I’ve been trying to keep a journal throughout our trip through Spain and to Morocco. The writing is a little different from normal…more like notes in some places and in present tense from whatever day I was writing. Too much to change to make it sound better, so take it or leave it. 🙂
Madrid – Day One – We found our hostel pretty quickly and though it smells smokey, it’s clean and has a small balcony with a view of Puerta del Sol. The streets are packed tonight! We went out to find some protein bars at El Corte Inglés (the Herrod’s department store of Spain), strolled through the crowds down Calle Mayor, found Cervezería La Mayor just to take pictures for the Panama crowd, saw the Christmas market in Plaza Mayor, then finally found a good place to sit down and eat. Had the best olives with some kind of red pepper oil on them…best I’ve ever had. Also the best patatas bravas – a HUGE plate of them – that I’ve ever had. Eric loved them too. Gambas al ajillo were fine. Croquetas de jamón were pretty decent too. Rounded it off with Cruzcampo (beer) and some crusty amazing Spanish bread dipped in the red pepper oil. AMAZING. I love this country.
Flight was interesting. Really old plane with only a few screens for the ONE inflight movie that was something crappy. Didn’t even show us the map of where we were over the ocean and how much longer we had until we arrived and all that. Some parts of it were just gross, like the bathrooms and between the seats. There were also hard bars in the seats that made sleeping even harder. Luckily, my husband is amazing and he let me sleep in his lap for most of the flight. Really turned out to not be as bad as I expected. Really excited to be back in Spain!!!
Day Two – After a cold night trying to manipulate covers between two single beds smashed together so we could snuggle and me sleeping in my fleece, we woke up freezing in a room without temperature control….at 1:30 pm local Madrid time. Whew! Slept clean through from around 10 pm the night before. Guess we needed it. We had closed the shutters which let almost no light in, so it was like a cave in our tiny room. Eric’s backpack had a thermometer on it which said 70 degrees, but even he admitted that it was way too cold…apparently we’ve been in Panama for too long.
We got up and moving and headed out to find a snack. We went to a gorgeous glass indoor market where Eric found some croquetas and I bought my favorite food in the world – bocadillas, or Spanish sandwiches. I bought one with chorizo and one with jamón serrano…both on hard Spanish bread. Yes, I know I’m not supposed to be eating gluten and blah, blah, blah, but oh my word, this stuff is too good. I can’t stay 12 days in Spain without eating bread or cheese or churros or anything gluteny or with dairy. It just won’t happen. My favorite thing about this country is the food, so my stomach will just have to hang tight. I’m being a little careful at the moment, but once we get back from Morocco, it’s on! I have big plans for eating on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
We took our snacks and walked down to the Royal Palace. Unfortunately, it had closed early (1pm…which we slept through) for election day. I thought it was pretty brilliant to have election day on a weekend…so everyone can go…but then again maybe people in the States wouldn’t bother b/c they’d be out of town or busy doing nothing or something…I don’t know. Anyway, we took our time strolling between the palace and the cathedral right next to it. Since Eric was well rested and well fed, he even offered to take photos and selfies with me! Unprecedented. I’m glad to finally know the key to that little mystery.
I had decided that I could take or leave an inside tour of the cathedral, but Eric was up for it, so we went in…and man, am I glad we did. It was no ordinary cathedral. It was gorgeous. Huge. Something about it was just different. Beautiful painted ceilings, pointed gothic arches, guilded everything, and a mosaiced chapel that is one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever seen.
We also checked out the crypt, which interested Eric more than it did me. He found one tomb that was dated January 2015! There were several that were fairly recent, actually.
After that, we started the 2+ km walk towards Parque Retiro, the Central Park of Madrid. This walk is down one of the main streets of Madrid, Calle Mayor, and took us back through Puerta del Sol, where we’re staying, which I’ll liken to Times Square. The park is beautiful and HUGE. We found the big lake where people rent rowboats and sat down beside it for a bit. We got some patatas bravas (roasted potatoes with a spicy sauce – same as what we ate last night only not nearly as good) and relaxed for a minute before completing the walk around the lake. Eric again was sweet to take a few pictures of me trying to do some capoeira moves in fun places, then we walked on back to the hotel for a rest.
In Parque Retiro, Madrid’s Central Park. Beautiful!
Big anchor in Parque Retiro
Famous
Our last dinner in Madrid was at an outdoor tapas cafe (yes, tons of people were eating outside in 40 degree weather) at Puerta de Alcalá (a big arch in the middle of a huge traffic circle). We had some wonderful tapas (meat plate with jamón serrano y chorizo, plus two others that we didn’t identify), ham croquetas, and chicken tikka masala with rice. Oh, and cerveza. Not bad.
Mom asked us to take a nice picture together that she can use for her New Year’s card. This is what we came up with. Not sure what’s up with the lime…
