hershey’s bar and she gave me the list of the names for the critique sessions. They were all filled. I got one of the horrid bag lunches and then went and sat on the floor and went online. I got to the room in plenty of time to set up. I even got my plug to work in the funky power strip with the converter I found. First I did the coverage session and I had about 8 people. It was weird. None of them got most of my jokes. I had a few more for the copy session and it went well too. They were quite fascinated by the prospect of having student writing in the book. It seems that at many of the schools teams of teachers actually put the book together and the idea of even having students work on it is foreign.
The critiques were supposed to start at 3 and what I didn’t realize they were half an hour each. Which meant I would be done until six so I would never be able to meet them at 6:30. The critiques went very well I thought. Many just wanted to see if what they were doing was OK. Others were brought by their headmaster and were sent by their adviser. Others had me actually had me write comments in their books that they could take home to show their staffs or adviser. I had teachers from Austrailia; Istanbul, Turkey; Beiruit, Lebanon; Budapest, Hungary; Antwerp, Belgium; and Quito, Ecuador. Quite an eclectic group. The two women from Antwerp with their cute little flip book. After I finished with the principal from Quito, I headed up from the room and texted Christine that I would be late. I didn’t get out of the hotel until about 6:30. The trip went smoothly and I got to Sol at about 7:30. I lost cell service and didn’t get a text from Christine until I headed up toward the Persal. She said they were at the Cervezeria Alemagna on the Plaza Santa Ana near where we had tapas on Thursday. I found them in the back and they were already drinking and eating. We had calamari, empenadillos, a wicked chorizo, tortilla españa, ham and cheese bocadillos and cervesa and bread.

Someone Tells Me It's All Happening at the Zoo
They all shared about the great time they had at the zoo called the Zoo Aquarium at Casa de la Casa de Campo which had two pandas.


It wasn’t cheep at around €15 each. But the kids all seemed to love it. Zoe and Kate showed me all their pictures.

The big fun of the day seemed to be Sue’s three amazing falls. One where she tumbled down an escalator, another mini trip as they went into the zoo, then she fell down when she ran into a pole as they were going into the park, and then she fell into the hole and went totally down by where the kids had bought the crafts on Thursday. She actually cracked her head pretty hard on that one.
After dinner we headed straight back and were back by 10. Kate came by and got some money as it looks like she will need to take a cab and leave at about 4:30.

MADRID Day Six: Friday, November 23, 2007

DAY SIX: Friday, November 23, 2007 • ECIS meeting • Thyssen-Bornemisza • Museo del Jamon
We got up at about nine and got to the buffet by 10. It was a pretty weird buffet. Still no yogurt and a whole bunch of interesting Spanish delights including empeñadas and an interesting assortment of very interesting meats and cheeses. It was hard to find stuff I loved. Robert got a fresh omelette and it was tough getting coffee.
The family took off some where between 10:45 and 11 which didn’t make commander Kate happy. I registered and hung out in the lobby area looking at my email, talking to a woman from Stuttgart, and setting up my España blog.
The journalism committee meeting I had agreed to run started at two. Russell Viers and Jim Petrucci were there and two advisers actually showed up–Shannon from the American School in London and Jonathon from the other school in Zurich so with me that made five of us. We all got pretty excited about putting together some king of a European journalism contest with pdfs and both Shannon and Jonathon agreed to co-chair the committee so it was all a success. I finished by 3 and I was probably on the road by 3:30. I was to meet the family at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum at 4:30.

Museo de America
They had left about 11 and went to see the Museo de Las Americas which told the story of the peoples of North and South America.

Robert wanted to go there even if the girls didn’t care too much about it. The only bad part was that none of the signage was in English, but Robert seemed to enjoy it so that was good.

Thyssen-Bornemisza
Here is Jim's history of art as seen at the Thyssen. These are paintings that I absolutely remember that I saw!

GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi
Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, 1488


Caravaggio, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1597


REMBRANDT, Harmensz. van Rijn
Self Portrait, c. 1643


CANALETTO (CANALE, Antonio) View of Piazza San Marco, Venice, 1723


GOGH, Vincent van Watermill at Gennep, 1884


DEGAS, Edgar Race Horses in a Landscape, 1894


PICASSO, Pablo Ruiz Harlequin with a Mirror, 1923


ROTHKO, Mark Green on Maroon, 1961

I had no trouble getting back downtown except it was extremely hot in the bus and I took another metro route. I got off at the Plaza de España and walked down toward the Prado and easily found the Thyssen. I arrived at just about 4:30 to find Robert, but no girls. He was sitting there talking to two women. Apparently the girls had stopped to get something to eat. After the museum they has all benn doing some serious H and M shopping, At almost exactly 4:30 the girls showed up and we went into the museum. We decided not to try and do the extra Duhrer/Cranach exhibit and just went to the main galleries which was plenty. However we did splurge and get two of the hand held audio guides.

