Charlie (plus above photo posted by Wynette): We took the fast AVE train from Madrid to Sevilla. It averaged about 200 kph, got as high as 250 kpm (150 mph). Looking out it didn’t seem that fast. It was very smooth at that speed. Quite a whoosh when you passed the train going the other way, they have 20 or more each way every day.
Sevilla train station had a taxi line line of about 150 people. Not as slow as you would suspect since 2-4 people get into each taxi. Our taxi driver said it was because of the holiday. She was very nice and told us places to go and places to eat. Wynette did pretty well conversing with her.
Our AirBnB host was waiting outside when we arrived. The apartment (see previous post) was exactly as expected and as shown in the pictures. Of course, they always show up bigger in the photos. But it is a good size and we are very happy with it. It is fun looking around and seeing what is there. Yes, we found the hand blender. The ironing board was hidden behind a chest.
Couldn’t get phone SIMs or groceries because of the national holiday on Monday, October 12. (Hispanic Day — the day Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas.) Express store was open, we made an omelette.
We each got 1/2 to 2 hours of sleep on the plane, it is hard to tell. After that much sleep in about 30 hours we went to bed. We each woke from 12-2 am Spain time but got back to sleep and slept until 8. Hopefully tonight will be close to normal.