Madrid, Spain

We made it to Madrid!  Unfortunately for everyone close by, especially Steve, I was very hungry. Most I've you know what happens to me when my blood sugar drops.  Lol  Needless to say the arrival to Madrid was exciting and stressful.  We were supposed to meet Celia's uncle at the station. We had never seen him before and only communicated via email.  He assured me there was only one exit and it would be easy to find him.  Well, Steve and I found multiple exits and we could not find him.  This did not help our states of mind.  After bickering for a while and exhausting all the options we thought we had, we just decided to stay put and pray that he would find us.  Thank God he did!!!  Apparently we were at the touristic part of the station (go figure) and he was waiting at the "normal" local exit.  It took us about 45 mins to finally connect. Lol. He and his wife even had a sign with our names on it like in the movies. It was really cute.  They were surprised to see me because they were expecting a blond but I was a brunette.  Lol  Celia sent them pictures of Steve and I but for what ever reason they thought I should have been blond. I told them I would be in a few more months. :).

A beautiful picture of Tio Miguel and Tia Ana

Tio Miguel and Tia Ana/Anita/Annamarie where so nice, nurturing, funny, generous and great tour guides.  They had two days of plans all prepared for us so we wouldn't miss anything.  We started by going back to their house to drop off our things.  I asked if the was a market near by for us to get some food (at this point I was close to eating anyone's head off but I was trying my hardest to stay calm).  Tio said not to worry about food because I was in his house, he would give us food.  It was odd but I asked if I could have some food and he said "yes" but then did nothing.  The language barrier was a little challenging at this point. I went into the bedroom and remembered I had a protein cookie that Kim gave me.  I quickly ate in and returned to the others. Steve said "I came out if the room like I had just devoured a wild animal and had crumbs all over my face". Lol  On the way down to the car Tia asked me if we had eaten and I told her we hadn't.  She was very concerned and gave us some fruit until we could get a full meal at lunch.
That first day they took us to a town named Toledo. It was about an hour away.  On the car ride there, Steve fell asleep but the rest of us continued to try to talk the best we could. Tio asked me what religion we were and I told him we are Christian.  I thought it was an out of the blue question but later I found out why he asked.  They thought we were Jehovah Witnesses .  I don't know if they were concerned because they thought we would try to convert them or not but I  think they were trying to be sensitive to our religious needs. When we arrived Steve and I loved it!!  It was an amazing town with a lot of history. Of course we took a ton of photos. The architecture was amazing.  Tio and Tia treated us to a three course lunch about 3p.  It was so big we had to take some home (we found out that is not a common thing to do in Spain and they ran out of togo boxes. Lol). After a delicious lunch, we took a tour train around the city and got to hear about its history This town was shared by Catholic/Christians, Muslims, and Jews each group had its own section of town and respected each others boundaries. They were able to live together in peace and with respect.  I don't know how they did it but it definitely gives hope that it is possible.  By the end of our time in Toledo we decided, when we win the lottery and become insanity rich, we will by a vacation home there. :)

Train tour of Toledo

Stunning veiws of Toledo

In the evening around 9p we went out with their whole family to celebrate Tia Ana's birthday.  We got to meet their children (minus the one who is living int Alaska) and their significant others and Tia Celia.  They were all so nice and a lot of fun!  We want to a popular restaurant in the center of Madrid and had a feast! We started with tapas of, bread, Cherizo, chrochettes, and their famous Jamon (ham).  Then we all had some amazing rotisserie chicken, that melted in our mouths it was so tender, and dessert.  It was a late night but a very fun night!!!

This was a yummy hard cider!  It was like a grown-up's apple cider.
So yummmy!  I will have to see if I can get it back home

Cheers! (Steve, Tia Celia, Jenn, and the birthday girl Tia Ana)

The whole gang

Tia got a new cell phone for her birthday gift.  She was "OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH" so excited.
(Jenn, Tia Ana, and Gaby°

The next day we all slept in, had a nice breakfast and headed out to Segovia for the day.  At the entrance to the city was a huge bridge like structure that used to be an aqueduct to bring water into the city.  This bridge was quite impressive. It had no cement between the bricks it was all engineered to hold together perfectly with no glue.  Amazing!  We walked around the city for a while and window shopped.  There was a little market in the courtyard selling different things from different regions.  It was nice to see.  There were many artists out and about painting and selling their art work to people passing by.  It was nice to sit and watch them for a while.  There was also a little band walking around playing traditional music from Segovia and singing.  Tia Ana and I decided to dance and song along with them. I am sure we looked ridiculous but we had fun and took a picture with them.  On our way back home, Steve and I being who we are, slept the whole way and woke up refreshed and ready for the evening.  Tia Ana made us a fabulous salmon dinner!  The salmon was baked on a bed of green beans, carrots, and red pepper and topped with mashed potatoes and cheese.  It was Amazing!!!  I am definitely going to try making it when I get home :)

For breakfast they made us hot chocolate and stirred it with a bent spoon. Turns out it is a genious invention where the bend holds the spoon on the cup so you don't have to put it on the table dirty.  We were amazed!!!!!

Giant Aquaduct

Cute little building

Tia Ana and Jenn singing with the band.

One of the many local artists

Amore

Us copying Tio and Tia's sweet love

Need I explain Steve?  You all know him  :)

Beautiful church

A cute little castle

dinner

Yummy Salmon

Every good meal should end with a good dessert.  This was a big chunk of meringue sandwiched between two thin layers of flaky pastery. 

