Last few hours in Madrid . . .

Sitting here in Plaza Santa Domingo, enjoying my last few hours in Madrid. It's really nice when a city has the foresight to provide free WiFi points for its citizens. Anyway, I should be sitting by a pool at the "fabulous" Hotel Wellington that was rated five stars. LJ and I booked this as a treat for our last night here before we got on separate flights back to WAW. Imagine our shock and utter disappointment when we stepped out into the courtyard under the blazing afternoon sun to discover that the whole pool area was shut down for remodeling. Dreams shattered. Depression ensues. After conferring with the hotel manager, we were informed that the hotel website states that the pool is shut down for the summer and it was our fault for not checking this out. Who the hell books directly with the hotel anymore? Are you kidding me? The site we went through, kayak.com which directed us to gtahotels.com, clearly stated that they had a pool and jacuzzi. So we dropped a bit more than we usually spend in hope of enjoying some super relaxation time the night before reality hit. I certainly expressed my outrage in no uncertain terms and was told that there was nothing they could do in the way of compensation. I did manage to put up a big enough stink to get us a room upgrade but you can't have a nice cool soak in a kingsized bed. Anyway, more writings about the last few weeks in Spain are to come when I get back home . . . until then, adios from Spain!