Hang 'em up

In my 3.5 month hiatus from my blog (due to laziness), quite a bit has happened. I finally made a decision about my professional baseball career. Us baseball players would say that I've officially "hung 'em up." In layman's terms, I've decided to end my career as a professional baseball player. After going through the emotional ups and downs of last season with the Armada, I've finally decided to call it quits. The decision was made back in September after the season had ended. A lot of people keep telling me that I should still play and that I still have the skills and talent to play professionally. Albeit that might be true, there are tons of guys just like me who have the talent and skills to play, but never get the opportunity or if they do, somehow wind up with the short end of the stick.

Professional baseball is all about opportunity. Politics also plays a role in this game as well. The game of professional baseball is a BUSINESS first and game second. Not many people know the business side of baseball and let me tell you it's not pretty. I'd have to say the most difficult thing about this game is getting the right opportunity to play. Unless you are a "bonus baby" (a.k.a. top draft pick), you need to put up some serious numbers to get noticed. One great season could guarantee you a job for years to come, but are few and far between for late round picks. It's the only job I know of where all your friends and bonds you've made over the years can disappear in an instant. Trades are a part of the game, although I've never been traded, as well as releases. Every year trades and releases claim hundreds of victims throughout every system in baseball. After a release, the first thing that comes to mind is, "Who is looking for a *pitcher/position player*? Who can I call that knows somebody? How can I get to another team?" That all happens after the initial shock wears off and you pack your bags and say your goodbyes. Everybody knows that cuts need to be made every year at spring training and hope they do enough to keep their job for the coming season. For some of those, me included, that didn't happen on many occasions. I made good friends on a few teams only to have the rug snatched from under my feet and sent packing my bags and heading home once again.

The next thoughts that pop into the head of a freshly released minor leaguer are "What am I going to do? Go back to school? Hang 'em up? Get a job?" The young and determined first or second year minor leaguer would shed these thoughts in an instant, but the seasoned minor leaguer with a knowledge of how the system works would take a step back to assess his situation and determine what would be the next best option. Families, wives, sons, and daughters all factor into the decision process of whether or not to continue pursuing the dream. For some, the dream continues and they do whatever it takes. Others hang 'em up and get different jobs to take care of their families.

The grind of a 142 game season can wear a player out, especially on a team that's not in playoff contention. Being away from home and on the road living in a hotel can really begin to wear on a player and can also be rough on relationships with loved ones. For some, the end of the season can't come quicker. For others, the reality of the off-season looming and getting a job to pay the rent is overwhelming. Either way you look at it, a player is always on the go, whether it be spring training or during the season. Traveling is part of the gig when you sign up to be a pro ball player. It's a lifestyle that can take some time to get adjusted to and for some can make or break a relationship. The uncertainty of not being able to control your future is a little scary as well. In the drop of a hat you could be traded or released, which adds pressure to your performance. Out of all sports, I think baseball has to be the toughest both mentally and physically. I can sum it up with one word: performance. If you don't perform you might as well pack your bags and go home.

As for myself, I won't say I've given up, rather, I'll say that I'm officially retiring. When you're 25, not in an organization, and know how the system works, it's a pretty clear decision. As much as the kid in me didn't want to hang 'em up and keep pursuing the dream, the right decision was made. You've got a hell of an uphill battle to fight with about a 1% chance to make it to the big leagues when you're 25 years old and switching positions. I gave it everything I had and came up short. Thus is the story with thousands of other guys trying to do the same thing. Not many people can say they've played professionally as a hitter and pitcher. I feel honored and privileged to have played this game for as long as I did. It's time for me to join the rest of the real world and pursue a different career. It's finally time for this player to "hang 'em up."

...And that's the way it was

So, here we are again, back at square one. Only 24 measly at-bats into my professional outfielding career I was brought back down to earth by the harsh reality of baseball. After I hit my homerun, I went 0 for 12 in the games following. My final game; a marathon 15 inning heartbreaker against the Tucson Toros, I went 0 for 6 with 4 strikeouts. For those of you who don't know, we in the baseball world call that the "Golden Sombrero". Three strikeouts is called the hat trick, but only those privileged enough to have four can don the Golden Sombrero. I was privileged enough to sport it in my final game. We had a day off after the final game against Tucson in which I relaxed and did some things around the house. I arrived about an hour and a half early Tuesday afternoon to the clubhouse and start getting ready to head to the cages. Low and behold, Tempe (our manager) walks in with a new player. My first thought was "Maybe he's a pitcher," to which I then saw him carrying bats and a left handed outfielder's glove. I knew then that something was up and started worrying. I knew that somebody had to either be put on the inactive list or get released and I knew that I hadn't been swinging the bat well. I put two and two together and went outside to try to calm my nerves. I called my wife, who was on her way down to the field, to let her know that I might not be playing because a new player had arrived. I went back into the clubhouse and G2 (Tempe's son and also the hitting coach) told me that Tempe wanted to see me in his office.

I've gone through this too many times to know what was happening. Obviously the target was on my back and Tempe had set his crosshair on me. As soon as I walked in Tempe told me "I'm putting you on the inactive list." Understanding the given conditions I don't blame him for doing so, however, I don't think I was given a fair shot. That being said, I also didn't hold up my end of the bargain. I wasn't performing like I knew I could and like Tempe knew I could, so he did something about it. Independent ball is all performance based, which means if you don't perform then you're next in line to pack your bags and go home. It's never something a manager wants to do or likes to do, but it must be done. I was told that I was over-challenged pitching wise and that I was a one dimensional hitter, which means I can only hit one pitch. I knew my swing had been off and tried to correct it myself in the cages but that got me nowhere. I made plans to see my hitting coach for a lesson on Wednesday, but it was too late. My spot was already given to somebody else. I went to my hitting coach anyways and corrected my swing in hopes of being able to rejoin the team. In the mean time, while I was busy correcting my swing, Long Beach signed an alum from last year in Steve Moss. To make room for Steve, Tempe needed to make another roster move. Unfortunately, Casey Garrison was next on the list. Only a day after I left the team the same thing happened to him. I tried to call him but only got his voicemail, so I left a message asking him to call me back. It's sad to see a good friend and teammate leave the clubhouse for good; especially when you know they're not coming back.

If I'm being honest here, I'm really starting to get tired of baseball. I'm not tired of playing but just tired of everything else, mainly the business aspect of the game. Baseball is a fun game in itself, but professional baseball is a business first and a game second. Every year the managerial team and front office staff invite both old and new faces to spring training to select the cream of the crop to fill their rosters in hopes of bringing a championship to their local city. That's their job. They're not supposed to worry about the feelings of a ball player after he's been cut from the team because they're looking at the bigger picture; putting a winning team out on the field. It's sad to hear that but it couldn't be more true. I've made good friends with a lot of people on many different teams and it doesn't change. Either I was the one to get released or one of my friends was the newest victim of the business. It happens all the time in the Independent Leagues. You make really good friends with someone and the next day you're shipped off to another team or sent home packing. It's the most cutthroat and ruthless business I know.

