Yes, you should be jealous.

It has been an incredible few days in Madrid.  On Day 1 I took a 3 hour walking tour through Madrid, visiting Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, the Paseo del Prado, Teatro Real and Palacio Real.  Yesterday I spent over two hours at the Parque del Retiro, a 300 acre park that used to be a royal hunting reserve with a man made lake, enormous and numerous monuments and fountains, a rose graden, the Palacio de Velazquez and the Palacio de Cristal.  I only left then to go to the Museo del Prado, where I got to see some the most incredible works of art in the world by Velazquez, Goya and many other incredible artists.  I got to see paintings that I have seen in books.  Books cannot compare to standing in front of the original and seeing the play of light on brush strokes, the incredible colors and the intricacies of a master artist.  Today it is raining, but I went for a walk earlier and now am headed to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia to see more incredible works of art.  I wish there was another word besides incredible to use, but it´s the only word that sums up everything.

I´m staying at La Posada de Huertes Hostel in the middle of Madrid through Monday morning, then am planning to move on to Toledo, the original capital of Spain and from there to San Sebastian, on the Bay of Biscay close to the border of France.  From there I´m trying to decide if I want to go to Calais and hop a ferry over to Ireland or go straight to Paris.  All plans are subject to change.

I have tons more to tell, but there is a time limit, people and art waiting for me to get off this computer!  Cross your fingers that my internet on my laptop fixes itself so you can see some the hundreds of photos I´ve already taken...