last days in madrid

i'm leaving tomorrow...it's been a fantastic time...i feel like i've done and have seen so much...it's been wonderful being with kerry, austin and cedar...loved seeing where they live...living their lives a little bit with them...i was staying at a little hotel about 3 blocks away from their apartment...but, for the last two days, we came downtown to stay at the hotel ritz!

 it's a gorgeous old hotel...i wanted to go out with a bang!  it's right across the street from the prado museum...in a gorgeous area of town...after checking in yesterday....cedar's nap....

kerry, cedar and i went over to the prado...it's a very nice museum....saw some beautiful paintings...cedar is into horses and saying 'neigh' whenever he sees one...so every time he saw one he said 'neigh'....we then met up with austin..went back to the hotel...and got ready for the evening...

it was raining last night...fortunately for me, the only rain on the trip...and it wasn't terrible...cold, wet, but, not pouring...we went down to a plaza and walked around...shopped a bit...at 9 pm, we met bryan van scoyk.....he's our friend from thousand oaks...he's been living in madrid for 5 years....we had dinner at a great restaurant with him...the restaurant is run by chef's that are in training...it's good food, but not super expensive....we had a fun time with bryan...he's traveled everywhere and has great stories to tell...

today, kerry, cedar and i went to their appointment to get their 'hie' card....it's the resident card...kerry had been waiting for her appointment for about 2 months...it's like the dmv, but way worse...plus, not one person spoke english!  nada! anyway....austin said it was 3  metros away, so we took a taxi which wasn't bad at all...she had to take a photo of her and cedar...cedar did not cooperate with the pics...he wouldn't look into the camera....then, we had a hard time knowing where to go...chose a line...for fingerprints...waited in that line for over an hour...then, when we got inside the building, they made me take cedar in his stroller over to another area....finally kerry got to have her appointment...the girl just kept asking questions and kerry would say...'no se'.....she just sort of grumbled, didn't like cedar's photo...asked where austin was....and finally sent us to another guy...he stamped some papers and we were done...only 2 and 1/2 hours later.....fun!!!!

 glad i could be there to help with cedar....we found a taxi...got back to the hotel....everyone took a nap...after our rests, we went to cedar's play group...it's a group of mom's and babies from austin's school...they have play group every friday afternoon...it was fun to meet the mom's...amy from slc, the woman from israel, from russia/portugal, japan, korea...from all over...very fun to talk to them and find out about their lives......then, tonight walked down and had a little dinner at a sandwich place...came home, put cedar to bed and had dessert in my room....so, that's the end of this trip...except for the flight home...it's been wonderful...i can't wait to come back...i still have a list of stuff to see....

thoughts on madrid

madrid is a huge city....it has many beautiful old buildings....people walk everywhere here....the traffic is congested, but, not terrible....they have a metro, buses, etc....people here are very nice...when you're walking people don't really make eye contact, but, if you're at a restaurant, in a store or whatever they always stop and talk to cedar...it seems they all love babies....a girl at a store told austin that cedar is the palest person she's ever seen...i thought spain had a lot of blondes, but, it doesn't seem so...mostly dark hair....

the people really bundle up...it's cold, but, not crazy cold...but, everyone here is wearing there coats, scarves, boots etc....the sun doesn't come up until about 8 am...and sets early...the streets seem very safe...i've been walking about 3 blocks every night from kerry and austin's to my hotel and there are usually people out walking around...but, i don't feel unsafe...
store hours are different here...some stores close during the afternoon....restaurants aren't always open....for dinner restaurants don't open until 8pm....they close in the afternoon after the lunch crowd....siesta is a real thing here....people take their time here...the taxi driver that stopped at the corner and helped us out of the taxi...he wanted to make sure the stroller was ok...very nice!  not many people speak english....the restaurants all serve specific items...they love there iberian ham!  they serve it on a long baguette like a sub sandwich...but, it's only ham...nothing else...i've had one that was delicious, and one that was really tough...depends on the ham, i guess....they love eggs on everything...sandwiches, stews, omelets, whatever, they will put an egg on it....

hotels usually have pretty nice bathrooms...in the states, cheap hotels do not put anything into a bathroom...they are usually pretty gross...here, even in a cheap old hotel, the bathroom is pretty modern and nice....another interesting thing is....not a lot of people have dryers here....kerry and austin have a teeny tiny washer...then, they hang their clothes to dry...the little hotel in albarracin also did this...you could tell because the towels were pretty stiff and hard!
we went to the park...the little girls dress so cute here...little mary janes, dresses, tights, darling coats...the boys are cute too with their scarves around their necks...very east coast preppy look!
                                                     

madrid to segovia...not really

pictures of what we could have seen (:

today kerry and i had planned a fun outing...we were taking the train to segovia....it's a little town outside of madrid that's supposed to be really pretty....so we got to the train station...go on the train....we're riding it....our tickets said we were going to segovia av......well, the train stopped at segovia...well, we thought there would be another stop...WRONG!  yes, we missed our stop....and of course the next stop wasn't for another 40 min.....hmmm....we got off in this little town called valladolid campo grande....not quite what we were aiming for....the next train for segovia was in 2 hours...it was cold and foggy outside....no place to go....but, there was a train bound for madrid! leaving in 10 minutes!  we got on it...totally missed segovia!  oh well....next time!!!