The thing I hate most about baseball is the unknown. Anything can happen at any given moment. Someone can get injured, promoted, demoted, or released at the drop of a hat. In my short time in the game, I've learned that the front office really doesn't care about the feelings of a player. A lot of lifelong friendships are made playing pro ball, however, the feelings of a baseball player are never taken into consideration when making a business proposal. As players, we're oblivious to what goes on in the front office. Our only concern is to win ball games. It's sad to see the business side of baseball and I was none the wiser to it until I became a victim and was released from the Astros. I had no idea what was coming and it was such a shock to me and just took me by surprise. Only then did the harsh realities of professional baseball really sink in. I was on my way home while everybody else got the opportunity to continue playing, which was very frustrating and hard to handle. I feel bad for any player that gets released because I've been there before and it's not fun. I would be curious to see how the front office staff would feel if they traded places with the players and had to go through what they go through.

I'm reminded of a quote from the movie Bull Durham, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball." It really is that simple, but yet like the Transformers, there's more than meets the eye. There are so many minute details and little nuances that the average fan may not be able to grasp, such as what to do in certain situations and what pitches to throw in a certain count with or without runners on base, etc. Baseball is a game of inches. An inch here or an inch there can make all the difference in the world. For example, say I hit a fly ball on the handle of the bat. If I hit that ball an inch or two higher on the sweet spot of the bat, it's a home run. The same thing goes with making a diving catch, stealing a base, or throwing a fastball an inch off the dish. Every inch counts.

The dream of any little kid playing baseball is to be in the Major Leagues. I, along with millions of other kids, had the same dream. I'm fortunate enough to have been able to experience the thrill of being drafted by a professional team. Not many people can say that. Every year 1500 baseball players out of the tens of thousands all across the United States playing in college and high school are drafted. To be drafted is an accomplishment in itself because it means that someone thinks you have the talent and ability to play baseball at the professional level. However, only a small percentage of the players in the minor leagues will actually get the opportunity to play at the big league level and live the life of luxury. To many, the dream is always alive and within reach; not wanting to give up hope because maybe it could happen next year. To others, the day to day grind of life in the minors takes its toll and forces them out of the game and into the real world where a 9-5 job awaits them. I feel honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to play professional baseball as both a pitcher and hitter. Not many people can say they've done that. It's been the culmination of 18 years of hard work and dedication to the sport which has given so much to me and given me opportunities that I never thought possible. However, as much as baseball has given to me it's also been the bearer of bad news and has crushed my dreams more than a few times. I honestly don't know how much more heartbreak I can take. It starts to take its toll emotionally and I'm not sure how much more torture I can endure. I don't know what direction I'll go when the season is over but I know that a decision will have to be made whether or not I'll continue to pursue the dream. I know whatever decision is made will be the right one. It's hard to give up on your childhood dreams of playing in the big leagues, but as cliche as it might be, when one door closes another one opens.

Living the dream!

Well, alas I can say I'm living the dream once again. I received a text message last Thursday night from my friend on the Long Beach Armada, Sean Buller, asking me where I was, to which I replied "At home. Why?" He texted back saying one of the outfielders, J.J. Sherrill, just went down with a hamstring injury and that he would talk to the coach and let me know if they wanted to sign me. To my suprise I received a phone call from Sean about an hour or so later. He asked me, "What are you doing tomorrow? Do you think you'd have time to come down and sign a contract?" As soon as I heard him say that my face lit up with a smile from ear to ear. Of course I would have time! I was partly shocked and relieved, but mostly excited. I was shocked because I was starting to think that me signing with a team wouldn't actually happen. To my suprise though it did. All the contacts I had made and people I tried to get hooked up with hadn't come through but this time it actually happened. I was even happier to know that I was joining the team I had gone to spring training with and actually knew everybody on the team. It seemed like everybody on the team was really happy to have me back, so to speak. They'd been telling me about how they missed my bat in the lineup. It was good to hear the positive feedback from everybody and to know that they all really cared about me.

I sat out the first day I came in just to get myself adjusted and settled in and then I was in the lineup the next night against the Tucson Toros. I made my debut in right field Friday night and was hitting 6th in the lineup. In my first professional at-bat I sliced a ball between the first and second basemen for a base hit. I couldn't believe it. My first hit as a professional in my first at-bat. I had visions of hitting a home run, like any other player would, but hey, a single is just as good in my book. It was kind of reminiscent of my college days. I got a base hit in my one and only collegiate at-bat. Here I was standing on first base after my first hit. I felt a sense of relief as well as a sense of confidence; to know that I can actually make this transition from pitcher to outfielder.

A little off the topic, but I just read an article about a guy I know who pitched for the Rockies named Scott Beerer. He ended his pitching career in 2006 and was out of baseball as far as I knew. I was surfing around Minor League Baseball's website, milb.com, and saw an article featuring Scott Beerer with a picture of him pitching and hitting. Apparently he's made the transition and is hitting the crap out of the ball. He was sent to Short-Season A ball with the Tri-City Dust Devils (Rockies minor league affiliate) and hit .558 in 43 at-bats. It made me realize that this really is possible. He's 27 years old albeit, but he's doing what I'm doing. He was a two way player in college and chose pitching because he thought that's where he'd have the most success. It just goes to show that it can be done and it's an inspirational story as well.