LICHTENSTEIN, Roy Woman in Bath, 1963

We started with the twentieth century stuff on the ground floor, but the museum is laid out for you to start at the top and work down and it really is a chronological walk through art history. The collection originally belonged to a wealthy German who married a former Miss Spain who sold the collection to Spain for $350 million. The nucleus of the collection consists of 700 world-class paintings by, among others, El Greco, Velasquez, Durer, Rembrandt ,Ribera, Caneletto, Caravaggio, Hals, Goya, Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Kandinsky, Rothko, Lichtenstein, and more. By the time we got two-tirds through the collection we began experiencing heavy art museum fatigue. It would be fun to go back with more time and more energy. We simply ran out of gas.

Museo del Jamon


We made a quick stop at the gift store and got out at about 6:30. For dinner we decided to got to the Museo del Jamon at Carrera de San Jeronimo 6 (one block east of the Puerta del Sol).

This is a chain; I’ve seen at least three of them. We went upstairs to the seating area although many were down at the bar with barra portions. The upstairs was very clean and was a great atmosphere. It also was great because it was open before 8.


Robert got a chicken platter with fries, a salad, and consume and we got paella for cuatro. We also had a side order of Jamon Serrano. We also learned that the small sandwiches are called bocattas. The paella was excellent and the saffron rice was filled with pieces of chicken, shrimp, calamari, mini clams, huge mussels, and little baby crabs that we couldn’t figure out how to eat. After a 35-minute wait, which the waiter told us about, it all came out piping hot in a big pan. It really was gorgeous; exactly what you would have expected it to look like. It was very tasty and may have been my favorite meal we have had so far in Madrid.
We headed back right after dinner and were back in the hotel by 9:30. We then all went down to the lobby and everyone got 10 minute on Wi-Fi which all tolled took over and hour. I think we all tried to get to sleep by midnight, but I had the worst night of sleep so far on the trip. I even got up and took a Tylenol PM. Robert couldn’t sleep either; I heard him tossing and turning for quite a while. I’ll bet I did not fall asleep until after 2 a.m. Then I woke up a bunch of times to check the clock.

MADRID Day Five: Thursday, November 22, 2007

DAY FIVE: Thursday, November 22, 2007 • Madrid • Happy Thanksgiving • Hotel Move • Tapas at La Moderna
We woke up at 9 and decided to hit breakfast at about 10. Robert stayed in bed and missed breakfast entirely. We leisurely packed and I went outside to take pictures of them looking out the Persal windows.


I also discovered that there was wi-fi in the lobby and I used it for a few minutes. We all got our stuff down stairs before the noon checkout time. At least the elevator was working. I thought the guy would let us keep our luggage in the little room across from the desk (I had seen him open it when we checked in on Monday), but he implied that there wasn’t enough room on we had to walk all of it down stairs to a room way in the back. All tolled we probably had 11 pieces of luggage.

Espadrilles an Casa Hernanz
We hit the streets with the intent of find the Espadrille place which was on Calle de Toledo right off the Plaza Mayor. But before we got there we found a cute crafts fair in one of the small plazas and the girls all got rings.

Madrid craft fair

The weather was smashingly gorgeous. Bright sun. Almost warm. Then Zoe found a backpack she loved at another shop for €14 and she was very happy.


Actually the espadrille place, Casa Hernanz at 18 Calle de Toledo was less than a block off the plaza. Talk about a perfect indigenous place. Espadrilles from Madrid.

Apparently the shop with its long wooden counter dates back to the nineteenth century, owned by the same family for five generations.



Buying espadrilles near the Plaza Mayor

The girls all thought the espadrillles were great and had a ton of fun trying them on and choosing colors. Kate, Zoe, Sue and Christine all got at least one pair.




From there we walked back across the Plaza Mayor and then down the Calle Mayor toward the Palacio Real in all the glory of the sun. On the corner stood the cathedral and then to the right the Palacio. By the time we got there it was approaching one.

Palacio Real
The Palacio Real is Europe’s third great palace after Versailles and Schonbrunn with arguably the most sumptuous interior. It was built by King Philip V, the grandson of Louis XIV, after the original fortress burned down in the 18th century. We heard that you could get an actual English speaking tour, but when we got to the ticket window we found that the next one wasn’t until 3, just about 2 hours away. So we all got the audioguides which turned out to be all you really needed to know. Apparently Sue had never used one of the hand held want type of audioguide and she thought it was great. The tickets to get in with discounts cost €39 and the audio guides were €3 each.