On Monday Tio and Tia had to work so we were able to spend the next few days exploring Madrid with Tia Celia. She took us all over Madrid by foot. We walked the whole city in one day!  We must have walked down every single street.  She LOVES to walk, but so do we so it was a lot of fun. :).  I can't even remember all the places we went, let alone trying to remember them in order but I will try to list some and post pictures. :)  Plaza Mayor, Parque del buen Retiro and saw monument to Alfonso XII, plaza de sol, the mercado de San Miguel, and much, much more.  I had to write Tia Celia and asker the names of the other places.  I will adjust the blog later according to her responce ;-)

Puerta del Sol 

This is an important plaque.   This is the  0 kilameter marker.
All distance measurements in Spain is measured from here.

More decadent treats :)

Tia treated us to a famous pastery place called La Mallorauina in the Puerta de Sol.  I think the name of it is Napolitina con Crema.  It is like a croissant with a sweet baked custard inside.  With one bite this quickly became one of Steve's favorite treats ( Icecream is still his nunber 1 but this is definantly a runner up)!  We had to go back the next day too.  On the second day I tried the chocolate version and fell in love.  We both had our new favorites:  The day we left Tia Celia suprised us with a bag full of these yummy treats for the rode.  We were definantly spoiled :)

Plaza Mayor

Inside a nice traditional and popular tapas tavern

Mercado de San Miguel

These are pictures of a famous indoor market place that sells all sorts of delicious foods.  We popped in to look around and get some tapas before lunch.

Fruit Mojitoes?  Yes please!

Who knew there are so many differant types of olives?!?!?!

A typical spanish dish.  This Paella was made with meat but you could also get it with veggies, seafood, or caviar.

Jenn gives it a thumbs up! 

The Opera house

Again, need I explain?  It was windy.

I am trying to reframe from posting too mqny pictures of buildings because I have A LOT,
but Steve and I both loved this building. 

The lunch plates in Spain were great!  They give you a menu for a three course meal, with a drink, for a flat rate. Under each course you had a list of 3-5 options to choose from.  This way you were able to sample many things.  Steve ordered wine with his dish and recieved a whole bottle....and he enjoyed every last drop.  lol  I warned Tia Celia that Steven gets pretty friendly after he has had a drink or two.  

First he trys to pick up on a skeleton statue.

Then he trys to charm Tia Celia and give her kisses.

Look put you bag of bones-he's mine!

This was a pretty botanical wall Tia pointed out.
There was little flower pots that held the various
 plants to the wall.

I loved this store!  The clothes in it were unique and very colorful.  The clothing in this store reminds me of my dear friend Yoriela Lemons.  It was a bit pricey but if I could have afforded it, I would have bought this dress.  

It is just fun to see an American Restqurant in Spain.
And of course there were only burgers and deep fried foods on the menu.
I swear Americans eat more than just that.

Puerta De Los Jerònimos

Parque del buen Retiro
This park was very big.  It reminded me of a smaller
version of Central Park. 

Monument to king Alfonso XII
In the Park there is a man-made lake wear you can take a boat out for the day.  On the lake you can find this monument.  Tia, Steve, and I sat on a bench over looking the lake, with the cool breeze in our hair, and people watched.  It was so serien. 

This was a random advertisement that e thought was really cute.
 It is a mom and her daughter holding a penny between their noses.
 Steve and I replicated it below :)

This is a POST OFFICE!!!!!!!!  That is crazy!  Why don't ours look like that?
This is one of Steve's favorite buildings.

So after a long day of walking all over Madrid, we treated ourselves and Tia Celia to Churros and Chocolate at the best place to get the, in town (according to the locals) at Valor's Museo del Chocolate.
This is not to be confused with chocolate Fondue.  This is like a thick hot chocolate.  It is a good thing I do not live here or I would have these everyday :)

The next two days we continued to hang out with Tia Celia and when she was sick of us, or had other plans, we spent time with a friend we met in California, Sara, who is from Spain and currently living in Madrid.

Tapas and Sangria with Sara

This tapa looked like a fingernail to me. lol

The King's Castle and court yard

The Cathedral opposite the palace

When Sara was in CA she and her group of friends loved taking jumping photos.
So this is in memory of all the good times we had
together in CA before they all went their separet ways. 

A view of the castle and skyline of part of the city that we took
from a park with an anchent egyptian temple in it.   

Young Love <3

A group of men sunbathing at the park?  Does anyone else find that odd?
I thought mostly women did this but apparently not.

After some time with Sara and her sweet boyfriend we met up with tia Celia and Gaby for a while.
We squated down in this photo so she wouldn't feel as short. lol

Tia Ana had a very long day at work and her dogs were barking,
so she got a little  foot massage time :)

Our last lunch with Tia Celia.  We went to a Thai restaurant.  

After lunch we met back up with Sara, her boyfriend, and her sister and went to another park.  This was the hottest day yet.  We were all dripping within minutes of starting our walk.  The park we walked through was new and had a beautiful trail going through the whole park.  There where many grassy areas to picnic , enjoy the shade and sit by fountains where little kids run through the water to cool off.

On our last night, Sara's boyfriend treated us to some more traditional Spanish tapas and then we went to see a Flamanco concert.  Sadly, there was no dancers but they they added in brass instraments to spice things up and called it Flamanco Fusion.  

I think it might be a requirement to have Fabio inspired hair to play in a Flamanco group. lol

Thank you to all our new fqmily and friends who helped make our stay so specail.  We loved madrid!

Typing from a French computer this time.  It is hard because their keys are in differant spots.  Again, please excuse the spelling.