So after my first hit I was really excited but settled in as the game went on. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be during my first at-bat, but the nerves were definitely there. I almost hit a home run in my second at-bat, but fell just short and lined out to the center fielder on the warning track. I finished the night 1 for 4 with a single and 2 runs scored. Not bad for a debut I don't think. Last night (July 11th) I went 0 for 4 with 2 Ks, a groundout and a fly out. I was a little frustrated but figured out what I was doing wrong and corrected it today. I felt pretty good going into the game today knowing what I had to do at the plate, which was to just relax. Tempe (our manager Gary Templeton) told me last night as he was leaving the clubhouse, "Good hitters are slow and bad hitters are fast." He meant that good hitters slow everything down and see the ball and react. In 2 of my at-bats last night I felt like I was pressing and really anxious, which showed. Everything in my swing was rushed and just didn't feel right, so I took that attitude into the game today and tried to relax at the plate and see the pitch. My first AB went alright. I fouled off two pitches that were right there and just missed them but ended up striking out on a 2-2 fastball inside. My next AB I was a little more aggresive and swung at the first pitch but missed. The second pitch came in and I sure as hell didn't plan on missing it. I hit a line drive into left field for a single and was back on track and feeling good. My third AB of the night went horribly. I took the first two pitches for strikes and swung at an 0-2 slider inside for strike three. I was visibly upset and frustrated on the inside. I just have to realize that it's only going to be a matter of time before I get adjusted to hitting professionally. I'll get my timing down and be able to adjust the more ABs I get, so I'm not worried. I just get frustrated sometimes when I miss pitches I know I should hit, but hey, that's baseball. My last AB of the night came in the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs and us trailing by 3 runs. I worked the count to 2-1 and then it happened. I saw a fastball about chest high and swung at it. By the feel of it I knew I had put a good swing on it and hit it hard. The ball shot off my bat into the evening sky headed for left-center field. I knew I had hit it hard but didn't know if I had hit it hard enough to go out. I thought maybe it would land at the warning track because I hit it too high. To my delightful suprise just before I rounded second base I saw it go over the wall for my first professional home run. I gave a small fist pump as I rounded second base and a shot of adrenaline ran throughout my entire body giving me the chills. I had done it. I'd hit a home run in a professional game. I was so happy and excited inside, yet calm and cool on the outside. I was greeted by my teammates in the dugout with cheers, high fives, and fist pumps. It was such an exciting moment for me and one that I'll never forget. It was the culmination of all my hard work from the past year of making the transition. I knew I had it in me but it feels good to actually see it happen and know that I can hit and can make this transition. We ended up losing the game 4-2, but it won't be a game I'll soon forget.

Well...

The title says it all. It sums up the way I feel and what I've been feeling for the past month. Since too much has happened and I don't feel like typing it all out, I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. I can sum it up in one sentence:

Screwed.

Yep. Profound I know. I've done nothing wrong. I hit .351 in 8 spring training games with 4 of my 8 hits being extra base hits (1 HR, (2) 2B, (1) 3B). What's wrong with that you ask? Nothing. I hit the ball as well as I could have and here I am today, a month into the season without a job. I was promised a spot on the team and was asked to wait 2 weeks for that spot to open up and I did. My reward: practice. I practiced on every off day the team had practice and still received a swift kick to the groin. I played the waiting game as much as I could but just couldn't handle anymore torture. It was apparent that Long Beach wasn't working out as I had planned. As much as I wanted it to happen and workout for the best, alas, nothing came of it. Everybody on the team wanted me there but there was no spot for me. I'm a little bitter that I had to wait so long to find out that there wasn't a spot for me on the team. I could've easily gone to another team but no, I wanted to make it work with Long Beach. I endured as much waiting as possible but it still didn't work out.

Not only is it trying on myself but my wife as well. Having to come home everyday only to tell her "Well he said this and this and it's supposed to happen on this day." That's no fun. To be honest, I think this is my last go at it. I don't think I can endure another year of this crap. The baseball system has wore me down. There's no stability, no pay, and right now, no opportunity. I've been told by so many people, "It'll happen, it'll happen." Yes, I believe it'll happen this year, but will I have enough time to show scouts that I'm the real deal and I deserve a real chance to play organizational ball? I've proved all the local skeptics wrong and even fooled guys in spring training who didn't know I was a pitcher. The ones who did know now respect me as a hitter, which is all gravy, but I need the opportunity to show everybody else. I don't like having to wait for a phone call for weeks on end. I want it to happen this week but I fear that my phone won't ring with good news until next week or even two weeks. The All-Star break (mid-July) might be the first chance I have at playing, which is unfortunate. Everybody and their mother knows I should be playing right now but again, I've become a victim of unfortunate circumstances, AKA baseball.

So what happens if I play half a season, do well, and don't get signed to an organization? Do I attempt to try to get an invitation to spring training or do I just give it up? Both thoughts have certainly crossed my mind and I don't know what I'm going to do. As much as I don't want to give it up, I have to be real with myself. What are the odds that a 25-year old pitcher-converted-to-outfielder has a legitimate chance of playing the in the big leagues? The odds are definitely not in my favor. At least when Rick Ankiel did it he had already been a big league pitcher. Me? I've got nothing. A few years of pitching experience to my name. Do I think it's possible? Yes, but time is not on my side right now. If it's going to happen it has to happen now. I can't wait any longer. Unfortunately, I don't have any control over that, which is VERY frustrating. So until that happens, I'll just be here waiting for my phone to ring.

Spring is in the air

Sorry for the long delay in postings. I've been really lazy. My bad. Anyways, as always, a lot has happened in the past month that I haven't posted anything. Actually, a lot of the same has happened. I've just been working and doing my thing and getting ready for spring training with the Long Beach Armada. Wait, spring training has already started. I'll give you a quick rundown of what we've done.

Last Saturday, May 9th, we had a team meeting and physicals at Blair Field in Long Beach, which is where we'll be playing our home games. Since the Cal State Long Beach won't let us use the field for spring training, we had to find somewhere close that wouldn't charge us an arm and a leg to use their field. Thus, we ended up at Cal State Dominguez Hills located at the wonderful Home Depot Center. We started Sunday morning, Mother's Day, at 9am and started with the usual stretching and warmups to get our bodies loose. After we played catch we took what we baseball players call an "innie outtie"; otherwise known as an Infield/Outfield to you non-baseball players. After our innie outtie we went into batting practice. Now batting practice with 3 groups can be long if you're a pitcher (and believe me I know how long it can be), but we had 5 groups to get through since there were about 50 guys in camp. After batting practice we took a lunch break before heading into a 12 inning intersquad game. They made two teams with 10 hitters each and halfway through the game switched in guys who hadn't started. I played the first half of the game in right field. I went 1 for 4 in my spring training debut with a single and two strikeouts. Of course, who else would I face in my first at-bat but salted Major League veteran Jose Lima and of course I struck out.

Although my spring may have started on a sour note on Sunday I turned it around on Monday going 3 for 4 with a single, double, and home run. Tuesday I went 0 for 3 with 2 K and yesterday I turned it on again going 2 for 3 with a single, double, and walk with 3 RBIs. I've made the first round of cuts for position players, which is quite exciting. I think I'm gaining the respect of my fellow players because of the way I've been hitting the ball. I think a lot of guys who knew I used to pitch thought that I wouldn't be able to hit the ball as well as I have been, but I've definitely suprised them. It makes me feel good to know that all the hard work I've put in for the past year is paying off in dividens. The manager, Gary Templeton, told me today that I've been doing a hell of a job so far. That means a lot to me and makes me want to work harder to earn a spot on the team.

