Madrid, Spain (Europe)

Hi, this was the 17th of 34 countries in the World tour and the last stop before I go home from the around the world ticket . The first time I was here I was with my dad in Lloret de Mar and we went to Barcelona. This time I was in the capital city, Madrid.

My shuttle was booked for 5:55am to take me to the airport for the 8:55am flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. Of course I got up late and the reception rung my phone at 6:30am so I run around packing everything in my suitcase as I intended to stay up and pack my things but fell asleep. Half of my clothes were in the wardrobe and I totally forgot them so when I got to Chicago I rung the Hilton Hotel in Universal City in Los Angeles and they said they would only send it to England with Fed Ex which would cost about £120. When I asked them just to box it up and send it in the normal post they refused. I told them where to go, I left nothing valuable which was good and I could buy a whole new set of clothes with what they wanted.

I got to Madrid, Spain at 7am and in the airport looked for the ticket desk for Iberia airlines. I found it and booked tickets to Lisbon, Portugal and Copenhagen, Denmark. I also booked hotels for one night in both locations, I booked the same hotel as I had been in before in Lisbon but a different hotel in Copenhagen. For the rest of the day I had a walk around the city looking in shops and looking at places I could go the following day. After all this I got back to the hotel and went to sleep as I had not had any sleep for a day at least.

On Wednesday I went around the city seeing the various buildings in the city using the metro to get about and that was about it really. I noticed a lot of prostitutes and offered me there services which I politely refused.

On Thursday I went to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium which is the home of Real Madrid. Tour tour allowed in different stands of the stadium, in the dugouts and in the visiting teams dressing room. The stadium was easy to get to as the metro took you right outside the stadium.

After this I went to Lisbon, Portugal and Copenhagen, Denmark to revisit and over the next 2 weeks I will be trying to arrange a day trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands and a night in Tallinn, Estonia. As well as that I will have 2 night breaks in Edinburgh, Scotland and Cardiff, Wales. In between will be Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and I will end it all in Cayo Guillermo, Cuba and hopefully I can get on the Access course for next year at my local college. Still a lot to do and keep myself occupied with.

26 Cities in 16 Countries in 4 Continents
21 Flights and 40,500 Miles Flown on 8 Airlines
1 Man around the World in 68 days

Next will be Edinburgh, Scotland for 2 nights on the 14th March 2008.

Take care.

Robert