More Cars, Don Quijote, and a Palace.

On Monday we made plans to go visit some cars around the outskirts of Madrid.  At first we considered taking buses, but a lot of our time would be wasted waiting for them to arrive.  We wouldn't be able to get nearly as much done, so Javier requested to rent a car.  Our request was answered early the next morning by a man on the other side of town.  In the afternoon, we took the bus down to Principe Pio to get the car.

Our plan was to visit two or three Land Rovers in the area around Guadalajara and to stop in Alcala de Henares on the way there.  Alcala de Henares is well known for its university, one of the oldest in the world.  It is also the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote the very famous novel El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. 

The city is beautiful.  The old buildings, cute central plaza, and column lined streets are wonderful to explore.  We had a quiet and peaceful stroll through the city. 

In the Calle Mayor, we found a restaurant and got some lunch.  We had only an hour left before we needed to leave the city, and there would be little time to eat later on.  When we emerged from our gluttonous meal of chopitos and boquerones, we found ourselves right across the street from the birth place of Cervantes.  Naturally, we got a photo with Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. 

Honestly, we think that our adaptation of Sancho and Quijote are a little better.  No shame whatsoever.

(Halloween, 2014)

And, of course, we can never mention Quijote and Sancho without singing this song.

We left Alcala at 18:00 and drove through the countryside to see a Santana in Pozo de Guadalajara.  The owner met us at a gas station in the center of the village, and we checked out the rig.

This vehicle was in better condition than the last, but was still not looking so sharp.  The tires were in great condition, and the body was in fairly good shape, but there was a fairly strong leak from the engine.  This vehicle showed evidence of the same moss growth as the last car, and the vehicle had been painted sloppily by the owner. 

We all hopped in and went out to the farmlands to drive it around on the dirt roads.  It drove smoothly and changed gears well, but was very sluggish.  This was not too surprising, as these vehicles are not known for their speed.  The brakes were also incredibly ineffective, meaning most slowing of the vehicle had to be done by changing gears.

It was fun to drive the Santana around, but our final impression of this particular vehicle was not the best.  

After an hour or so in Pozo, we continued on to see the next Santana.  Driving through Guadalajara, the route to the next country village was complicated.  We actually passed the turnoff to
the village the first time, because the sign was not clear.  The village was called Alarilla, but since the sign was old it looked like "ALAPILLA".  I am to blame partly for missing the turn, since Spanish is not my native language.  A Spaniard would probably have recognized the missing leg of the 'R'. 

As the sun began to set, we arrived to a cute village clinging to an odd bell shaped hill.  The owner of the car was waiting for us in the street and greeted us warmly.  It was immediately clear that this vehicle was in far better condition than the other two we had seen.

The body of the car was in beautiful condition.  The bulkhead was basically rust-free.  The interior was very well kept.  The windows were well sealed - no moss! - and the tires were in good condition.

It is even nicer that the vehicle was a three door with bench seats in the back.  One issue with many of the available Santanas is that they are five doors with bucket seats.  We would need to take out the bucket seats to make the back more livable.  With this vehicle we would have to do much less work to make our living space.

We started up the engine and drove around some country roads.  This engine was much stronger and it drove much faster than the rig in Pozo.  The engine in this vehicle had been changed out recently for a Perkins diesel 4.203 engine.  This 4 cylinder engine was powerful and anything but sluggish.  There was even an additional fifth gear for highways.

This vehicle caught our attention.  It had a new engine, a new gearbox, better fuel economy, was well kept, and the body was perfect for living in.  The price was also of interest.  On the cheaper side, but clearly in better shape that most we would see for more money.

We spent the rest of the evening with the owner.  He was a kind and open man.  After our ride we went to his shop so he could show us some spare parts he had.  He also showed us his Santana Anibal - the most recent Santana 4x4.

The way we were welcomed by this man gave us confidence in the vehicle.  We were invited into his home, introduced to his old aunts, and spent over an hour talking about hunting, the U.S., and driving through Africa.  They offered us drinks and food, and we were very comfortable with them.  It really says a lot about the owner.

