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It all started innocently enough. It was at an Indian restaurant in Queens that Isidro, Sarah's husband and Norbert’s son-in-law, announced that he was having an opening in Madrid at the Queen Sofia Museum; This is the Spanish equivalent of New York ’s MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, and houses such Spanish luminaries as Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso…and now Isidro Blasco …at least, until July. On hearing this, Donna blurted out…”Why don’t we go?” Donna and Norbert attend almost ALL of Isidro’s exhibition openings so this was quite consistent with their past behavior. Donna and Norbert do not believe in planning too far in advance, so they held off getting tickets and lodgings until a week before leaving. The flight, leaving at 6:00 PM was eventless…Norbert resorted to 10 mg. of Ambien but Donna persisted in watching the movie, the last episode of The Lord of the Rings. They arrived at Madrid in the early morning of May 3 and made their way to the train for Barcelona at the Atocha RENFE station. The trip costs a little more than one euro but has the disadvantage of being far from the terminal without any convenient moving pathways. D&N made it in time for the 9:30 train to Barcelona , but unfortunately it was “complete”, as they say and they took the 11:30 instead. Clever planning might have allowed them to fly directly to Barcelona and return from Madrid at the same price as a round-trip to Madrid . But, the train ride had its own rewards. They were wined and dined while observing the ever-changing Spanish scenery from a quiet car with wide, comfortable seats. D&N traveled with about five books, three of which concerned driving tours and places to stay. The “Euro Atlas” for Spain and Portugal shows all but the most insignificant roads. They made the most use of the “Eyewitness Travel Guide” for Spain Donna believes it to be the best of all ; it contains EVERYTHING…street guide, places to stay, special things to be alert for and superb photos and graphics.