It's always fun to have guys with Major League experience out on the field because not only do they know how to have a good time, but they give valuable advice to us young'uns to help make us better ball players. Lima is no exception. He's a fun loving guy who loves to be out on the field. He's always telling a story or making the team laugh, which is a vital thing to have in the clubhouse. There's one on every team and Lima is our guy.

I did it!

FINALLY! It has happened! I got myself an invite to spring training with the Long Beach Armada. I went to their one day tryout this past Saturday, which was a VERY long day I might add, and received an invitation to compete for a spot in the outfield. This is the culmination of a year's worth of hard work and I couldn't have done it without the support of my friends and family. I love them and thank them for all their support. I feel vindicated. By that I mean that I feel like somebody other than myself sees my potential as an outfielder and believes that I can compete professionally. As hard as it is to get into pro ball, it's even harder to switch positions and compete at the professional level. I've always felt that I was an excellent hitter, but never had the chance to show anybody because everybody thinks that pitchers can't hit. Well guess what? They can!

As happy and elated as I am to get a spring invite, I still have a lot of work to do. I need to come into spring training and show them that I deserve to be on the team. I hit 3 days a week and workout the other 2 and play on the weekends. I think for me it's just a matter of getting at bats and seeing as much pitching as I can. I'll be competing against guys who have much more experience than me so it's important that I do well. I know they bring a lot of guys into camp and dispose of them pretty quickly, so I definitely have my work cut out for me.

The pay isn't going to be any good, but I already knew this. Independent ball probably, scratch that, DOES pay the worst in professional baseball. Guys with little or no experience make less than $1000 a month. Some as little as $500 a month, which is by no means a living wage. We don't play for the money, but for the opportunity and love of the game. Confucius said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." My journey is about to begin and I've got a long way to go. Wish me luck.

Random ramblings

So last weekend I went to see I Love You, Man with my wife, Stefanie, and let me be the first to say that you MUST go see this movie. I thought it was absolutely hilarious. It had me laughing the whole time. I can't say it was the same for my wife, but she was laughing at certain moments. The acting of Peter's wife was a little cheesy, but the rest of the acting was great. There are so many one liners from this movie it's hard to pick my favorite. Jason Segal and Paul Rudd were fantastic together, as they have been in previous movies, but never as the lead characters.

I've got a tryout coming up on Saturday for the Long Beach Armada of the Golden League. This tryout is a one day tryout, unlike the Orange County tryout, which was a very long two days. I'm assuming they're going to run it like a usual tryout, but I was told they were going to make the first cuts in the middle of the afternoon, which means they might have two games. If by chance I don't make the team there is another tryout is Phoenix on April 5th for the Yuma Scorpions. Their website says they have an unusual amount of roster spots to fill, but that doesn't mean anything. If I don't make that team, there's another chance that I might get invited to a tryout with the Tucson Toros. I've emailed them and am waiting for a response.

I've also joined the Twitter world. I figured Facebook wasn't enough of a distraction during work so I setup a Twitter account. So far I have 3 followers. I know. I'm popular. There's not really much to Twitter. It's basically a Facebook status update and that's about it. The only difference is you can follow pretty much anything or anybody from friends and family to websites such as PC World and Engadget. Updates are called "Tweets" and are limited to 140 characters. That's pretty much it. You can follow anybody and search for anything, which is pretty cool.

Dale, thanks for the shout out on the Century Club post. We should hang out again soon. I'm on Twitter now so don't be afraid to follow me.

I think that's all the random thoughts going through my head at this point. I hope everybody is doing well.

Back to work

I know it's been a while but I finally have some free time to write. Anyways, the honeymoon is now over and it's time to get back to work. Work right now is really slow for me and it's hard to get on a job for more than a few days without having to take a day off due to no jobs going on with the shop. It looks like the economic slowdown has hit PCC with full force. Since I've been back I haven't worked a full week, with the exception of last week and it looks like this week won't be any different. I was over at Warner Brothers for a few days and out in LA for a few days as well. It seems like our ailing economy will never recover, with all these companies cutting jobs and putting people out of work. I did read an article today on my phone that was saying how people who have been jobless for almost a year now are actually enjoying their time off by spending more time with their families and learning new hobbies and such. I know what it feels like and after being off for two weeks on my honeymoon I felt like I was ready to get back to work. It was nice to have a few days off work when I came back though. Anyways, I digress.

Getting back to baseball and stepping in the batter's box after 5 weeks off definitely felt weird. Although I didn't do as bad as I thought I would, but I did strike out twice in my first game back with the Redbirds. I also walked twice in that game and stole a base. After embaressing myself I decided it was time to see Craig again. For those of you who don't know Craig is my hitting coach. He's worked with many big league hitters and used to be a scout for the White Sox as well. We fixed something that he had seen that had to do with my back leg and hips. Needless to say the problem was fixed and I was anxious to get back to the field to try it out but low and behold mother nature had something to say about it. She refused to let me play this week and from the looks of it she's going to have a repeat performance this upcoming weekend. I'm also sad because this coming weekend is the Annual CLU Alumni game. I don't know if the Alumni game has ever been rained out but there's a strong possibility that it might be this week. There is also a chance that I might be playing this summer with the Orange County Flyers of the Golden League. If that doesn't work out then there's also a possibility that I might be playing in Marion, IL in the Frontier League.

Oh, some new exciting personal info, I got a new router and it works like a charm. Before I had an old junk Microsoft router that was unsecured and open for business to the public. Anybody who wanted to connect to it could because there was no password to connect to the network. This new one I got yesterday at Best Buy is a D-Link and is primarily built for gaming. The reason I got a new router was because the old one for some reason or another kept dropping my wireless connection. Ever since AT&T came out to fix our internet that wasn't working when we got home (go figure) the router had been acting up. The guy told me that my router was very touchy and sensitive and had a tendency to drop the connection. It would literally do that every 15 minutes or so. This new router since I hooked it up has been awesome and hasn't dropped the connection yet. It seems to be a pretty popular router wand was a PC World Magazine top choice in 2007. That must mean it's the BEST! Did you catch that sarcasm there? I thought so. All in all I'm just happy to have a router that acutally works and to have my internet work the way it should work, not being slow as molasses. YES!!! Anyways, that's about all I got right now. Kind of disappointing I know but hey, that's what you get when its 11:50pm and I'm staring to fall asleep in my bed sitting on my laptop writing this blog. Maybe next time I'll be a little more exciting. haha just kidding. I'm always exciting if you hadn't noticed. I'm just rambling on now. Alrighty. One more thing. I'm actually curious to see how many people are actually reading this thing so for my sake I'm going to ask you guys a favor and just leave me a comment if you happened to read this blog and let me know what you guys think. Hell, you could even give me a topic to write about and I'll fire on all cylinders and give you what I got. Dale, I know you got something. haha. Alrighty, I'm out.

