Well, I guess by now it’s obvious that Krystal is better at keeping up with the blog than I am.  I’m pretty sure that we both picked up some kind of stomach virus in Buenos Aires.  But, it hit me harder and sooner than it did Krystal.  So, I haven’t felt much like blogging.  But, despite the pain, we’ve both been troopers and managed to do everything we had planned to do and then some in Madrid.  We’ll probably visit a doctor in Hong Kong.  We’re paying for trip insurance, so there’s no reason to suffer this discomfort any longer than we have to.

Krystal covered our trip to the Royal Palace in Madrid.  I just want to add that it was one of the things that we hadn’t even really planned to do that turned out to be a wonderful time!  The palace was so extravagant.  It reminded me of what a home might look like if Jay-Z and Kanye had moved in together during the recording of (the appropriately titled) Watch The Throne.  The interior decorating was INSANE!  There was one room that was entirely covered (besides the floor) in porcelain.  There was a room where the King slept, a room where he was dressed, a throne room, a room where he had his lunch, a room where he had his dinner, a smoking room, a billiards room, etc., etc…   Krystal said she couldn’t possibly imagine living in a home that size.  I couldn’t help imagining riding around my house in a gold plated golf cart!

That night, we went to a Flamenco show at a local bar.  I guess I had never bothered to understand what flamenco guitar was all about.  It was total shredsville!  One guy with a classical guitar, just ripping.  Super fast rhythmic fingerpicking.  All there really was was this one guitar and a bunch of stomping and clapping.  But, it made for a very big sound.  The dancing was cool.  But, flamenco is a pretty rigid, aggressive dance.  I have to admit that I had my eyes closed, just soaking up the music for much of the show.  But, Krystal loves dancing, so I’m sure she ate it up.  I’m surprised she didn’t post more of the 683 pictures she took of the dancers. 😉

The last day in Madrid we attended a fantastic museum called Reina Sofia.  THIS was the museum experience that I had been waiting for!  We started with some modern art on the first floor.  It was very experimental stuff, and quite fascinating.  I love it that modern art is so free from the canvas.  There were lots of various “sculpture” and found-object pieces.  It’s also exciting to see museums showcasing video art projects in interesting ways.

It was the second and fourth floors of the museum that really blew my mind, though.  LOTS of Picasso and Dali paintings and sculptures!  I had no idea that we’d be seeing Picasso’s “Guernica” up close and personal!  It’s HUGE!!!  If you aren’t aware, Guernica is one of Picasso’s most famous paintings.  It’s a protest piece, in response to German and Italian bombings of Spain during the Spanish Civil War.  It’s 11 ft. tall and 26 ft. wide.  And, it’s beautiful, breathtaking, and heartbreaking.  The museum also had dozens of sketches and paintings that Picasso did in preparation for this mammoth piece.  It was remarkable to see his process.  I didn’t even know that this painting was in Madrid.  But, now I’ll unreservedly recommend this as the most important reason to visit Madrid.  It was so fantastic.

Cameras obviously weren't allowed. This image from the web definitely doesn't do it justice.

On our travel day to Hong Kong we flew through London’s Heathrow Airport.  It’s crazy how even a two hour layover at Heathrow can remind me how much I love London.  Krystal and I spend about 6 weeks there several years ago, while she was there working.  It’s my favorite city in the world.  We were lucky to be flying first-class on British Airways from London to Hong Kong.  So, we had access to the Concorde Lounge.  Krystal always has access to American Airlines’ Admiral’s Club lounges.  And, this usually gets us into the lounges of partner airlines also.  But, the Concorde Lounge is like a different world!  Everything is usually free in these lounges.  But, it’s typically water and soft drinks, with maybe a snack bar of some sort offering fruit and nuts.  Concorde Lounge was like another world.  It was beautiful.  They had large, private restrooms, several for men and several for women.   They had showers.  There was a very nice bar, with free everything.  In place of the traditional snack bar, there was a nice, sit-down restaurant, with a full menu of free food.  It was so swank that we saw Sir Richard Branson and his family coming in as we were leaving.

The flight to Hong Kong was pretty smooth and easy.  It was 11 hours.  But, I slept at least half of that.  We were on another 777 with full lay-down bed seating.  So, we got plenty of rest. British Airways has terrific service and their flight attendants were top-notch. There weren’t many people in first class which was nice b/c we never had to wait on the bathroom.

Hong Kong, from what we saw on the cab ride from the airport to the Grand Hyatt, is a HUGE city, with giant high-rise apartments and skyscrapers.  Shipping is a huge industry here, and the harbor was full of ship yards.  We were one day late for the Chinese New Year fireworks show.  But, it’s the Year of the Dragon, so they’ll be celebrating all week.  The buildings and the lights here are hard to describe.  We’ll get some photos tonight.  You have to see it to understand.  It’s even more overwhelming to the senses than NYC.  And, our harbor view hotel suite is the perfect way to take it all in.  This Grand Hyatt reminds me of Tony Montana’s house.  It’s pretty gaudy with lots of gold everywhere.  But, we’re on the 29th floor in a large suite with large windows in both the living room and bedroom, overlooking the harbor.

We’re on the other side of the world now.  14 hours ahead of Oklahoma time.  Jet lag seemed like it wouldn’t be a factor.  We were in bed watching American Horror Story, when I started falling asleep around 10pm Hong Kong time.  So, I thought we’d transition easily into the new time zone.  Unfortunately my eyes popped open at 3am, and I haven’t even been remotely tired since.  I got out of bed very quietly, so I wouldn’t wake Krystal.  But, as soon as I closed the door to the bedroom, it opened right back up.  Turns out, Krystal had been awake for an hour or so, too!  I started blogging and she made some phone calls home.  We’re gonna go grab some breakfast and try to find a place to drop off our laundry.  I assume we’ll have a nap this afternoon.  But, maybe if we can stay awake until 10pm again, we can sleep through the night.  We’ll see.

Pics soon!

-CH