Carmen was interested in this ... I'm not sure why

... but she was describing it to me at dinner time and then left the table to go find it on google images. Which she did. Which is why you can now enjoy it.

Well, so much for my favorite watering hole ...

... at least for a long while. The ol' Boone Saloon went down in flames last week. It was my favorite place to wait for the bus, while having my tapas (a snack and a beer, or two). Had great salmon sandwiches too, and a wonderful hand carved wooden bar.

Road to Iberia IV...

or 11 March, a Tuesday. We got down to the bus station late which turned out to be early. Hard to explain. The Sobrinos wondered out of the hotel just in time to catch the cab for the bus station where we discovered that the ticket counter does not take credit cards. Then we found out that the bus we really wanted did not leave for a half hour and was a direct bus. That was a lot more convenient than the bus we thought we would have to take (and which was leaving just as we showed up anyway). So we were underway by 11:30 and into Sevilla by about 7:30 pm.

The bus trip was fun as we went through the Algarve region of Portugal with beautiful hilly countryside in the distance. We stopped at Faro for a bit.. As we drove through the narrow streets of Huelva the bus had to stop suddenly and was rear ended by a car. The driver got out to see what to do. Before long a Portuguese woman got out too, looked disgusted, then got on the bus and started to curse the driver who in turn started yelling at the woman. So much for my theory of the laid-back Portuguese.

We found a pension to stay at on Joey's recommendation. It had lots of local color and ... well, freshly painted showers that still reeked of wet paint. The night clerk kept telling us we had to wait until morning to use the shower. I was charmed by the narrow hallways, traditional tiles and old furnishings, Carmen ... well, let's just say she wasn't into local color at the moment. She would have preferred a workable shower.

We wondered over to the Hostel Samay with the Sobrinos to see where they were staying. It looked nice - if you didn't mind sleeping with four other people. This picture of the upper deck in the evening may explain why Joey likes it so much. From there we looked around the streets for awhile and found a pizzeria that I enjoyed.

From there we went down to the Cathedral which was all lit up. People were all over the place. We were definitely in a land of late night hours. Then we walked back through an absolute maze of streets, all looking like little allies, with blank walls and ornate doorways and windows. We were really in Spain, that's for sure.

A brief explanation ...

... of why I haven't been writing, or why I may start writing again, or something like that. I have been busy with school and stuff, like learning how to play mahjong on the computer (well, Carmen showed me how to do it).

But now I have a lot of grading to do. And we all know what that means.

Yep. Industrial strength procrastination. And what more socially worthwhile way to procrastinate than to update my blog for friends and family. Soooooo....

Well, I knew I left them somewhere...

... a few days ago I was walking through the halls of the Old Belk Library Classroom Building* when I passed a classroom with this sign on the door.

Brain and Mind in Room 116

That explains a lot.

Now this looks like the Minneapolis I know and love...

... just check out the date. Wonder how Jen is doing in Finland?

btw... I am busy with a lot of school stuff this week so I may not be able to get back to my trip diary for a few days. Then, on the other hand, I usually try to do something, anything, to avoid grading so I may actually use the diary as an excuse.