The End Is Near

We're back in Madrid now and we leave in two days. We took a day trip to Barcelona yesterday and boy was it a long day. We woke up a little after 5am to catch our 6:30am train ride. The ride took just under 3 hours, of which we used to catch some more Zs. Upon our arrival to Barcelona Sants station we found the tourist information booth and bought two tickets for an all day bus tour around the whole city, which included 44 different stops. Albeit, a lot of the stops were pretty close to each other, the tour did take us around the entire city. There were two different routes, the red route, which covered the northern part of the city, and the blue route, which covered the southern part of the city, which was longer. We started our journey on the blue route and toured most of the southern part of the city. We decided since we were limited to time that we would only get off on stops that looked interesting or had something interesting to tour. There were 3 stops that we were going to get off for sure and if we saw something else then we would stop.

Our first stop landed us in the middle of the city at the cathedral, which was under construction. We were about to go inside but turned away after seeing beggars line the enterance to the cathedral begging for money. We decided to eat lunch, which took an hour, and then head out to catch the bus at one of the stops. Lunch took forever because there was only one waiter and two other people running the entire place. We ordered our favorite dish, fideguay, and enjoyed a few tapas of potatoes while we waited. On our walk back to the next pick up point we noticed that there were TONS of people walking around, much more than in Madrid. Granted it was Saturday, but we hadn't seen that many people walking around in Madrid. We headed for La Pedrera, a museum dedicated to the mastermind architecht Antoni Gaudi. It was his masterpiece that he created over a century ago and to this day remains one of the finest works of modern architecture in Barcelona. There were two more buildings created by him that we would eventually see after our visit to La Pedrera.

We hopped on the next bus that passed by and were on our way to another one of Gaudi's masterpieces, La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a gothic church dedicated to the Sagrada family. To this day the church has yet to be completed, even after over 100 years of work. The interesting thing about this church is that it has been privately funded by anyonomous donations since it's inception to this current day. I know now after visiting why it has suffiecient funds. The entrance fee is 11 Euro per person. It's bad enough to have to pay 11 Euro to get into the place but if you want to go up to the second floor that'll cost another 2.50 per person. Oh, did I mention that there's a line to go up as well? While we were there it was a little over 30 minutes. Anyways, so as soon as we entered the church we noticed there was nothing to see because the WHOLE THING was under construction. Construction of this church began in the late 1800s and probably won't be completed for probably another 50 years at least. It is definitley a sight to see and a very beautifully designed church. There was a museum as well underneath the church in which we toured as well, so at least we felt as though we got our money's worth and we were at least contributing to finishing the project.

Instead of taking the bus all the way around city to get just a mile away we decided to walk back over to Gaudi's third piece of architectural mastery entitled Casa Batllo (pronounced bought-yo). He lived in this house for a while and we decided to venture through it to see what it was all about. First of all, he doesn't use straight lines in any of his work; everything has a curved surface. The concepts and designs that he came up with are mind boggling. To think that this kind of work was done 100 years ago is quite fascinating. The house itself feels like you're walking through a house at Disneyland. One design aspect of this house that I found intriguing was that there was an inside patio with a sky light. The walls were tiled in blue as well. But here's the interesting thing; the higher up on the wall the darker the blue tile and the smaller the windows were. The lower you went on the wall the lighter colored blue the tile was and the bigger the windows were. The reasoning behind this is the darker tiles up near the top were used to absorb more light, thus leading to smaller windows. Gaudi was big on natural light and used nature as his teacher. The lighter tiles toward the bottom reflected light and therefore leads to bigger windows to allow for more natural light. It's hard to describe, so I'll just post some pictures.

After our walk through Casa Batllo we headed back for the train station to catch our 9pm train back to Madrid. We decided to walk, which was a little over 1.5 miles. Our feet were tired and my shoulders were sore from carrying our backpack all day so it was nice to sit down on the train and just relax on the ride home. We were supposed to go to Toledo today but we woke up this morning and ate breakfast and were still exhausted from yesterday, so we decided to skip the trip and just relax the rest of the day. I think today was the first time we actually weren't traveling or doing some sort of tourist attraction. It was actually nice to just lay in bed and watch tv. We decided to file through our pictures and get rid of the ones we didn't like and or want. So far, after deleting all the pics we didn't want we still have almost 2,000 pictures.

Stef and I were talking about it today and we were both saying how we were ready to go home. It's been such a great trip and I think it's just worn us out. We've been on the move for 10 straight days and we've been walking everywhere and doing and seeing as much as possible. We're ready to get back into the swing of things at home and ready to settle down and start our journey through life together. We also miss our puppies too. haha. We leave back to the states on Tuesday and I'm excited for the flight home, as weird as that sounds. I'm excited to fly business class again, which will make the perfect ending to our honeymoon. Until then I bid you adieu and my next blog will come to you back in the states. Enjoy these last pics from Spain.

La Pedrera - Museum dedicated to Gaudi

Stef and I in front of La Pedrera

La Sagrada Familia church

La Sagrada Familia from further away

Casa Batllo - Gaudi's home

Driving in Spain...Oh boy!

After our stay in Sevilla we had a rental car waiting for us at the train station via Hertz. I knew it was a stick and that it would be like riding a bike. Once you learn you never forget. It took me stalling a few times before I picked it back up and we were on our way to Marbella. We decided that since Marbella would probably not have anything to offer us in the realm of tourism, other than seeing expensive cars and homes, that we would drive through the city of Ronda. Driving through the back roads of Spain was absolutely AMAZING! The views were truely breathtaking. Fields of lush green grass and olive trees as far as the eye could see decorated the mountainous landscape.

Upon arrival in Ronda, which is famous for the Puente Nueva bridge, we parked, got a map, and started being tourists. The city itself is built on a huge hill and the views from the bridge were spectacular. We couldn't really get a feel for how big the bridge really was until we hiked down this trail to where we could take pictures. You see how big it is in the postcards but seeing it in person is a whole different story. We found our way down the trail and headed down, which took about 15 minutes. Upon reaching the bottom, we were taken aback at the true beauty and size of this bridge. Pictures don't do it justice.

