“I think the thing to do is enjoy the ride while you’re on it.” – Johnny Depp

Yesterday was a long day, on a bus.  Very long.  The trip leaving the Douro River in Portugal to Madrid, Spain was much too long of a bus ride.

Bye Bye Douro

The scenery from the bus was very different, abandoned looking villages, dry land, horses and my personal favorite sheep and cows.  I am not a good photographer through the moving bus window.

These dots are sheep

Then we stopped briefly in a town to change buses and see the town –  I was mindless at that point yet took many pictures wherever the tour guide pointed.

We had a lovely lunch before boarding the bus again for a three hour additional bus ride but we saw a Flamenco show with lunch which was lovely.

When we finally arrived in Madrid we were tired but somehow managed to rustle up enough energy to meet the Amavida Ten and have a delicious dinner at El Rincon de Esteban where we were served by Esteban himself at times.  Plenty of wine, plenty of food and enough sides and desserts to feed a small village, which I suppose this group of ten could be considered to be.  All in all a good ending to a long but memorable day.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my friend Pat and Rich holding hands as they walk along.  Its not the most in focus shot but it’s a keeper.

Rich and Pat holding hands

It made me think of one of my favorite Winnie the Pooh quotes:

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh?” he whispered.
“Yes, Piglet?”
“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”

-A. A. Milne- Winnie-the-Pooh