So in exactly one week Akumi and I will be on a plane to Spain where it rains in the plains (please excuse me). We are flying into Madrid in the morning of the 20^th^ where we’ll stay the night. There, we will meet up with Akumi’s brother and his wife who will have flown in from Japan a couple days earlier.

Madrid boasts such great sights as Museo del Prado, Palacio Real and Plaza Mayor, but the highlight for me will be to visit the place I lived for three years as a kid. I look forward to seeing how much it changed and if they ever cleaned up all the grafitti we the local hoodlums did (hey, this was the time when Breakin’, Electric Boogaloo and Beat Streat were out, what was a kid to do?).

I am almost certain the legend of my fútbol prowess in the Terraza Grande de los Apartamentos Torrejón will still be mentioned in hushed tones by the local kids who play there today. Assuming they can contain their laughter.

From Madrid, we are travelling to Léon for a day and a half, and then Bilbao for a day and a half. Then we are on a late train to the Catalan city of Barcelona for four days. No offense to my amigos Madrileños, but I am really looking forward to beautiful Barcelona. The first time I visited, I have hazy memories of its beauty. This time I hope to soak it in more.