Sometimes you just have to laugh ...

I woke up this morning feeling just as grumbly about our hotel as I did last night. When we first arrived, the kitchen seemed so lovely. Then I realized it did not have salt nor pepper nor a dishcloth to dry dishes nor a dish drying rack. One might say, just use the dishwasher, but then we will run out of coffee cups. There are only two that fit under the Nespresso machine.

There were no paper towels nor napkins so we had to use toilet paper as our serviettes with our breakfast. The old boy also put on the bathrobe and stood out on the balcony ... just on principle. We were promised robes and a balcony. At some point, it just becomes laughable.

There is no shelving at all in the bathroom ... so ... we have nowhere to put toiletries. I have to put mine in the closet outside the bathroom. We turned the a/c on to cool down the room for nighttime ... it stayed at 23 degrees all night long. We will make do. I just have to forget how much we are paying for this dismal lack of service.

So, over breakfast, we chatted about how we can't change the things we can't control, but we could ask for what we need. I left a note asking for salt and pepper, extra coffee pods and a dish towel.

After breakfast we went online to order Hop-On Hop -Off Bus tickets. It proved to be no easy task ... for some reason we could not add the tickets to the "basket". We had to pay with Google Pay. We did that. They recommended that we screen shot the tickets. I tried three times and it would not work. And then ... they disappeared off the phone. They were not delivered to our email either.

Another little travel mountain here in Madrid! So, we spent one half hour on their support 'chat' trying to get them emailed to us. It was hard not get cranky again. However, in the end, we ended up with an email with our tickets.

The good news was that the #10 stop was nearby so we hopped on and enjoyed a wonderful scenic orientation to Madrid. We thought Seville had some incredible architecture, but Madrid blew us away! Building after building ... marble and carvings. It was gorgeous and invited me to appreciate the wonders this city holds.

The traffic was intense so it took a a full hour to get half way around the route, so we opted to hop off at the Plaza Espana. They had a lovely little market filled with food and artisan stalls from all over Latin America. There was a party happening ... music playing. People enjoying the weather!

The old boy was interested in getting a bite to eat there and then just sitting on the ledges of the flower beds. I was more interested in having a table in the shade with actual servers and stemware. I suggested we try the Rui Hotel restaurant across the street.

We had no idea this hotel was infamous for it's 360 degree roof top terrace and restaurant. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch up there and got to see the entire city from the 27th floor. With 6.7+ million inhabitants, the city stretched as far as our eyes could see in all directions.

This restaurant was a lovely dot of light that helped shift my malaise about Madrid. We then hopped back on the bus. The weather network said it was 29 degrees here today but a sign post said 32 ... it felt even hotter so we opted to get off and head back to the hotel to rest and cool down.

We were delighted to see that all those things we had asked for had been delivered to our room. I just wish I had remembered to ask for napkins or paper towels. Dare I leave another note tomorrow?? I mean ... the toilet paper worked just fine. 🤔

After recharging a bit, we decided to see if we could walk over and find the 'pick up point' for our excursion tomorrow. It will be far less stressful if we know where we are going first thing in the morning! So, we did just that! Hopefully we can remember our way tomorrow!

And, we are going to head out and find a place for supper. Another little travel mountain for me is that it is so hectic and loud and all the outdoor cafes are so busy! It's also so hot tonight. I am not sure where we will end up, but I will say goodnight for now. I expect after we eat we will want to pop into bed ... we have to set the alarm for an early start tomorrow!!

Love and hugs, k&j ❤️Read more