The Family Tour Guide

After our weekend in Barcelona, it was time to bring the family to Madrid and show them the place that I've called home for the past 3 months. I had no school on Monday (for some religious holiday that isn't really celebrated in the States) so I got them moved into their apartment and then took them to the Plaza de Santa Ana to find some lunch. We then went on a quick tour of central Madrid--Puerta del Sol (the center of Madrid...and Spain for that matter), the opera house, then Plaza Mayor and the Mercado de San Miguel. We grabbed some groceries and dropped them off before making a reservation for a Flamenco show that night. With Spanish guitars, a few singers, and some VERY talented dancers, flamenco is a type of dance that almost seems to mimic the motions of
a matador during a bullfight. It's very rhythmically focused, as the dancers are constantly pounding their shoes into the dance floor. The rhythm plays back and forth between the dancer and the musicians, and all adapt as one. I thought it was a very enjoyable experience.

They get to where they're moving really fast. This was in two seconds.

The next day (after my classes), I took them to the Prado Museum, which has a massive collection of art from any era--Velazquez, Ruebens, Goya, El Greco, they've got it all. We hustled to the Restaurante Botín for dinner at the oldest restaurant in the world. We all got the suckling pig (a portion, not the whole thing!), which had a really good pork flavor, but not too much beyond that. A very simple, but very good meal.

Wednesday we booked an upscale tapas tour that turned out to be more of a wine tasting. We had vermouth (on tap! Only in Spain...), a few whites, and several reds at the various places. The food was typical Spanish fare: olives, ham, cheese, and then a more substantial meal of paella, pork, and beef. We met some other Americans on the tour, which was nice for me because I haven't been in close contact with many people who have been in the States since January. Mom, Tanna, and Cindy took a cooking class Wednesday afternoon that they really enjoyed. And the food looked fantastic!

Thursday, the girls went to Toledo (check out some of my trip here) while I had class all day. I was on my own! I went and got a couple shirts for spring/summer (it's warming up here!). For dinner, we went to the Mercado de San Miguel and got some things at various stalls. My favorite was a salad with bell pepper, onion, shrimp, squid, and a few more veggies, marinated in olive oil and maybe some vinegar. Vegetables can be hard to come by in restaurants here, so it was great to have A LOT of them all at once.

On Friday, the girls toured the Royal Palace and did their own thing for most of the day. That night we went back to one of the restaurants on the tapas tour because we really liked how the place felt--a real family atmosphere, and really nice to the tourists! We had a plate of AMAZING ham (jamón de Jabugo) with a paté appetizer, called foie here...I don't think I'll need more foie any time soon. Then we got a fish dish, either pork or beef (I can't remember! So much happened!), and a platter of seafood, all based on the waiter's recommendation. I thought most of the food was okay, but it could have been a little better. However, it was a great place where everyone loved working there, so that made up for the lackluster dishes.

The girls' last full day in Madrid was jam-packed. We had to move out of the apartment early, so storing our luggage was an experience, to say the least. Getting down the stairs of the building, getting on the train at the busiest station in Madrid, then figuring out how to work the luggage storage units. It was crazy! Then we took a quick trip to the Reina Sofia to see Picasso's Guernica, painted to protest Franco's dictatorship. After the museum, we took a bus tour around Madrid, seeing the bullfighting arena, the Real Madrid soccer stadium, and other major Madrid sights that we hadn't gotten to yet. A quick stop for ice cream at a place called "llao llao", and it was time to go to the airport. Saying goodbye a second time was even the harder than the first, but I'm so much closer to being home for the summer now, so that made it a little easier. I had a fantastic time being the tour guide for my family, and it was so nice to see them again. I honestly cannot believe that I'll be home in two months!