We said our goodbyes around 22:30, and drove out of the village.  There was a third vehicle in the area we wanted to see, but it was clearly too late.  We called the owner anyway, but he was not available to meet up at that time.  (If you don't know about Spain, you might think it was way too late to call.  But it really isn't unreasonable, because people eat and are awake much later here.)  Knowing that we would get up early the next day, we rushed back to Madrid for a few hours of sleep.

The next day, Tuesday, we decided to get up early and do something fun.  We still had the car till 14:00, and it seemed a good use of the car to drive somewhere new.  We discussed going to Aranjuez to see the palace, or possibly Llescas to see another car, but we decided to go to El Pardo in the end.

El Pardo is a forested area in the north of Madrid where kings would go to hunt in the winter.  The palace there is small, but elegant.  It seems there is not a lot of tourism to this palace.  The properties do not appear as a point of interest on any tourist websites we have seen.

It is also likely that few Spaniards visit.  During the decades when Francisco Franco governed the country, he lived in the palace.  Any animosity that might exist towards Franco has definitely reduced interest in visiting his former residence, even if it has a more historical significance than that.

These days the palace is reserved for visiting heads of state.  There are a series of more modern rooms where presidents and prime ministers can stay while they do their business in Madrid.  

The palace has some small gardens surrounding it, but nothing like many other palaces.  The main purpose of the properties was for hunting by the royal family.  It was a place to visit in the winter, so the gardens are simple.

There are three open courtyards aligned symmetrically in the center of the palace.  They are all covered now, to protect them from the weather.  The only photos I could get of the interior were in this first courtyard. 

During the tour we visited only part of the palace.  It was interesting that the guide noticed Javier's visual disability and actually gave him permission to touch the furniture.  For the most part, he refrained from doing so. 

Most rooms of the palace have ceilings painted with intricate frescoes and walls lined with beautiful tapestries.  Many of the tapestries are reproductions of paintings by famous artists such as Goya.  Much of the art is themed around hunting, and the walls of many rooms are adorned with images of different bird species.  I loved the rooms with birds.

Near the center of the building we visited the rooms where Franco lived.  There were three rooms in particular: his bedroom, his rumpus room, and his bathroom.  The rumpus room - for lack of a better description - was adorned with a couple recliners, the palace's first television, and glass cabinets containing all his different uniforms.  The fact that they displayed the bathroom was kind of funny.  It was a modern bathroom; Franco had the bathroom remodeled a couple years before his death.  One British woman on the tour looked in and said, "It's just a modern bathroom really."  To this I responded, "But it's the bathroom of the Generalissimo!"  Why they display the bathroom is beyond me.  Maybe it's for comic relief?  For us it became a joke: "We saw the bathroom where Franco pooped!"

A few blocks from the palace is a small building called La Casita del Principe.  I could not take any photos inside.  This is a shame, because the interior of this otherwise unspectacular building was breathtaking.  All of the original embroidered wallpaper and exquisite furniture was in almost perfect condition.  Every surface was bright colors and delicate patterns.  The preserved condition of the walls and upholstery in the Casita is due to it being closed up for most of its existence.  The building was built by Carlos III for use by his son Carlos IV for parties.  The place was used infrequently, so it did not deteriorate. 

After our journey to El Pardo, we returned the car and took the bus back to the apartment.  We were absolutely exhausted from the past two days of running around on little sleep, so we crashed the moment we got home.

Out to View a Car and Fly a Kite

After weeks of looking around and never feeling it was quite time to actually go look at any vehicles for our trip, we finally went to see one yesterday.  It was the only car of its kind available for sale in the city of Madrid, so it was the easiest for us to go and check out.

We knew from talking with the owner that the car had not been driven for a year or so - a little bit of warning for us.  The battery was also dead.

After a 45 minute ride on the metro, we arrived to southern Madrid and walked to the house of the owner.  It was clear we were in the right place, since we could easily see the Land-Rover from far away. 

