Bienvenidos a Madrid!

Let´s just say that yesterday was a blur. It started early, lasted over 30 hours and then ended with us losing our post on the hotel computer and giving up trying to get it onto the internet at 2 a.m. After sitting on the tarmac at Bush for an hour we made our way to Newark only to sit and wait while our loved ones splashed in pools and ate BBQ on Memorial Day. One 4.5 hour layover later, we were on the plane to Madrid and starting our vacation. We arrived in Madrid a little jet-lagged but ready to start our adventure immediately. We found the nearest taxi, hopped in and made our way for La Puerta Del Sol, the city center and home to our hotel in Madrid.

First things first, an amazing first, our hotel room was ready when we got here! That lead to the luxury of a shower. After spending so many hours in the same clothes (and same underwear) we both wanted a change and a shower. We freshened up and set off to discover a little about Spanish life. We followed a well laid out walking plan that took us through many of the major attractions in Madrid, beginning with La Puerta Del Sol, or Gate of the Sun. The Bear and the Strawberry Tree (we don´t know what a strawberry tree is either) is the symbol of Madrid. It´s everywhere from street markers to man hole covers. This little guy is right in front of our hotel.

Next we took a walking tour to the Plaza Mayor. The funniest thing about this place is that after Franco, voting became very popular. They painted pieces of the square four different colors and let the entire city vote on a nice shade of burgundy. Thought you would appreciate that Lynn considering your current paint dilemma.

Next we wandered by the palace and to Madrid´s new Catholic Cathedral that was home to Saint Isidor, the patron saint of Madrid. Isidor croaked, after a life of helping the disabled, but when they dug him up for some reason 40 years later, his body was still intact. That's a miracle folks, and the Pope cantonized him. We saw his wooden coffin, made sometime in the 12th century, that is adorned with beautiful carvings and artwork. This cathedral was funny. Architecturally it looked like Notre Dame, but the decorations looked like a cross between a Mexican Restaurant and a Goya painting. They were very flashy and abstract. The stained glass windows were just shapes with the saints names written on them.

Our next stop was the Royal Palace! Since the European kings pretty much all married each other, a French king, who was at the time of course King of Spain, built this palace to rival Versailles. And we thought, dare we say, it was actually prettier! The entire palace is filled with georgeous chandeliers and a lot of the rooms are decorated in the Rococo style, which means really ornate panels and ceilings. They wouldn't let us take any pictures inside, but here´s an outside shot. You can see it looks a lot like Versailles.

At this point, Kristen and I were able to fully take in another Spanish tradition, La Siesta. The Spanish are known for their 3 hour lunch breaks in the middle of the day. Shops and restaurants close as the workforce heads to the house, a park, any area to eat, sleep and be merry. Madridlianos in particular catch naps in all possible places. Kristen and I experienced La Siesta head on as we attempted to travel to a less touristy area of the city to buy Harley-Davidson t-shirts for a friend only to have the shop be closed when we arrived. We had to do something with ourselves for 45 minutes as we waited for the store to re-open so we shopped for souvenirs.

Now we were dragging so much, that we did something very un-vacek-like... we took a nap. Yes, shocking I know, but it was only for an hour (one hour of sleep out of about 26 isn´t so bad). We had to get ready for our big night out eating Tapas! We met our tour guide James and another couple from Miami. James took us on a little tour of Madrid, telling us funny stories all the way about the history of the city. He taught us how to eat tapas like a true Madridliano. We started out in a little bar where Blake learned how to pour cider properly.

We learned that to really be Spanish, you push your way to the bar, joke with the waiters, don´t say thank you until you leave, and throw whatever you don´t want on the floor. We had a blast and we ate things I´m amazed at. (Yes, I actually ate ALL of these things. We just thought I got crazy with snails.) Over the course of four hours and five bars, we tried tiny little portions, or tapas, of blue cheese, chorizo (which even I loved), tuna empanadas, iberico ham and manchego cheese (yummmm). We joked about how much they love Ham here, but we went to a place literally called The Museum of Ham. There were probably 600 hams hanging on the ceiling around this bar. All with little catchers at the end because in the summer they drip. Gross!

Then we got crazy... tripe, black pudding, spicy peppers, anchovies (BLAHHHH! Fish in my mouth!) and even... drumroll please... LAMB PANCREAS in a lemon butter sauce, which actually wasn´t near as gross as the anchovy.

After four hours of eating and drinking, we decided we needed to make one more stop, CHURROS and chocolate! Let´s just say, we´ll be doing this three more times before we leave so we´ll share more pics later. We may be starting a churros and chocolate place in Houston.

We´re off to the Prado, to see Picasso´s work Guernica, and then to maybe a roast suckling pig dinner. Yes, it´s the whole little piggy, so sad. More tonight!