After an afternoon meal at McDonalds we continued our journey down to the Beverly Hills of Spain, Marbella. The second part of the drive reminded me of driving up to Big Bear. The road was very windy and trees covered the entire mountain. We arrived at the Hotel Guadalmina Golf in the mid evening and felt like we were at a 5 star resort. Upon entering the room, we went to our balcony to see the ocean staring us in the face with its waves crashing down on the beach. We looked up restaurants in the area and decided on Trader Vic's. Since we didn't want to drive we took a taxi, which took less than 10 minutes. We truely felt at home when he asked for the 15 Euro fare to take us a few miles down the road. Trader Vic's is like a mix between hawaiian and chinese food. More of a fusion type restaurant. We had an excellent meal and then caught a break only paying 13 Euro for our taxi home.

After breakfast in the morning, which overlooked one of the holes on the golf course along with the ocean, we set our sights for Granada, home of the famous Alhambra. The drive there was great...until we got into the city. For some reason, the GPS decided to take us on the scenic route through the city, instead of going the easy way and wrapping around the city to our hotel. I'll get to that a little bit later. Apparently, our GPS was set to take us the shortest possible route, not the the fastest route. So, as we were driving through the city admiring the sights, my GPS told me to enter a roundabout and take a left exit. Well, I went straight instead and ended up in the middle of the city in the Taxi and Bus Only lane, with taxis and scooters riding my tail. I guess once you drive the streets enough you get a feel for them, but let me remind you this was my second day driving in Spain and I was most certainly NOT comfortable driving these streets just yet. After making some more wrong turns and circling the city twice we ended up at the Hotel Alhambra Palace. It was a beautiful hotel that sat atop the hill, right next to the Alhambra, with a spectacular view of the city. After arriving at the 2nd floor we looked at the door and got a little giddy because we had a view of the city. The first thing we did was open the door and stand out on the small balcony and admire the beauty of the city; along with take pictures. Yesterday we had our tour of the Alhambra, which took about 3.5 hours, and then toured the rest of the city with a very nice Australian couple we met on our tour. From the time our tour started (around 10am) until the time we got back to the hotel (8pm) we figured we were walking around for about 10 hours. Needless to say our legs were tired.

This morning we awoke and left for Cordoba to return the rental car and to see La Mezquita. Two hours later we arrived in Cordoba at our hotel. I remembered to put on the "Fastest Route" setting on our GPS so I wouldn't be driving through streets as wide as the car and making impossible turns that would make me stall (like those in Granada). We returned the car (late of course) to Hertz and walked over to La Mezquita, which is a huge mosque. We had a bitter taste for the city in our mouths after an argument with the Hertz woman, who forced us to pay for an extra day for returning the car late. They'll be hearing from us! Anyways, on our bitter walk to La Mezquita we decided this city sucks and that we were giving them none of our business. Stef is a life saver and let me tell you why. Way back in Sevilla, she thought it would be better to spend an extra day in Madrid because she heard there was nothing to do in Cordoba. Also, our little Spain tour book said you could do Cordoba in one day. We were scheduled for two nights here, but luckily, Stef booked us back in Madrid a night earlier and we'll be gladly leaving this city in the morning via the high speed train.

We booked ourselves a day trip to Barcelona on Saturday while back in Sevilla, so we're really looking forward to that. I think so far our favorite city is Madrid. There's just so much to do and see and it's a more lively city. Sevilla and Granada were beautiful and historic, but we think Mardid has both of those qualities, but is also young and alive and not so touristy. Anywho, we're back in Madrid tomorrow for four more days before heading home next Tuesday. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

A lake on the drive to Ronda

The Puente Nuevo bridge from the bottom of our hike

The view from our room in Marbella

The view from our room in Granada

At Saint Nicholas Square in the Albacin with the Alhambra in the background

See Ya Later Sevilla!

We’ve been in Sevilla the past 3 days and have had a blast exploring and wandering about the streets seeing the sights and sounds that this wonderful city has to offer. We got a little lost the first night here looking for a restaurant that Stef had seen on our map of Sevilla but ended up at a different restaurant called the Restaurante de Santa Cruz. Stef ordered chicken with a garlic sauce with rice and vegetables and I ordered the special of the day which came with a fried fish plate, paella, and pudding for dessert. However, the lady forgot to write down Stef’s chicken and she only got vegetables and rice. My fried fish plate arrived with variety of fish including calamari and anchovies. I’ve never had an anchovy before so I gave it a whirl. It didn’t really have much taste to it. It was actually very bland. The paella, which I’ve never had before, was very good. It had mussels, pork, shrimp, and rice with peas in a cheesy like sauce. It was very delicious. I finished off the meal with some delicious pudding, of which Stef ruined for me because she told me it was made from egg yolks and then made gagging sounds. I ate the rest however and it was still delicious.

Our second day, which was our first full day, we had a city tour scheduled for us via bus. The tour included four different stops around the city. The tour ran from 10am – 8pm and had busses at every stop every 20 minutes. Our first stop was the Plaza de Espana. It was a beautifully constructed plaza that was enormous in size and beauty. The plaza was in the shape of a half circle with a huge fountain in the middle. We wandered about taking tons of pictures and admiring its beauty for about an hour or so before going back to the bus. We stopped off in a café right next to the bus stop to get a “café con leche” and then jumped back on the bus. Our second stop brought us to a monastery which was converted into a contemporary art museum. It was actually kind of boring so we ended up leaving and getting on the next bus that came. Our third stop led us to the Isla de Magica, which is a theme park that recreates Columbus finding America. It was closed however, so we walked across the bridge to take pictures of the graffiti that decorated the walls. The graffiti here is very beautiful and artistic. We wondered if the graffiti here was seen as a bad thing or as a good thing because there was so much of it around. It seems a lot different than the graffiti back home. After we took pictures of the graffiti we walked back over the bridge and waited for the next bus. About 25 minutes later the bus showed up and we were on our way. Our last stop was where the bus had picked us up, at the Torre del Oro, or Tower of Gold. It was an old watch tower that lowered the bridge to the city by a chain to protect it from outsiders. It has since been turned into a museum that people can walk through and climb. After our tour we decided to get some food. We walked by the Plaza de Torros, which was an old bull fighting ring turned into a museum. We decided to get food first then go take the tour of the museum, so we found a café right down the street and ate there. We both had the special of the day, which was pork loin. It was probably the best piece of pork I’ve ever eaten. It had so much flavor that it didn’t need any sauce. We sat next to a couple outside that we had seen at our hotel before. While we were waiting for our check we started talking and they told us they were from Boston. It was nice to actually speak English for a change. After we talked to them we left for the museum and took the tour there. It was quite interesting and lasted about 30 minutes. After the tour we decided to head back to the room to try and see if we could change one of our days in Córdoba. We decided to cancel one night in Cordoba and add it in Madrid, since there is really only one thing to see in Córdoba; La Mezquita. As we made our way back to the hotel we had the hankering for some churros, so we found a place near the hotel that had some and indulged. When we got back to the hotel we made some phone calls and were told to call back Monday to change things so we decided to look at the pictures from the day. Stef took almost 400 and as we were looking through them we both started falling asleep. We decided to take a quick 30 minute nap at 8:30pm and would go to dinner after we woke up. Well, we woke up at 9:10pm and decided we were both too tired to get up and go to dinner, so we fell back asleep and ended up sleeping until midnight. We woke up and had a protein bar for dinner, if you want to call it that, and then went back to sleep.

