At The Beach

We stayed at the beach for 5 nights. We were in the town of Alcossebre, which is about 250 kilometers south of Barcelona. The Mediterranean Sea was cool, yet swimable. Unfortunately, Janice had to work, and so she was only there with us for one night (our first night). But we did our best and carried on without her. And we called her from the payphone almost every night.

I really enjoyed my time at the beach. I think we all did. We could relax, and swim, and drink sangria. The beach is a great place for taking photographs--the photographic potential is infinite--and I sure made a lot of exposures.

Driving In Spain, Part 1

We stayed in Madrid for three days and three nights, and then we rented a car and headed to the East Coast of Spain. I drove. Janice read the maps and navigated. Mom, Chris, and Heather enjoyed the view from the backseat. It was a perfect day for motor touring. (120 kph is about 75 mph.)

This was our car.

We stopped in Cuenca and walked around. (Heather took this photo.)

Don Quixote seemed to be everywhere in Spain. What would Cervantes think? 403 years later and his book is still alive. Perhaps he'd be proud. I wished I had brought my copy to read.

The beautiful plaza in Cuenca.

I gave this juggler a coin that was worth 2 euro and that made him happy.

Here's Chris and an olive tree.

He picked these olives and ate one. Like I said earlier, they tasted bitter and turned his teeth purple.

Purple!

After Cuenca we got back to work. We followed the back roads and there were hardly any other cars on the road. It was great. I forced myself to stop now and then so I could smell the air and look around. Moving in a car it's hard to catch all the details.

The sun was setting and the road was still ours. We found a good station on the radio and enjoyed the songs that the DJ was playing. "Omaha" by Waylon Jennings came in loud and clear. "Frankie's Gun!" by the Felice brothers was a big surprise. The right song at the right time. The open road. The magic of radio. These are all good things.

Windmills on the horizon.

It was late when we arrived at the beach. But the Mediterranean Sea was still awake, still working it's way up and down the sandy shores. It had been a long day of driving and I had absorbed a lot. I was full of energy, full of excitement. My mind was still alert, still focused from driving mindset. The sound of the waves helped me relax.

Pictures From Madrid (Part 1, The City)

Madrid is a large city with many people things and city things. Here are some photographs that I took during our first couple days there.