This Land-Rover is a Series III Santana.  Basically all of the more rugged models of Land Rover for sale in Spain are Series III Santanas; there are no Defenders to be found.  This particular vehicle is from 1979.

The first thing I noticed was that the front differential seemed to be leaking.  It also seemed that something else was leaking, but it was hard to tell where the leak was coming from.  The chassis seemed very solid - no patches, rust, or corrosion.  The front tires were relatively new, but the back ones were horrendous.  They would definitely need replacing.

The engine was pretty clean and seemed well kept.  There was some corrosion around the radiator, and belts and pipes would need to be replaced.  We expect these things though.  We didn't get to see the engine working.  Unfortunately, the battery the owner had charged wasn't getting the car to roll over.  Really we have no idea if it is solely the battery, or if the engine would have failed to start with a better battery.  This is definitely a bad point for this vehicle.

The body of the car was in exceptional condition for the most part.  The bulkhead showed some rusting, but not much.  The interior had very little rust, and the doors were all solid.  The upholstery on most seats was good, and the interior was well kept.  The only thing that I noticed - probably my favorite issue with the car - was the moss growing in the windows.  Not really good for keeping water out, but maybe we could harvest some mushrooms for dinner.

We finished up with our analysis of the car, said our goodbyes, and left to visit Casa de Campo.  This huge park on the western side of the city is amazing.  You can spend hours walking across it.  We arrived on the bus at around 19:30 and started our hunt for a place to fly our kit.  The park is vegetated and pretty wild, but we needed to find an open place on a hill top.  We had entered the park near Casa de Campo metro station, and I knew that there were some open hills nearer to Lago, so we set off east.  We jogged a bit and finally came to a hill top.  The wind was perfect.

Wrapping up our kite and hiking down the hill, we got out of the park just as the sun set.  We had no idea which buses we needed to take, so the ride home took us a couple of frustrating hours.  Even with a tiresome ending, the day was wonderful.

Our Proposed Route Through Africa

There are many things that one must consider when preparing for a trip like we are to Africa.  It is hard to say which is most important, as all of them are absolutely necessary to make the trip work.  One of the most basic preparations is the route we might take.  I spent many weeks researching places of interest in all the countries on the African continent.  Comparing the volume of places, the price of visas, and magnitude of danger in each country, I have outlined a general route that we could take.  This route is not fixed, and it will most likely be changed as we learn more about visas.  

Recipe: Gumbo

I am not from the south.  Missoula is probably about as close to the opposite side of the country as you can get from Louisiana.  I do not claim to know the best recipe for gumbo; I don't even claim to make anything authentic.  All I know is that I love gumbo, and when the right ingredients are available, I make it the best I can.

The first time I made gumbo, I wasn't even in the U.S.  We spent several months in Spain after we got married, and this is where I taught myself many American recipes.  I would have never learned to make gumbo in the U.S., because I would have just gone to The Dinosaur Cafe and bought a bowl.  When living abroad it is easy to gravitate towards foods that seem like home.  Even when those foods would be uncommon for you normally.

These days I only make gumbo when I can find fresh okra.  The first times I made it without okra.  It just wasn't possible to find any in our neighborhood in northern Madrid.  A couple times I have made it with frozen okra.  One time in Greece, when I spotted okra for the first time in Europe, and once in Montana, when we were given a free bag of frozen okra.  Otherwise, if I don't find fresh okra, I don't make it.

There are a million recipes for gumbo out there, and everybody has their own idea of how it should be.  To me, gumbo should not be a light dish.  Making a really good roux, in my opinion, requires quite some fat.  But what you use and how you cook the gumbo depends on what you like and what your dietary restrictions are.  If you can not or do not eat some of these ingredients, then make adjustments.  Throughout the recipe, I mention some changes you can make.

