It is the 16th already. did not get a chance to make an entry last night when we got back to temple housing 1 roommate was there and in bed.
The 15th we got up and had to change rooms. we also had to wait an hour during cleaning time. so we did not get away from the place until 10am. we went to a park with florida flags at the entrance. we walked around looking at the statutes and looked for a geocache but could not find it.
we wandered the streets for a while looking at the sights and found a geocache by a monument that looked like the arc de triumphe in paris. We went back to the temple and met Ben's mission president and wife that were to the stake center by the temple for interviews. The boys left to find a place to sleep for the night. The other 4 of us did a session and participated in some sealings. We walked to a sidewalk cafe for supper and back to bed.
May 16.
up and out of temple hostel before 9am. Rode the metro to bilbao station to meet the boys. We then went looking for a place to sleep tonite. We picked the hotel anaco in the centro ciudad. Dropped our packes and went exploring. Went to the kings palace and the cathedral next door. we did not go in the palace because the line was at least a block long to get thru security. we then went to bens favorite eating place called dona kabob which made sandwiches in a pita bread with lamb or chicken. They cook the meat on a spit vertically turning it. the meat is pressed on the spit and is about 18 inches in diameter and 2.5 feet long. After eating we went to an egyptian temple, but it was closed already so we took pictures of the outside. We sat in a park for a while and then came back to the hotel. Seth, rosie and i went shopping for a few more gifts. we bougth 2 leather bags for hayden and noah and some earrings for sarah. I got a couple of patches of cities in spain. We came back to the hotel and checked our reservations for tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 11:35 am. Seth and Jen got changed to a different flight, we are leaving early to see if they can get changed back. otherwise they get home at 11pm with a 5 hour layover in newark.
Done for now. We get home about 8:30pm tomorrow.

Time flies, here it is the 14th already. After Caceres, we went to Salamanca, Stayed in a hotel for the price we were expecting to pay for a hostel. it even had wifi. We wandered Salamanca, saw the castle and other very old buildings. This was Ben's first area of his mission. Seth drove to here and I took over for the next 2 days. We found a geocache by a small church in the old part of town. It was a micro stuck on a metal bench. I twisted my ankle and bought a cheap cane to walk with.
The next day we drove to Cocoa which has a well preserved castle to explore, the steps were too high for me and lots of them. It wore on my knees. After Cocoa We drove to Segovia where the castle is the one that the castle in sleeping beauty. WE stayed in a hotel just off the plaza de mayor.
When we got up, we found it was market day. the plaza was full of stalls selling fruits, vegetables, sweets, clothes, whatever someone thinks needs to be sold once a week. We left and drove to a monument called the valley of the fallen. A monument Franco build to those who died in the spanish civil war. It also has a monestery. There was a mass going on when we got there so we could not go in where it was being held. The monument is a 500 meter high cross.
After we left there, we drove to the Madrid Temple. Checked into housing. Ben and I took the car back to the rental agent and rode the metro back to the templ. We got cleaned up and attended a session. After the session we went out for pizza. Rosie, Seth, Jen and I went looking for a geocache, but it appears to have been muggled. We came back and talked a while and now we are going to sleep.

caceres again

We stopped using the internet that cost and went to eat. We found a mall with free wifi.
We drove to Elvas, portugual. There are a couple of ruins we went to. At the first it had no one around so we wandered around for a while and found a geocache. I dropped a travel bug in the geocache. We went to the old plaza in the town. Did some shopping and sightseeing. Back in the car to drive to Caceres, where we are. Seth and I have had to put up with blisters. Seths getting better but mine is dragging on. 11pm and I am tired.

Spain day 1

We arrived on the train hotel at 9am. Rented a car and drove to where Ben attended church when he was in the Mission Office. After Sacrament meeting (which was in spainish of course, so I didnot understand any of the talks), We drove to Toledo and saw the big castle and walked around some. The streets in the old town are so narrow. The van we rented can have the mirrors fold in so that you can fit thru some of the streets. After Toledo we drove to Trujillo and spent the night in a Hostal. We ate supper at a place that charges 15 € per plate. They served us salad, bread, lamb, pork , soups. The servings were very generous. We toured the castle in Trujillo and then drove to Merida. In Merida there is the remains of a roman aqueduct and a roman coliseum. More tomorrow, I am out of time.

Spain

We made it to Spain. We took the hoteltrain from Paris to Madrid. The trip took 14 hours. The rooms were very small when the beds were out in the room there was a narrow walkwaybetween the beds. The boys slept on bunks above Rosemary and I. We rented a minivan and drove to the ward Ben attended when in worked in the Mission Office. After church we stopped at a small grocery store and bought sandwich food to eat as we drove to Toledo. We wandered around the castle at toledo a while and Drove to a hill to take pictures of the city. We left and drove to Trujillo for the night. We went to the castle there to eat at a resturant by the castle. They do not serve dinner until 8:30pm so we looked for an internet cafe to get on the internet. No USB connection so no pictures tonight maybe tomorrow.

