I woke up really early this morning to catch a cab to the bus station to catch another cab to make it to the Hotel Posada del Peine in Madrid to meet the fam. Everything went off without a hitch but I ended up beating the family to the hotel by a good hour. I was worried I was in the wrong place, they had lost their luggage, or they were lost somewhere in Madrid. I found out their flight was delayed an hour when they made it safely to the hotel. It was so good to see everybody after so long and it was a sweet and slightly teary-eyed reunion.
After getting settled in our tiny dwarf room with 3 beds and a slanted roof (we hit our heads at least once a day), we explored the plaza mayor and ate at the museo del jamon where Jen decided she was not a fan of ham and could easily become a vegeterian after seeing the actual ham legs hooves and all hanging from the ceiling.
Mom with her ham, cheese, and egg sandwich which quickly became an obsession:
After lunch we walked through sol and gran via just seeing the sights and getting a feel for Madrid. We soon headed back for a much needed nap and rested until dinner time. As we headed to dinner we met Courtney for tapas in the caves under the plaza mayor. Here the fam had many 1st experiences: chorizo, tortilla de patata, peppers, hard bread, and croquetas.
After dinner we ventured out to ventas to see the bull ring and Quintana, my neighborhood where I used to live. There we got helado at our cafeteria and saw carmela’s (my madre) house but she wasn’t there. Since the city is even more beautiful at night, we went and saw the palace and cathedral and walked back to collapse at the hotel.
Me and Miguel at the bull ring:
Me and Courtney with our pizza man Sieat-
Jen and Mike with the symbol of Madrid:
Sunday-
We woke up earlier than the rest of the city who had been partying the night before—trust us, we know, we can hear all the drunk people singing in the plaza mayor until the wee hours of the morning-- and searched for breakfast. It was then I remembered Spaniards don’t really believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day so we searched high and low for someone to give us more than a crouton for breakfast and we ended up at a place calle Café and Te. We got what they call “desayuno Americano” (American breakfast) and some amazing freshly squeezed O.J.
From there we walked to the outdoor market called the Rastro where we bought some super cheap dresses. For some rest we headed to my favorite place in all of Madrid: Retiro Park. Here the fam tried fanta de naranja (orange fanta, so much better than in the US) for the first time on the steps of the monument of the lake and now they’re hooked. There was also a symphonic band concert in the park and we could hear them from our spot near the lake. We walked around Retiro and saw the beautiful crystal palace and rose garden.
Retiro's rose garden
I hope they are as obsessed as I am with Retiro. Basically starving to death and having walked like 20 miles, we decided it was time to venture out to el espejo for lunch. Here the fam had their 1st experience with leche merengada, gazpacho and ham, egg and cheese sandwiches (their fave).
Jen and Mike with their ice cream at El Espejo:
Feeling a little refreshed, we walked to the Prada and exhaustedly saw a little over half before we collapsed in the atrium and decided we should call it quits for the day. Dad was having a blast telling us all about the paintings and you could really tell he was loving it. The we headed back to the hotel for a siesta after a long day of touring. That night we made it out to the plaza de Santa Ana for tapas and paella. Afterwards, I had a chance to say good-bye to Courtney and some of the Samford crowd that was headed back to the states in the morning. Carmela, my madre, met me and the fam at valor for chocolate and churros and I had so much fun seeing my two worlds meet and get along. They were precious together and I enjoyed so much being their translator for Carmela’s funny stories.
Miguel loves his churros and chocolate:
Saying goodbye to Courtney :(
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