The superhighway down to Burgos was as smooth as a babies bottom. We purred along at a stately 120kph (72 mph) mile upon mile until we crossed the Spanish border. I noticed off to the right a large sign in Spanish (what else?) indicating that IF we were foreigners we should "go here", a large arrow pointing off to the right. We ignored this instruction entirely unsure if we were whom it was directed to, I guess we could have driven there and asked but, we did not. Now in Spain and through the Pyrenees we went with the appearance of a light dusting of snow in the mountains in front of us.
It took us by surprise as soon ahead the snow gathered by the side of the road and "black ice" became a real fear. "Black ice" forms on road ways an since it is transparent only the asphalt shows through thus hiding the slippery danger effectively from drivers eyes, not good. So slower we went, sometimes only a crawl at 5 mph (8 kph) for some miles. We escaped our wintery highway after a while and drove into to Burgos about 4 pm. Total driving time from Toulouse was about 6 hours.
Once in Burgos we began our hunt for the hotel, we had an address and soon found the street but, alas, the number of the street address was simply not placed on many of the buildings. Back and forth we went eyeing every doorway and street sign for a number, any number and few there were.
Finally in an act of desperation I pulled into a parking spot and ran back to a group of women waiting for a bus and as I got their attention, asked them in pidgin Spanish "Donde esta Hotel Forum Evolucion, por favor" and all pointed in a single motion towards the street corner about a block away! Fantastic! "Gracias, mucho gracias" I said and rushed back to Kelly and the waiting car.
We pulled away and quickly turned the corner and there it was! Now what? I dropped off Kelly and began looking for a parking lot, but where was it. Behind the hotel? A block away? Huh? I finally wound up parking in a bus zone behind the hotel and waited for Kelly. I due time she appeared and upon getting in the car directed me to a large garage door with a set of buttons on the right side. I got out and pushed the button "Aperto", ah,a noise, a clunk, a whirrrr and the door began to open revealing the interior of an elevator! An auto elevator! Wonderful! Kelly hopped out and walked inside and I returned to the driver's seat and drove Theresa-[the -Toyota into the elevator. Kelly pushed the button "Cerrar", the door then closed and we began to descend into the garage. The door in front of us opened and here we were in a large open area under the hotel with a door connecting to the lobby and our trusty Toyota parked secure for the night.
It took us by surprise as soon ahead the snow gathered by the side of the road and "black ice" became a real fear. "Black ice" forms on road ways an since it is transparent only the asphalt shows through thus hiding the slippery danger effectively from drivers eyes, not good. So slower we went, sometimes only a crawl at 5 mph (8 kph) for some miles. We escaped our wintery highway after a while and drove into to Burgos about 4 pm. Total driving time from Toulouse was about 6 hours.
Once in Burgos we began our hunt for the hotel, we had an address and soon found the street but, alas, the number of the street address was simply not placed on many of the buildings. Back and forth we went eyeing every doorway and street sign for a number, any number and few there were.
Finally in an act of desperation I pulled into a parking spot and ran back to a group of women waiting for a bus and as I got their attention, asked them in pidgin Spanish "Donde esta Hotel Forum Evolucion, por favor" and all pointed in a single motion towards the street corner about a block away! Fantastic! "Gracias, mucho gracias" I said and rushed back to Kelly and the waiting car.
We pulled away and quickly turned the corner and there it was! Now what? I dropped off Kelly and began looking for a parking lot, but where was it. Behind the hotel? A block away? Huh? I finally wound up parking in a bus zone behind the hotel and waited for Kelly. I due time she appeared and upon getting in the car directed me to a large garage door with a set of buttons on the right side. I got out and pushed the button "Aperto", ah,a noise, a clunk, a whirrrr and the door began to open revealing the interior of an elevator! An auto elevator! Wonderful! Kelly hopped out and walked inside and I returned to the driver's seat and drove Theresa-[the -Toyota into the elevator. Kelly pushed the button "Cerrar", the door then closed and we began to descend into the garage. The door in front of us opened and here we were in a large open area under the hotel with a door connecting to the lobby and our trusty Toyota parked secure for the night.
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