Paris

It is 5:40 pm and we stopped at the University of Paris to get on the internet to update things. We Took Eurostar here this morning arriving at about 10a m. the train gets up to 160mph. We got a metro day pass and have been to the arc de triumphe, eiffel tower, Louvre and Notre Dame. It has been raining. We left Luke and Ben at the Louvre to spend the afternoon looking and the rest went to notredame and leasurely walked toward the train station. When we leave here we will bet on the train for a night trip to Madrid.

Well, Friday is over and we are tired. We did a bus/boat tour of London. Ben and I left the rest and took a train to Gilwell Park, the internation headquarters of Boy Scouts. We bought a few memorabilia and took the train back to London. We went to Buckingham Palace and then back to the Hostel. The others have not returned yet. The boat ride took us from Westminister Abbey to the Tower bridge, which many think is the London bridge, but it is not. Here is a picture of Ben in front of Buckingham Palace. the guards in the colorful outfits were not there, just regular looking soldiers. I will add afew more pictures to my facebook album of the trip.

I'll try to get caught up on posts. We did not have access to the internet in the places we stayed in Ireland.

Day1
All day was spent traveling#

Day 2
We arrived ok and drove to the church in Limerick. We were very early so we did a side trip to King John's Castle. We went back to the church and changed and attended fast and testimoney meeting in the Limerick Branch. After church we drove to Sixmilebridge(a town) and found a bend and breakfast for to stay for the night.
We went to bunratty castle, but they wanted 15.70 eur for the tour so we just looked in the gift shop and took pictures from the outside. Ate supper at the bunratty creamery.
Breakfast at the b&b was a traditional irish breakfast consisting of 1 egg, toast, cold cereal, 2 sausage links and bacon. Their bacon is ham slices with the fat still attached. Cost was 30 euros each.
Day 3
Left Sixmilebridge and drove to Clare Abbey, built in about 1189. It was on private land and surrounded by a cow pasture. It was very soggy. Drove into Ennis, the county seat of county clare to look around the shops. Most were closed because today was a bank holiday.
We drove to the Cliffs of Moher. One note, the roads are extremely narrow, some 2 cars cannot pass, someone has to pull off the road to let the other one pass. That is a problem because many of the roads have hedges or stone walls right up to the edge of the pavement.
It was exteremly foggy and cold at the cliffs so we did not get to see them. we watched a 3d movie of them and the sealife.
Drove on to Doolin to stay for the night. Stayed in a Bed and breakfast in doolin. cost was again 30 euros each. did some shopping, Grandma Z bought a wool sweater made in the area. We bought a few trinkets.

Day 4
Drove to the Burren, an interesting landscape of mostly rocky ground with a little (very little) soil for things to grow in, there are a few plants that only grow on the burren.
We drove back to the cliffs to see if the fog had cleared and in had so we hiked to the cliffs, most of the hike was uphill, Grandma Z managed it, but it was tough.
Took a lot of pictures and left for Ennis. Seth needed a charge for his camera battery, which he found in Ennis. We then drove to Clooney Castle and Cemetery (out in the middle of nowhere)
This is the likely place we migt have ancestors burried. the old headstones were unreadable. There were new headstones, only a few years old.
We found a b&b in shannon for 25 euros for the night. all 3 gave us a traditional irish breakfast.
We ate at Thady O'Neil's for supper.

Day 5
Took granma z to the airport at 7am for her flight back to the US. She was gone when we arrived at the airport, so we assume she got off ok. Found a geocache near the airport and dropped a travel bug in it. We flew out at 1300 and landed at gatwick near the london temple. Caught a shuttle to the temple, ate at the Peacock, with was very reasonably priced. Buy one meal get the second free. We attend a session which was us and 1 other couple.

Day 6
Up early and walked the temple grounds which are huge. Caught the same shuttle to Kings cross subway station. It was 1.5 hour drive to get there. Walked to a hostel I had reserved a room for us. Paid for the room and went sight seeing. Went to the picadilly circus area. decided we wanted to attend the performance of les miserables at the queen theatre this evening so we bought tickets. Road the 'tube' and train to Greenwich royal observatory, where the prime meridian is marked and the location for greenwich mean time.(GMT) . Found a geocache on the grounds and took the train & tube back to the hostel to get our keys. We could not get them earlier, they were cleaning. We are staying at the clink hostel about a 20min walk from kings cross station.
Took the tube back to picadilly circus and attended the theatre. Very good staging and actors.
Back to the hostel and to bed.