Ingredients:

• Chicken (500g/1lb)
• Sausage (350g/12oz)
• Shrimp (200g/7oz)
• 1 large Onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
• 4 stalks Celery (sliced)
• 1 Green bell pepper (chopped)
• Flour (3 large spoonfuls)
• Chicken broth (700ml/3 cups)
• Thyme (small bunch fresh)
• Bay leaves (3-4)
• Parsley (small bunch fresh)
• Cayenne or other chilies *Optional*
• salt and pepper
• Fresh okra (350g/12oz) [If you don't use okra - make more roux than specified here (2x)]

The Prep Work:

For my gumbo I use: chicken, pork sausage, and sometimes shrimp.  In this case, I bought chicken legs.  Sometimes I use chicken breast, but let's face it, chicken legs are much more flavorful.  Andouille sausage is preferred, but substitutions are fine.  I have used anything from spicy Italian to plain pork sausage (above).  The only types I avoid are those with paprika or other spices that might conflict with those added to the gumbo.  

I skinned, deboned, and cut the chicken into small pieces.  I always salt my chicken lightly before cooking.  If you are going the fat-rich route (like I do), you can save the skin and bones.  Cut the sausage into small pieces.

Put the chicken in a large heated pot with a little olive oil.  I put the bones and skin as well, because I want as much of the chicken fat to accumulate in the pan.  If you are going light and don't want the fat, you can disregard the skin and bones.

Remove the chicken meat - leaving the bones and skin a while longer - and add the sausage.  Stir gently until cooked.

Remove the sausage from the pot.  Put the chicken and sausage aside for later.  The bones and skin of the chicken can be thrown out, or could be used to make the broth in a pot with some water.  

DO NOT GET RID OF THE ACCUMULATED FAT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE POT!  

Unless you are going for a low-fat gumbo, you will need this fat to make the roux.

Cut all the vegetables (except the okra).

Saute the vegetables until soft and the onions are translucent.  Set aside.

The Roux:

We are now going to start with the roux.  The roux is the base flavor and thickening agent of the gumbo.  It is basically a burnt bechamel.  To make the roux, you need a fat and flour.  We are using the fat reserved from cooking the meat.  If you want you can just use some olive oil, butter, or a mix, but it won't be as flavorful.

(For more information about the art of making bechamel, see our recipe)

Heat the fat on medium-low heat and add three large heaping spoonfuls of flour.

Stir the flour and the fat until they are completely mixed and bubbling.

As the flour starts to brown, stir constantly.  Watch your heat level.  You do not want the flour to burn, just get slowly toasted.  This part of the process is very important and determines what kind of gumbo you will have in the end.  If you want a milder flavor, you can toast it lightly and have a blonde gumbo.  If you want a really strong flavor, toast it for longer and have a blacker gumbo.  I prefer to have something in the middle.

I toast my roux until it is a dark caramel color.

Once you have a roux that is the color you want, it is time to add the broth.  Heat the broth so that it will incorporate into the flour and fat mixture more smoothly.  You have to add the water a little at a time, each time stirring rapidly to get the mixture to an even consistency.  Do not add more than a few spoonfuls of liquid in the beginning, or you will get lumpy roux. 

After adding one cup (235ml) of broth, the roux will be the consistency of apple butter.

After two cups (470ml) of broth, the roux will be smooth and thick like a rich gravy (though I would not suggest it for such a use).

By the time you have added three cups of broth, it should be pretty watered down.  At this point you can add all the cooked meat and vegetables to the pot, and top off with water.  

Get the pot simmering.

The gumbo will seem fairly watery at this point, but don't despair!  It will thicken as it simmers, and the addition of okra later on will make it even thicker.  If you are not able to find okra, make more roux in the beginning.  The more roux you have, the thicker the final product will be.

If the final product is still not thick enough for your tastes, make more roux in another pot, add broth from the main pot to make it smooth, and then incorporate it with the soup in the main pot.  Easy as that.

Add the fresh thyme, bay leaves, and fresh parsley to the pot.  You will take these out later before serving the gumbo.  If you want your gumbo spicy, you can add a crushed dried chili at this time.  For our tastes, one single cayenne chili is sufficient.  It makes the gumbo a little spicy, but doesn't overpower the other flavors.  If you prefer to add a fresh chili, it is advisable to add earlier with the onion and other vegetables.  