Grand Courtyard of the Palacio Real



The audio tour started in the grand courtyard where they have all their ceremonial gathering of the troops. We wandered over to look at the gardens and then got back on track with the tour and went into the main entrance.


After they took our tickets we dumped all our stuff in a gigantic locker and then walked up the Grand Stairs then into the main rooms. The Throne Room with the red velvet walls, the Antechamber with the four Goyas, but I was most impressed with the Gala Dining Room and its table that would seat 150. We went back outside and then over to the armory which was really pretty amazing. I don’t think I have ever seen so many armored horses and there were an incredible number of suits of armor too. Even El Cid’s sword and armor.
We had lunch in the cafeteria. I had a ham sandwich and Christine tried the Paella. Not bad actually, but it was quite expensive. After leaving the Palacio we walked around the corner to the left and up through the Plaza de Oriente to the Teatro Real. We passed our first statue person who made weird hand motions when we gave him a coin. On the corner was an old guy playing the accordion.

Dancing with the Accordion Man
On a dare we got Robert dancing and once he started the accordion guy picked up his tempo. It was really very funny, and the accordion guy loved it.



Robert street dancing near the Palacio Real

Chocolateria San Gines for Churros and Chocolate

We checked out the opera house (nothing was on) and walked up through the Plaza Isabel II and then along Calle Arenal to the Plaza San Gines and the Chocolateria San Gines, open since 1894, for some of the real chocolate and churros. It is located at Pasadizo de San Gines, 5.



Chololate and Churros

We got four orders of churros which meant we really had too much of the chocolate. The total bill was about €12. One or two of the cups probably would have been enough instead of the four we wound up with. But wow was it good and a real hit with everyone. From there we walked and shopped up Arenal to Plaza Del Sol and then turned on to Carretas to find a shoe store Robert had found yesterday. He actually found some GURU shoes he liked so Christine bought them for him for €60. From there we walked up the hill to the Persal and got our luggage out of the storage room. We were on the move once again. We went over to the Plaza Santa Ana to catch taxis and when we didn’t get any I went back tot he Persal to see if that was really the place and he assured me that it was so I went back. Cabs did come and Sue, Christine and Zoe got in one first. After it left we got a second one which barely fit all our luggage. Somehow I got stuck in the middle and when Kate and Robert got in they sat on my long coat and I was kind of pinned in. I have never felt so claustrophobic in my life. I actually kind of panicked and the kids thought it was so funny.

Cab Ride to the Madrid Auditorium Hotel
The cab ride went as I thought it would, but when he started going through a tunnel and then on to a freeway I was sure he was lost and we were getting ripped off. I had thought I had originally heard that the convention was near the airport and apparently I was right. We finally did arrive at nearly 6 and Christine was standing there under the sign that said Auditorium Madrid Hotel. All for another €20 per cab.



Check in went relatively smoothly and we got our two triple rooms on the fourth floor of Bloque 3.


We soon came to the realization that there was nothing out here at the hotel. The best we could get would have been a buffet for €30. So we sucked it up and decided to figure how to go back into town on public transportation. I went down stairs and asked a few questions and found we could take a public bus into the Avenidas de Americas station for €1.50 each way and then once there we could switch to the metro and take two lines to get into Puerta del Sol. At about seven we all headed out walked over the pedestrian bridge to cross the freeway and immediately got on a bus 223 and headed into the station. The traffic was backed up and very slow and it probably took us about a half and hour to get into the Avenidas de Americas station. There we bought ten packs of tickets for €6.40m which was quite a savings. Christine was in charge of our route and we took a 6 to Cuatro Caminos and then a 1 to Sol. No problema.
We thought about going to a pub called the Dubliners for their Thanksgiving dinner. We even walked inside to get a table but we double clutched and left. Sue did nor really want to do it.

Tapas at La Moderna

So we walked up to the Plaza de Santa Ana and found one of the Tapas places mentioned in Rick Steves called La Moderna and walked in a got a great table in the back. We were a bit flustered when the selections on the menu weren’t any of the things listed in the RS list of tapas. Luckily they had menus with English names and we ordered off that menu. We had a plate of chorizo and cheese, anchovies and sun dried tomatoes, a dish salted beef, some kind of cod you put on bread, garlic fish noodles, something that was like ham and raclette cheese, and a bunch of other stuff I do not remember.






We even ordered a second round. Even the kids had fun which was a miracle after we began with a little crabbing meltdown right after we sat down. The whole meal was about €110 and Sue paid. Happy Thanksgiving. We made our journey home without incident and were back by about 11:30 I think.





Another full day of unexpected surprises. Although it did come out that Christine would have rather had the turkey at the Irish pub.