We awoke the next morning to find that it was already noon. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw my watch. I seriously couldn’t believe I had slept until noon. We slept for 15 hours that night, a feat which I had never accomplished before. It was ironic though considering our bed is as hard as a rock. LITERALLY! We sat on it when we got here and laughed. It was like sitting on a piece of plywood with springs. After we got up my back was immediately sore and got worse over the course of the day. We failed to realize it was Sunday until we went to eat breakfast and sat down at this little café right next to the hotel. We started looking at the information Joel (our AAA travel agent) had given us and decided we wanted to go see the Real Alcazar and the cathedral, which also had the Giraldar. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, the Real Alcazar was already closed by the time we were eating, but the cathedral was supposed to be open from 2:30pm till 6pm. We finished eating breakfast, which was pork loin, potatoes, and two over easy eggs, at 2:30pm and headed over to the cathedral to go have a look. Well, the one day we decided to go see it there was a special religious service going on and it was going to be closed all day. We were pretty bummed considering we had walked past it the whole day previous and didn’t go in. The three things we were supposed to see in Sevilla and we didn’t see any of them. We got to see them from the outside, which they were beautiful, but didn’t get to see the inside. The cathedral is apparently the biggest gothic structure in the world. After our disappointment we started walking around and decided to get a coffee at Starbucks. After about 40 minutes we got up and started to do some shopping. The souvenir shops had pretty much the same things, which weren’t all that great, so we bought a few goodies and called it a day on shopping.

Stef had seen these horse carriage rides the day of our tour and wanted to go on one but it seemed a little too pricey. Well, she REALLY wanted to go and we decided to take the tour at night around 7:30pm. It was actually a great tour, which took us all around the city. It was quite romantic and relaxing as well. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride and take in the sights without having to snap pictures and walk around everywhere. Our tour lasted about an hour and we decided to have dinner afterwards at a café we saw while walking around earlier. We got our favorite dish on the trip, Fideguay, which is like a mix between macaroni and cheese and rice-a-roni. It was tasty as usual. Of course, what’s a meal here without sangria? We’ve tried the sangria from every café we’ve visited and they’re all unique to their respective owners. Some are sweet, some are strong, and some are just plain GOOD! After dinner we headed back to the room to take care of some things before heading back out to grab a quick bite to eat and a glass of wine before heading back to bed. We’re on our way to Marbella tomorrow and that’s when the fun begins. We get our rental car and it’s a stick! Good thing I know how to drive one because it seems like all the cars here are sticks. It’s also good that we have a GPS system to keep us on track because I’m afraid I might get lost here. We’re going to stop off in Rhonda on our way down, which is this old historic town that has a HUGE bridge. It’s only 130 miles down there but we want to get an early start because we only stay down there for one day. Marbella is apparently the Beverly Hills of Spain and has all the ritzy shopping. Oh yay! (that was sarcasm). Well, good thing for me we’re staying on a golf course. I can go golf while Stef is shopping. Haha. After Marbella we have a quick 70 mile trip up to Granada and then another quick 60 mile drive to Cordoba. I’ll be sure to write and keep everybody posted. Enjoy these pics in the mean time. Adios!

In the Plaza de Espana

On our fabulous horse carriage ride

The world's MOST uncomfortable bed!

What's this? SNOW!?

Greetings everybody! I’m coming to you from the high speed train in Madrid on our way to Sevilla. Yesterday Stef and I had a lot of fun traveling around the city and exploring on our own. We had a tour of Madrid via bus that started at 10am to kick off our morning. We almost missed it because we got up a little late. I set my alarm but fell asleep after turning it off and we woke up with only 20 minutes before we had to leave. We also decided to stop and get breakfast, which consisted of a croissant and a cup of coffee. It’s interesting here because if you order a coffee or “café” they give you just that, a small serving of coffee. However, if you order a coffee with milk, or “coffee with milk,” you get a latte with foam. The couple time’s we ordered it we they made cool little pictures in the foam. Stef got a heart and I got a little tree. After breakfast we had a little over 10 minutes to walk to the office to be picked up for our tour. We got to the office 5 minutes late but thankfully they allowed us to board the bus, which was another couple minute walk away. We boarded the bus and were on our way. They took us all around Madrid and explained the history of the city. The tour lasted two and a half hours and dropped us off at the world famous Prado Museum. We decided since we were there we would take that time to wander about the halls of the museum and appreciate some fine art from around the world. After we toured the museum for a couple hours we decided to search for a statue that Stef had seen on the tour and wanted a picture of. The name of the statue was “Al Maestro,” which was a dedication to the teacher. Well, we didn’t remember where it was and spent probably a good 2 hours looking for it, but to no avail we didn’t find it. We stopped and asked multiple people but apparently there are tons of “Al Maestro” statues around and nobody knew where it was. We settled for taking pictures of everything else and headed back to the hotel after our fingers and toes starting hurting from being so cold. In total, we took almost 300 pictures for the day. Upon returning to the hotel we decided we needed to eat something, so before we went back to the room we went and got a pizza and some churros at a place near the hotel. While our fingers and toes were defrosting we enjoyed some coffee and churros. The churros here are different than back at home. They’re not coated with cinnamon and sugar. They kind of looked like deep fried bananas but tasted delicious. We also saw people dipping them in a cup of chocolate. So, we ordered a cup of chocolate and did as the Spaniards do and it was unbelievably delicious. After our cheese pizza and churros we got back to the hotel and rested our feet and took a shower. We decided to go to this place my friend Alex had recommended called Casa Paco. We left the room around 9:30pm and got there around 9:45. The guy at the restaurant helped us with the menu and we ordered ½ a kilogram of Top Sirloin and ½ a kilogram of Filet Mignon for dinner. We ordered the meat to be cooked medium and also a couple salads and a pitcher of sangria. The sangria was delicious as well as the salad. When our steaks arrived they came SIZZLING on a very hot plate. We cut into the meat and it was as raw as could be. The outside looked cooked perfectly but the inside was definitely not. We sat there debating on whether or not to tell them to cook it more but one of the waiters came to us and showed us that we had to cook it ourselves on the plate, which was an interesting concept. Once cooked properly, the steak was so flavorful and juicy. It was easily the best steak I’ve ever eaten. The sirloin had more flavor but the filet was more tender. Either way it was an incredible dinner. The icing on the cake was our desert. We ordered almond ice cream, which was out of this world. All in all it was a fantastic meal and a great way to end our first stop in Madrid.

