Madrid!

Mike and I have made the command decision to do some jumping around chronologically, so... we went to Madrid last weekend! We flew out on Friday and landed around 10:15. The amazingly fast, clean subway whisked us to the Tribunal stop where Cay and Gary met us right outside our hotel (actually, our pension, like a hostel with private bedrooms and shared bathrooms. Totally all we needed!) We went out and had some delicious food, sangria, and caught up with our buds the Walshes!

In the morning, we found out that Madrid was hosting the country's farmer's strike, or manifestacion. There were thousands of people from all over the country who had bussed in, carrying banners, flags, cowbells, drums, and we even saw a giant cow balloon. It was a very organized strike. It was amazing to see.

We walked through the beautiful park and enjoyed the architecture. We walked back into the city and stopped for a snack at the Jamon Museum, or ham museum! It was covered with giant hams hanging everywhere. People stood up against the counters and ordered all sorts of plates of food, wine, and beer. We ordered a round of house red and a plate of ham and a plate of Spanish cheese. It was delicious! We stood in the crowd enjoying the ambiance, food, and the especially delicious Spanish olives that we were served with our food.

We reached our destination, the Plaza Mayor, where there were many street performers and two famous duelling fried calamari sandwich shops. Cay and Gary and Mike divided and conquered both shops, realizing that in their opinion, they tasted pretty much the same (and delicious, so they said!). We walked on toward the Reina Sofia museum. Mike and Gary tried to order dos cervezas at a small cervecaria, but for some reason, they were just not understood. After a bunch of pantomime, we realized the confusion was whether we wanted to sit inside or outside. At least we finally figured it out!

We taxied to Reina Sofia, a modern art museum. It was a long three hours in the museum. If you want to know what we think of modern art museums as a whole, we would be happy to have that conversation with you later. There were a few works that we really enjoyed, but on to dinner!

We ate at a fantastic paella place and found a great wine that we ended up getting more of to take home with us. We finished the evening in a strange bar where the four of us had one more glass of wine before turning in for the night. It had been a great day!

In the morning, we returned to the plaza mayor for a fantastic flea market. It stretched down to another part of the city and was a lovely stroll. A few hours in, it got PACKED, though! We returned to our pension where sadly, Mike and I gathered our bags and set off back to the airport.

It was a whirlwind, but so much fun! Thanks Walshes!

Link to our pictures:

Madrid with the Walshes