The Wheels on the bus......

Today, Saturday, Feb. 27th is our LONG travel day. It seemed like we spent 20 hours on that bus but it was probably only about 7-8. We had rest stops, lunch and lots of history lessons. But before we completely leave Granada behind, let me talk about the street in front of our hotel. There was a lovely stone mosiac pedestrian walkway right in the middle of the street. On either side of this walk way were the lanes of traffic. It seems a very logical way to see a lovely old city, and not take your life in your hands crossing busy streets.

We rode and rode and rode to get from Granada to Valencia. On the way we got an explanation of the way the European Union works and its parts EuroZone- where the currency is the Euro, the Schengen agreement- in which members of these countries may pass from one country without showing passports and the political EU, which changes presidents every 6 months. We heard about which countries are members, which are trying to join, but aren't economically up to standards There are 27 countries and the presidency rotates among the members bi-anually. The EU began as a vehicle for easing trade and developed into the organization it is today. I should have written down when it began, but if you are that interested, you can Google it.

As were being instructed we saw off to the side of the bus, the Sierra Nevada range of mountains covered in snow. Beautiful. And we saw Troglidyde caves --I know I didn't spell that right, but.... People build their homes into the mountains utilizing the caves that exist there.



It is amazing to me, when we make a rest stop, how gripey some of our ladies are. "Why is it so dark in here"? "There is no seat!" "There is no light in the stall." "Why can't the bus drive us right up to the door?" The answers to these questions are so simple 1. the lights are triggered by movement- walk in and they'll turn on 2. Pull the seat down, it is up for cleaning 3. Hit the switch in the stall, and the lights'll come on 4. Because you need to stretch your legs from all that sitting.
Please forgive my griping about others' griping. Enough said-------------

The rest areas have been interesting today. Some are like large truck stops with bathrooms, hot food service, cold food (sandwiches), a "junk" store and snacks. We've seen "Chips ahoy" cookies, M & M's Nestle candy bars, not much candy that is unfamiliar. Spain seems to be much fonder of Pepsi than Coke, but we have found some coke zeros. An afterthought, one bathroom had an attendant who was there to collect $ for using the facility.

Our after lunch "lesson" was all about the Spanish Civil War and Generalissimo Franco, who became dictator of Spain Feb , 1939. I'm not going to tell you much about it because I began reading my David Baldacci book "The Whole Truth", which is very strange, but an engaging story.

We rode and rode and finally got to Valencia a little earlier than expected.