Today we are off to Sevilla. Upon waking up, Stef opened the curtains to our surprise, it was SNOWING! I had seen that the forecast had called for late sprinkles of know, but there was nothing by the time we went to bed. It looked like it had been snowing for a while. We headed out to get some food and there was at least ½ inch of snow on the ground with more coming down. It was such a sight to see because I haven’t seen it snow since I was a little boy. We would take family vacations up to Big Bear every winter and there was always snow, but rarely did it ever snow while we were there. It was the perfect ending to our time in Madrid. We’re looking forward to what Sevilla has to offer. We’re renting a car and driving for the next 8 days so that should be exciting. We have a GPS unit so hopefully we won’t get lost. I’m pretty good with directions and I have a pretty good sense of direction. After Sevilla we head down to Marbella, then up to Granada, then to Cordoba, and back to Madrid. We have 3 more days in Madrid when we get back so we’re either going to take a day trip to Barcelona or Toledo. Toledo is a cool 30 minutes on the Train I believe and Barcelona is a little longer in the range of 3 to 4 hours. We’ll play it by ear and see how we feel when we get back. Oh and by the way the trains here are awesome! We’re on the train as I speak and it’s first class luxury all the way. We have our own little table and seats that recline for a comfortable ride. The scenery is also very beautiful. We’re seeing a lot of the countryside and it is very mountainous and beautiful. A little FYI for you: Spain is the second most mountainous country in Europe behind Switzerland. Anyways, we’re going to enjoy the rest of the ride. I hope everybody is doing well and I’ll post another blog in a few days or so. Enjoy these pictures in the mean time. Bye!

Its SNOWING!!!

The view from our room

In El Parque de Madrid

At the world famous Prado Museum in Madrid

Breakfast "Cafe con Leche"

Greetings from Madrid!

Before takeoff in Philly

Well we finally arrived here in Madrid and WOW! This place is AWESOME! The people so far have been unbelievably nice and very helpful. I guess I'll start with the plane rides over here. First of all, THANKS BOB!!! I've never flown in such luxury before. We flew first class from LAX to Philly, which was really nice, but the best part was the flight from Philly to Madrid via Business Class. WOW! Let me tell you, business class is the way to go. I had enough leg room to actually stretch my feet out ALL THE WAY to the seat in front of me. Upon boarding the plane, I was greeted by Heidi, our stewardess for the flight. She offered Stef and I a glass of champagne right after we sat down. After we sipped on champagne, we looked at the dinner menu to see what we wanted to eat. The entrees consisted of flat iron steak, red snapper, rack of lamb, and a few others. After putting my order in with Heidi, she asked if we would like a beverage after takeoff, so I ordered a beer and Stef had a glass of wine. I couldn't help but sit there and giggle like a little school girl at all the amenities and luxuries of the business class. The first thing I did was play with the reclining seat, which almost folds down flat into a bed. I then continued to pull out the FREAKING TV out of my armrest. I was seriously grinning from ear to ear and just laughing. It was by far the best flight EVER!!!

After takeoff we started to get settled in. I reclined my chair and just relaxed and listened to some music while the announcements were being made. Soon thereafter, Heidi came by with a hot towel to wipe my face. After a quick fresh-up with the towel she brought over my beer and Stef's glass of wine. For dinner, we enjoyed a salad as the first course, our entree as the second course, and desert as the third course, which was either a cinnamon chocolate cake or an apple butter tart. Stef had the flat iron steak for dinner and the cake for desert and I had the snapper and the butter tart for desert. The food was excellent. My snapper came with spinach and brown rice and Stef's came with a twice baked potato and peas. She didn't like her peas so I ate them and gave her some of my spinach. After dinner was over I relaxed and layed back to enjoy a movie on my little TV. I had many a choice of movies, music, and TV to watch. I was debating to either watch The Dark Knight or Baby Mama. I had seen The Dark Knight before so I chose to watch Baby Mama, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It was quite entertaining and funny, but I ended up falling asleep towards the end. Stef chose to watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. After our movies we both ended up asleep in our lounge chairs sleeping like babies. I slept really well but woke up with a sore neck.

Upon landing in Madrid we made a hasty exit toward the baggage claim to get our luggage. It took a little longer than expected and I was starting to worry after about 30 minutes of not seeing our luggage. While waiting we met a nice guy who lives here but was in the States visiting some family in Phoenix. He was very nice and his two kids were really cute. He had a 1 year old little boy and a daughter who I'd guess was about 2 or 3. Shortly after talking to him our luggage showed up and we were on our way. We went outside and there was a driver waiting for us with my name on a sign and everything. I felt like a VIP traveling in such style. Our driver's name was Christobal and he was very nice. I decided that there was no time like the present and starting conversing with him in Spanish. He told me that my accent was "perfecto." Oh, and by the way, he drove us in a VERY nice Mercedes that drove really smooth and nice. Might have to pick up one of those some day. Anyways, I digress. As we were driving we kept talking and in Spanish and English and he was telling us about some of the things and places around. I told him where we were going and what we were doing and he was very helpful in giving us information on what to do and how things worked. Twenty minutes later we arrived at our hotel in the Plaza de Santa Ana. As soon as our car stopped we had two bell hops help with our luggage and escort us into the hotel to check in. The gentleman who checked us in was very nice and courteous. We got our keys and headed up to the room. Upon entering the room we found a very narrow corridor that led to a room a little bigger than a king sized bed. The room is very small but also practical. It's nothing like a hotel in the States where there is a lot of empty space to fill. It has the bare necessities and a nice flat screen TV mounted flush in the wall. As we speak, I'm sitting on the bed watching Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel in Spanish.

So far our time here has been awesome and we haven't even done anything yet! Oh, I forgot, I keep asking everybody about how the tipping system works here. I asked the concierge about tipping for taxis and such and he said no more than 1 or 2 Euro and the guy who brought up our luggage said its not required. It feels weird not to tip because we're so used to it back home. We gave our bell hop 3 Euro for bringing our bags up and he was very thankful. We're going to shower and possibly take a quick nap before we head out to explore the city. I'll try to keep everybody updated as often as possible but there's so much to do here! In the mean time, here are some pictures from our flight. Enjoy!

Whats that?

Coming into Madrid from the plane

We're tired

This is pretty much our whole room