Spain, Day 5

Today’s mission was simple:  get from Olmedo to Madrid.

I feel better about my frustration with the car.  Brent got frustrated with it, too.  It didn’t want to leave the parking spot for him, either.  Nonetheless, I have decided that I am going to learn to drive stick well when I get home.  I do not want my superhero powers to be limited by something as silly as a gearshift.

The next superhero power I want after that is the ability to read in a car without getting carsick.  As the navigator for the expedition, I needed to babysit the phone directions.  My opinion was not asked when Google Maps designed their application.  Personally, I like to know more in advance than the nice lady in the phone wants to tell me.  Yes, I know that I can get that information by pushing more buttons, but still.

The nice lady, who has a hilarious non-grasp of Spanish names, got us close to our hotel.  We missed the last turn, which was bad.  After a bunch of impossible directions (“Make a u-turn…”), even Brent had had enough.  We drove the car to the airport to turn it in and took a taxi to the hotel.

It is now nap time, since one does not eat dinner here until at least 9 p.m.