Since I only had an hour to get lunch before going with Julio to the airport, I went to Rodilla, which is a sandwich chain that is well known in Madrid. It was a little confusing since they have (literally) dozens of sandwich types – all of which look (from a visual standpoint) like something out of a 1960s Wonder Bread commercial, or something. I got the tuna (which had raisins and walnuts), which was actually quite tasty. But ordering …

After leaving the park, I headed over to the Prado Museum of Art, where they were having a Joachim Patinir exhibit. The last time I was at the Prado was in 1982, and so this was a real treat to go back and see what I could remember. The ones that stood out, for obvious reasons, were the Goya paintings. “Saturn Devouring One of His Sons” and “The Shootings of May 3, 1808” are classics in their own right. I …

I had a rough night sleeping; I forgot to take my melatonin to help adjust my internal clock, and that might have contributed too it. Also, the air conditioning was loud, so I turned it off – but then woke up at 5pm uncomfortably hot. I finally got a few zzz’s, and got up around 8:30am. I probably should have slept longer, but I wanted to take advantage of the morning. I went to breakfast downstairs in the hotel, which …

Here is a slideshow of photos from my first day in Spain!

Julio, who works with BSOSpirit, picked me up and we went to dinner with his wife and a friend of theirs to a place called Casa Parrondo, for a “real Spanish dinner”. Apparently, that means there will be pork involved. (Note, I had been warned in advance of this, months ago.) We started out with some kind of garlic potato salad (tasty), and then the cheese tray arrived, with all sorts of different cheeses from northwestern Spain. It was quite …

After taking a bit of a “siesta”, I went for a walk (it ended up being about 2 miles) to the Royal Palace, and the gardens just north of them. Half of the gardens were closed for some kind of construction, and the other half seemed to be the local hangout for teens to make out. So I went south, to check out the National Cathedral (very nice), and then walked back to the Plaza Mayor to take some photos. …

So it’s a funny thing about this hotel room. None of the lights were working, and a few of the outlets seemed to be dead, too. It was only after I showered and cleaned up that I realized that the plastic card attached to the room key might actually have a purpose. Indeed, I found a little box near the door that when you put the card in, all the lights go on. Clever!! I then met up with Sergio …

I got off the plane at JFK, and since I didn’t have any bags checked, I was able to just go right to the Terminal 7 where Iberia Airlines is. Apparently to get there you need to take this little shuttle thingy, but to get there takes a lot of walking. As I was entering the terminal, I heard my name being called over the loudspeaker – weird!! So I went to the nearest lady and asked her to help …

So I get to the American Airlines terminal at 8:45am – plenty of time before my 11am departure, and I go to check in two of my bags, and the lady at the counter says “Oh dear, that’s an illegal connection.” Excuse me? Apparently the 1.5 hours I had as a layover at JFK in NY was not enough time for my bags to get transferred from the American Airlines terminal and sent to the Iberia Airlines terminal. Hmm. That’s …

I’m headed to Spain for the 3rd International Film Music Conference in Ubeda. My destination is Madrid, where I will be staying for a day, and then I’ll be taken down to Ubeda (about 3-4 hours away) on Thursday afternoon, getting back to Madrid Monday night, and then leaving back to LA on Tuesday evening. Should be fun…… stay tuned for updates!!