Back to Western Civilization

It’s funny how different cultures eat different foods, have different hygiene habits and basically live differently. In Cambodia we were told KFC was Khmer Fried Cricket. The Cambodians are known to eat all exotic insects including tarantulas. In Borneo, we never were served any form of bread during meals. Boy was I missing morning pastry. But there was fresh fruit with every meal. And of course rice and noodles.

In a market in Hanoi, food being sold by a vendor was very unappealing to my palette but I’m sure it was delicious for the Vietnamese.

While in Southeast Asia every bathroom had one of these of some sort or another. The first time I saw one, I thought I was supposed to use it to flush the toilet.

We finally adjusted to all the nuances of Eastern Life. It was all fascinating but I did still miss some foods, especially breads and pastries which I really don’t need. It does make me see why Westerners have more of a weight problem though. Our flight out of Borneo took us to Kuala Lumpur again for one night. We stayed at the Sama Sama Hotel at the airport. It was lovely and they gave us a discount since we didn’t get there until 10pm and had to check out at 7:30 am.

The next day we flew Qatar Airlines from KLIA to Hamid International Airport and then on to Madrid. We flew economy but the plane had great legroom even for Bruce, a vanity kit, and overall good comfort level.

We arrived in Madrid and stayed two nights at the Barcelo Imagine where we rated that hotel with the best pillow and sheets in all our travels. For our day in Madrid, we walked to the metro to take to the old city.

Everywhere we walked there were street musicians. These two young men were playing in the station and were playing Celtic music.

We popped up into a square where there was a beautiful fountain and grand statue.

We walked around admiring the architecture.

And more street musicians.

And they were singing Sweet Home Alabama

And of course we had tapas.

This statue I thought was actually a man but it turned out it was a statue.

And I loved these beautiful tiles on the walls.

And I can’t forget the meat museum.

And last but most important, the bakery.

For dinner we ate at Casa Narcisa near our hotel. It was very good and very interesting. We tried to go eat at 7 pm but the restaurant didn’t open until 8.

They brought us a bowl of huge green olives.

Then some sort of potato cheese appetizer along with delicious bread.

We both ordered fish.

And after dinner they brought us cordials but when we told them we don’t drink, they brought us non alcohol cordial.

It was a lovely end to our day in Madrid.