You can also add salt and pepper at this time.  If you salted the raw chicken before cooking, be wary of how much salt you add at the end.

Let the pot simmer with the herbs for 3/4 of an hour or so.  If you are cooking the gumbo for the next day, you can let it cool after simmering and finish it right before serving.  If you are eating the gumbo the same day, you can prepare the okra.

Okra is one of the oddest vegetables I've ever used.  Originally from Africa, it has made its way into cuisine all over the world.  When the fruits are cut open, several seeded chambers are revealed.  The plants are mucilaginous, so shortly after cutting a clear gooey slime begins to seep from the cut ends.  This goo assists with the thickening of the gumbo.

Before adding the okra to the pot, I prefer to saute it in a little oil first.  During this initial cooking, the okra becomes covered in its own slime.

As you stir the okra in the pan, you will see the slime forming strands between the pieces.

You do not need to cook it for long in the pan.  Just heat it up, then add it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients.  At this point you can also add the shrimp.  With this particular pot of gumbo I did not use shrimp.  Normally I would cook them in their shells, peel them, and add them at the end.

Let the pot simmer for 15 minutes or so.  You will see the gumbo thicken from the addition of the okra.

At this point your gumbo is ready to eat.  We always eat ours served over a bed of rice.

Buen provecho!

NYC

In the weeks, days, hours before our departure to New York City I felt a deep angst regarding our arrival.  The fear was completely unreasonable.  I have spent weeks navigating large populated cities, and I have never felt so stressed.  I think about the time I spent in the Distrito Federal, a city with comparable population, and I never felt concerned.  My time in Paris and Madrid were never accompanied by anxiety.  Naples and Athens - smaller but very chaotic cities - caused worry for our car, but nothing else.  Why then did New York City induce such trepidation?



You would think it was just the stress I was feeling about getting ready to leave the country, but it wasn't.  I was generally very excited about leaving.  It was something deeper.

As a person from a small city located in inland America, my image of New York is shaped by the media.  New York brings to mind the many books, films, and television programs that are set in the shadow of its mighty skyscrapers.  The city ceases to be real for a person who has never visited.  It becomes so fantastic that the people, places, and stories seem imaginary.

Just like Paris, I knew my preconceived notions about New York would be completely changed after arriving.  There was just no reason for me to feel the way I did.



Our flight took most of the day.  We had purchased tickets at a good rate, so the route was not direct.  We first flew to Seattle, where we spent a couple hours waiting for our next flight.  The flight to Newark was delayed several times over the next hours.  We were already arriving very late in the evening, and with the delays we would be arriving even later.

For two weeks before our departure we contacted couch hosts in the city.  Our endeavors were fruitless.  Many people never wrote back, and those that did could not host.  There was a couple hopeful replies, but in the end they did not work out.

  

Eventually we decided to use an old trick of ours.  It is common for couchsurfing to be complicated in big cities like New York.  These places are very popular to visit, and the couch hosts get dozens of requests each day.  They are so flooded with people, it is not easy to get someone to reply.  The best thing to do in situations like this is search in the towns outside the main city.

We sent some requests a little further away in New Jersey, and we got a hit!  A man living in a suburb with his family gladly requested us, and we began a series of emails back and forth.  We were relieved to find such a nice host - he even offered to pick us up at the airport despite our late arrival.

Ultimately, he was not able to pick us up with all the delays our flight had.  We arrived in Newark at about one in the morning.  We grabbed our stuff and began the search for transportation.  Originally, we wanted to use Uber, but this did not work out.  There was no internet in the airport, and we did not have any sim in the phone.

We found a taxi that was not unreasonably priced, and headed to our hosts house.  He texted us to let us know he was waiting inside.  When we arrived, we were very glad to have such a warm welcome despite us arriving later than expected.  He showed us our room and bid us goodnight.

The next morning we were awoken by the sweet voice of a tiny little girl.  We came out to the kitchen where the family was having breakfast, and we ate the small amount of food we had.  They gave us some information about how to get into the center, and once we were ready to go, we were off to Manhattan.

