The tenth day of the tour "Two Poles of Passion" Zaragoza.
Morning in Madrid. Departure from the city is scheduled for 12.45. Those who wish go on an excursion to the Royal Palace at 10.45. This is the only time in the entire tour when my desires with my daughter diverged, and she went on a tour, and I walked around the city.
Checked out of the hotel at 8 am. Breakfast was at 7. We went down at 7.20 and - lo and behold - there was nothing. The trays are empty, the coffee pots too. Absolutely. I understand perfectly well that they were delayed and the leftovers migrated to bus sandwiches and thermoses, since today is a day on the road. The situation is funny. And I want to eat. Went to the waiter. I show an empty plate and empty trays. At first, he simply shakes his head. I smile and repeat - I want to eat. I see that the situation amuses him, and hiding his smile, he takes the plate from his hands and returns after a while with two sandwiches on it. I take a mug and show that there is no coffee either. The situation repeats itself - he first goes to the coffee pots on the tables, checks, then takes a mug and makes me coffee himself. Thank you with a smile in English. Wow! And how delicious)))) his coffee with milk came out just great.
It takes an hour and 10 minutes to get to the palace from the hotel in Madrid. I'm starting to think that on my own, perhaps it would be faster. I have plans to walk along de Sol. It's more about shopping than getting to know the city. Spanish fashion, which seduced me back in San Sebastian, fought with the curiosity of a tourist and the shopaholic in me won.
The three-story Zara did not interest us for long, we have all this. But the Spanish brands of clothing and footwear are already exclusive. Blouses, tunics, scarves, shoes, even coats migrated to my bag. Prices are lovely. Suede ankle boots with lacing, high, for 39 euros - I'm satisfied.
I also had to buy a camera, mine suddenly broke down: “lens error”. Went to a photography store. The seller in English "no-no. " I take out a broken camera from my bag and show “brock” - “crash”... I seem to understand, although I took the camera in his hands and turned on normally. He points to my camera: "good" - I know it's good, but I would like at least some... I try to explain with my fingers and gestures that I'm ready to buy something "more or less". He laughs at my pantomime and explains - there are no digital cameras like mine, there are simpler ones. Or mirrors. Now it's my turn to laugh, but we understand each other. I say - choose to your taste, as for yourself. I thought, put two devices on the counter - Olympus and Nikon. I'm at a loss, if there was an opportunity to rummage through the Internet and compare... both with a good zoom of 10x and 18x, the average price category, 16 megapixels each, but this is not the most important parameter. It is difficult to specify the details, and they all somehow flew out of my head at once. He sees that I am at a loss and says: I would take this one for myself - and points to Olympus.
Later, I will tell my daughter about this (and another conversation in a jeans store) and she will ask me: “what language did you speak? ” Funny, but I don't know. It was not Russian or English, probably the language of gestures and emotions. At first we did not understand each other well, then we began to understand perfectly. The result - I buy a camera, 99 euros. Very satisfied. At home, I already looked at the price we have for this model - a little less than two thousand. After buying a new camera, my old one did not work for another two days, it did not turn on at all. And then it worked again. But now we shot even more and the card in the kit was 8 extra MB.
13.05. We boarded the bus and said goodbye to Madrid. By the way, that day I was late for 6 minutes, I listened to a couple of nice comments from one nice lady (who is never late). And it was about “taxfree” - they didn’t let me out of the store until they were discharged, and there were two more people in front who wanted to return the percentage of the cost of purchases at customs. As a result, I literally had to snatch the bag from the hands of the saleswoman, even catching it on the nose and running to the meeting place. But everyone has their own business and being late, of course, was not worth it.
Ahead of 300 km to Zaragoza. A surprise was waiting for us on the bus - they cleaned us up. And all the bags from the passenger compartment migrated to the luggage compartment. The people are worried, there were things that were breaking. We always kept a bag with sweaters and change of shoes under our feet. There they put food for the day. Now our yogurts are in the trunk. 300 km is at least four and a half hours at our speed. We gnaw nuts and dream of yogurt...
15.40 - another 128 km to Zaragoza. We watched a movie about Madrid. Landscapes outside the window are enchanting, the hand itself reaches for the camera. Red-brown earth with stone veins and yellow-green trees. There is silence again in the cabin, people are either dozing or quietly chewing. We learn about the approach of sights outside the window by the clicks of cameras.
At 17.40 we drive into Zaragoza. While we were driving through the streets on a bus, we got the first impression: an industrial modern city - skyscrapers and palm trees, wide streets. On the roadside thermometer +20.
The route around the city has been slightly changed - you can’t drive through the center. Trams are being built in the city.
The excursion began near the Aljaferia Palace. Photopause. We don't go inside.
We move on. We pass the bridge over the river Ebro. Branches and logs briskly float downstream, the water is muddy brown, but it all looks somehow not dirty. In an incomprehensible way, the river harmoniously fits into the surrounding urban landscape with the spiers of cathedrals against the sky.
Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar just behind the bridge. We go inside - there are stored unexploded bombs that fell on the temple. But this is from a new story... Taking pictures inside is prohibited. Very beautiful arches, some of them are painted by the hand of Francis Goya.
Near the Town Hall of the City Council with impressive sculptures near the entrance. Pilar Square itself is a spectacular place, a huge free space surrounded by Baslika, the Cathedral of San Salvador and the Palace - the former residence of the Moorish rulers. The buildings are completely different in style: baroque, neoclassical, bright mosaic roofs. Here is an architectural ensemble of seated figures next to the monument to Goya. On the other side is a modern waterfall fountain in honor of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. Here is a paradise for a photo shoot - wherever you turn - beauty is everywhere. Huge globe, right next to the waterfall, sculptures. This is probably why I don’t remember the guide well - I was distracted by the pictures. Below the square is underground parking.
It was evening time and we were given about an hour to the square. The towers of the palaces looked magnificent in the light of the setting sun. Then we run back across the bridge to the bus and leave towards Andorra. They arrived at midnight. We got into the room around midnight.
In the evening, on the bus, the topic of free time in Andorra was raised. How the conversation went there and what happened, I don’t know. I only listened when it was noisy. I can tell you the result: they shouted at us, they said that there would be no free time, period, and whatever you want. Since it is scheduled for 10.00, then we will leave. And it doesn't matter that the shops are open from 9.30. The people asked for at least half an hour, they answered: “No. Your problems”… Looking ahead, I’ll say that in the morning we got together as it was said, and eventually left the city at 10.25… Another 10 minutes would not have solved anything.