albaraccin and cuenca

on saturday morning we left for a little road trip....there is a town called albaraccin that's about 3 hours away from madrid...this town is one of the few medical towns that are left....it's called one of the most beautiful villages in europe...so we were off!

it was a nice drive...easy, not much traffic...and then, we got on this little tiny road...i thought it was a someones driveway almost...we went through all these little towns, and didn't see anyone...we wondered where everyone was...it was weird...they were cute little towns...you wonder what people do that live in these little towns...the scenery was beautiful...

we arrived in albaraccin...the gps was guiding us to our hotel...but, we got on a street that ended in stairs...not the street we needed...poor austin having to drive these tiny streets...found our hotel...it was an older hotel, but, clean with a good bathroom...sort of cabin feeling....we wandered around the old city...it's up on a cliff...i don't know why or how they built this cities like that...but, it's beautiful...with a big wall around it..we climbed up to the wall, which i was thrilled i could do this...i hurt my knee a few days before i came on this trip...it's finally getting a bit better...so i was happy i could get up there!!!  i'ts up in the mountains, so it was cold...austin discovered trout in the river...we froze outside until the restaurant opened at 8...although, we went inside at about 7:20...it was sooooo cold!

this morning we  had a breakfast...they have a thing here...it's churros and dipping chocolate...they don't have 'hot chocolate', but, they have melted chocolate that you dip your stuff in....it's delicious!  then, we decided to drive to cuenca....it was such a beautiful drive...over the mountains...windy road...but, so pretty...saw a frozen river...a bit of snow...just gorgeous scenery...there is so much empty land!  it's fantastic....

then we got to cuenca,  is another old city built on a cliff....it was really cool...we walked across this bridge overlooking a gorge, then up into the city....

finished our drive home...and our little adventure!!

                                     

                                        

madrid!

we came back to madrid on tuesday afternoon....i checked into my hotel which is about 2 blocks away from kerry and austin's apartment.  on wednesday we just did daily things...we walked to the market...it's about a mile away...shopped, walked back....we did laundry....mundane things...nice to see where kerry and austin live and what their life is like....

 thursday kerry and cedar and i took the red bus tour...austin's back in school....we saw different parts of madrid...it's a pretty city....the palace is gorgeous!  but, then, cedar wasn't feeling well, so we got off the tour...took a taxi back home....later in the afternoon kerry and austin took cedar to the doc...he had the beginnings of bronchitis!  that afternoon, i got brave... i needed to fill my nails...so kerry took me to a nail salon...that was a fun experience!  i had two girls working on each hand....they used no machines...just files...they were done really fast!  then, i went to this little restaurant up the street and got kerry and i sandwiches.....ham is really big in spain...everything is ham...it's iberian ham....it's pretty salty and dried....they just make sandwiches with delicious bread and ham...that's it...you'd think it would be dry or boring...but, it's delicious!  so, we just hung out at home...they went to the doc...i stayed home...then, we had dinner later....friday, kerry and i did a bit of fun shopping...always a hit with us!! after cedar's nap when austin got home we went to a baby store for some blankets, then dinner at a little restaurant...it was a fun time! 

Seville and Granada

We left marrakech on saturday and flew to seville.  i was thrilled with this city.  it's so pretty.  orange trees are everywhere!  they have them lining the streets...it's just gorgeous.   we stayed in a very old hotel, king alphonso xiii,  it's right in the city center...
the first night we walked around...it was sort of fun, but we came back to spain still celebrating christmas!  they celebrate until januray 6th which is three kings day!  so, the lights were still up and the party was still on...we walked over to the plaza de espana....it is a gorgeous plaza with such beautiful tile work and the building is fantastic...we took a horse drawn carriage ride...then got off in the center of town...walked around some more...saw the magnificent cathedral...it was fun...

the next day we took the city tour which showed us a lot of seville...it was a beautiful day...

we then got on the train and headed for granada....it's about a 3 hour ride....nothing much to talk about....we got to our hotel about 7 that night...it was an old mansion that was turned into a hotel...we had fun, cool rooms...they were modern inside...my room had the bathroom downstairs....fun with my 'bum' knee...haha...

the next day we took a tour of the alhambra....it was really different than i expected...it was beautiful...i didn't realize it was on a mountain, basically...overlooking the city....it had some beautiful rooms and gorgeous gardens....

 

that night we went to the 3 kings day parade!  that was crazy!  for one thing...they told us it started between 5:30 and 6...it actually started about 6:30...it had tons of floats ....and from every float, they threw candy....and they chucked it!  i got hit on my head a lot!  it was funny to watch...they had everything from 3 kings, to belly dancers, to fred and barney from the flintstones!  they had fireworks...and it was packed!!!  it was fun to see....we then went to dinner at a spanish style restaurant...it was fun to eat at...and the party atmosphere was going on!

the next morning we took the train back to madrid!! our adventure was over.....what a fun time!