Arriving in Port Authority, our first goal was to get some sort of map.  We already had a very good idea of what we wanted to do in the city.  Many years ago, when Javier was in his twenties, he lived in New York so he could learn English.  We had discussed several times what we wanted to see.  We just needed to get our bearings.

Our first interaction in the city was with a security guard at Port Authority.  We asked him if there was any information or tourist office.  He responded by asking us why we wanted it, and when we told him we wanted a map, he frowned.  "You won't get a map at any of the offices."  Then he whipped a map out of his jacket pocket, and wished us a good time in the city.

Setting out from Port Authority, we began our adventure.  Stepping out into the shaded streets was torture.  The days we spent in New York were brutally cold, with a wind that would slice through to the bone.  The unfortunate thing for us is that we really prefer to see a city by walking.

On our first day, we walked around Manhattan between 23rd Street and 75th Street.  Starting in Times Square, we made our way down to the Flatiron Building by way of Bryant Park and then Broadway.  We then went back north along 5th Avenue to the Empire State Building.  We discussed briefly whether we wanted to pay the exorbitant amount charged to see the building, and decided that it was an opportunity well worth the price.

Because of Javier's disability, we had an expedited arrival to the 80th floor.  We did not need to wait in any line to go through security, or get our tickets.  They just bumped us up to the front, we paid, and got in the elevator to see the historical exhibit.  Since the price was more than we like to pay for such touristic things, we decided to take our time in the exhibit and learn as much as we could.

If we had not taken our time and we had jumped at the opportunity to walk up the stairs to the 86th floor observatory, we would have actually made it there.  After we finished with our audio tour, we got in line for the elevator, hoping there would soon be another opportunity to take the stairs.  This was not the case.

After a while of waiting in a line that was going nowhere, a woman came down and announced that there would be no more elevators up to the 86th floor and the stairs were closed.  There was obviously something wrong.  They told us a pipe had burst, and flooding was preventing anyone from going to the observatory.  Given the option to leave and come back the next days when the flooding was fixed, we decided our time was better spent on the street than hoping the elevators would be put into action. 

As we left, we walked past the elevators and saw the problem.  There was a steady stream of water pouring out through the cracks in the door.  It was definitely better for us to leave; they were not going to have the problem fixed in a reasonable amount of time.

We got down to the street and went for some lunch.  We got a pretty good cup of soup and a sandwich for quite cheap - our favorite kind of meal.  We continued walking along 5th Avenue, then we changed over to Park Avenue.  By the time we got up to 59th street, it was beginning to get late. 

Cutting across towards the park, we took a short stop at Tiffany's.  There must be millions of young women who think of Tiffany's from the film adaptation of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.  I am one of them.  My mother had even given me Capote's book as a birthday present before I left (it is remarkably different from the movie I must add).  I just had to go in, but it was utterly disappointing.  I'm afraid the items in the store are not really my taste; they were downright ugly.

Walking into the park, the sun began to set.  We made it all the way up to the Bethesda Fountain and the Loeb Boathouse before we turned back.

It got dark about the time we left the southern edge of the park.  We needed to get back to our host's house for dinner, so we began to walk down 5th Avenue.  Our pace was quick, but we managed to enjoy St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and the brilliant night Times Square.

It was not too late when we arrived back at the house.  They had made a wonderful treat for us; they cooked a whole octopus and put it on the grill when we arrived.  Absolutely delicious.  We made a Tortilla de Patatas - as usual.  A lovely meal.

Understandably, we were exhausted from all our walking and passed out rather quickly that night.  It was good that we slept so soundly, because our second day was just as taxing.

Arriving at Port Authority again, we jumped on the subway and made our way out to Brooklyn Heights.  This was a wonderful way to start the day.  Walking along the promenade, the sun was shining and it was much warmer than the previous day.  We took our time and enjoyed the much improved weather.

Getting up onto the bridge, we continued our walk.  We met some German tourists and exchanged the favor of taking some photos.  Being on the bridge was nice, because there was no buildings to obscure the sun.  When we got into the financial district, it was much colder in the shade.

We walked down to Wall Street.  Since there are no tours allowed of the Stock Exchange since the September 11th attacks, there really isn't much to do there.  We continued our walk west towards the former site of the Twin Towers.

As always, I was starving and began to notice any and every opportunity to get food.  We eventually walked past this little pizza shop.  There were some great combinations, and we each got a slice.  Walking and eating, we finally arrived at the Twin Towers memorial.

The Twin Towers memorial is two enormous fountains the size of the buildings' footprints.  These are so deep, and constructed in such a way, that it is not possible to see the bottom.  To me, they were an interesting depiction of the emotion evoked by the site.  But, to many of the residents of New York, they are a wasteful use of water and electricity.

It is always interesting to see people in these places taking smiling portraits.  As if visiting a place such as this is a happy occasion.  You see this everywhere - even places like Auschwitz.  Our host told us later that, even when the rubble of the buildings was still smoking, you could find people taking photos in front of the site.  It is hard to understand the thought process - or lack of.  It is a little sickening.



Continuing our walk north, we crossed through Tribeca and made our way up to Canal Street.  There, we explored Chinatown and Little Italy before taking the subway back up to the Empire State Building. 

Since we were unable to visit the observatory the day before, we thought it would be good to visit again in the evening.  If we could get up before dark, then we could get photos in the light, at sunset, and after dark.  Our arrival to the top was again expedited.  It probably only took us 15 minutes total to get to the observatory.  Since we already had a ticket, they just took us straight to the elevator up to the 80th floor.  When we arrived there we did not need to spend any time in the exhibit, and we were lucky enough that they opened the stairs right as we arrived. 

Our plan worked perfectly.  We got photos of the city in both the light and at night.  It is probably good there was a flood the day before, because the night photos were much more spectacular than any we could have taken during the day.

We stayed a couple hours at the observatory.  Time went by fast as we watched the lights of the city.  Eventually, we had to go so we could go back to the house for dinner.  We walked across town to Port Authority and took a bus back to New Jersey.

Our last day in New York, we checked our bags at the Greyhound in Port Authority so we would not need to go back to New Jersey before heading to JFK.  Our day was not the most productive.  We needed to mail something and the post office we chose to enter was excessively slow.  Once we were done there, we started heading towards the Metropolitan Museum.

What little time we had left before we needed to go to the airport, we wanted to spend in the museum.  We were very strategic in our tour; focusing on those sections we thought were most interesting.  Our main interests were the Egyptian and Arab exhibits.  I really wanted to see the costume exhibit, but they were between different shows.

We stayed in the Museum until the last possible minute.  Our journey back to Port Authority to get our bags and get on the subway was intense.  We walked briskly, taking the example of natives and j-walking when safe.  The combination of our pace and a shortcut across the park got us back to the bus station in record time.

On the subway, we got a final taste of New York.  First, an older man came up to Javier thinking he was someone else.  Even after Javier corrected him, the man stayed to chat with us for a while.  Turns out he had lived in Spain.  He was very excited to chat with Javier.  At the same time, two kids dressed in identical clothing got on the train.  With a little Michael Jackson as accompaniment, the two boys performed a flawless choreography along the center aisle.  It was a good way to depart.

From then on our ride to JFK was uneventful, but tiresome.  Our bags were extremely heavy - we had so much packed for our trip to Africa - and we were tired from the past three days of walking.  When we finally checked the biggest bag and got our tickets, we were relieved to be on our way back to Spain.

Now onto current events...

Thank you for your dedication during the previous months.  Until now, all our stories have been from years past.  Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I couldn't stand to leave all those stories untold.  Indeed there are many we have not written here, and the ones we did write are not perfect.  We may write more about our travels in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, but from now on you can expect new and current stories.

We are now planning an overland trip through Africa.  Over the next weeks we will explain our preparations.  We believe it is important to share our experience with getting visas and preparing our vehicle, so that others can learn from our struggles and triumphs.  As soon as we are ready, we will do our best to write about our travels.

Thank you for your patronage, and keep visiting the site to see what we are up to!