Back to Madrid

After our week on the Med. coast, we headed back to Madrid for 4 days before Russ had to fly back to the states.  We even returned to stay in our sketchy/homey Hostal Luz Madrid.

Did I mention that the room only had 3 tiny single beds?  We pushed 2 of them together and Micah, Torah & I shared it.  Poor Torah got stuck sleeping in the crack.  :-/

One of our days in Madrid, we took the metro out so that the boys could tour Santiago Bernabéu - the stadium for Real Madrid.  Micah was in heaven!

While we were there, we noticed that Real Madrid had a game that evening - against Galatasaray (one of our favorite Turkish soccer teams)!!  We immediately got in line to buy tickets.  Unfortunately, they were nearly sold out and there were not 2 seats together in the entire stadium.  Micah & Russ both bought tickets (their seats were pretty near each other), but Torah & I had to be content to watch the match on our crappy tv in our pathetic hostal room.  Sigh.  I'm so glad that Micah got to go, though!  Seriously a dream come true.

 Some other highlights of our few days in Madrid:

Spain is all about plazas - these great little open spaces in the middle of neighborhoods where people gather to hang out, chat, eat...  This was Opera plaza, the nearest one to our hostal.  I loved hanging out here & people-watching.  (click on the image to see the panorama better)

This was definitely my highlight of Madrid.  On Sunday, we rode the metro out to go to church at a ward which met right next door to the temple.  It was a Sunday, so the temple was closed & I couldn't go in.  But we were happy to just sit and enjoy the spirit on the grounds.  It is one of the most beautiful temples that I have ever seen.  I can't wait to go inside someday.

We also enjoyed spending time at Retiro Park.  It used to be the private park of the royal family, but in the late 18th century, Charles III decided to open it up for his subjects.  There is a large pond in the middle of the park where people can rent paddle boats or canoes.  And in the cool evenings, the grounds around the park are full of families picnicking, playing, and enjoying the break from the heat of the day.

Once we discovered Spanish pizza, we hardly ate anything else.  The crust is perfectly thin & crisp and the toppings are delicious.  Torah liked to eat hers rolled up like a burrito.

We went everywhere on Madrid's excellent underground metro system. 

Mediterranean coast - Mijas

When the boys' FSY session was done, we took a bus back to Madrid then caught a train down to the coast.  (Actually, that day involved a taxi, bus, metro, metro, fast train, commuter train, taxi to get from Segovia to our hotel.  Ugh.)

Heading down to the platform for our FAST train.

Riding the train is awesome!

We were very blessed to be able to stay at a great resort - El Cid - in a cute little town on the coast - Mijas.  (Thanks, Dad, for letting us use your time share points!)

The road from our hotel down to the coast.

We spent the bulk of the week swimming.  It was hot & humid on the coast!

These 2 have really bonded during this trip!

We met a nice French family who was staying at our hotel.  They had rented a car and were very nice to drive us around so that we could explore more of the Costa del Sol.  

Torah caught a baby gecko.

Fun day at the beach!

I liked watching the people selling their wares along the beach.  They were surprisingly not pushy, unlike most places I've traveled to.

Torah LOVED swimming in the Med!!  She must have swallowed a gallon of sea water, but she laughed and smiled the entire time.

Segovia

Our 2nd day (Sunday) in Spain found us catching a bus to Segovia.  It's a fantastic little town just an hour north of Madrid. We pulled into town around noon and walked the short distance from the bus station into the heart of town.  Again, it was HOT!  But we hardly noticed because we were so Wow'd by this amazing place!

One of the most stunning features of Segovia is the humongous Roman aqueduct that runs right through town.  I've seen a lot of Roman ruins, but this one was truly amazing!  It is HUGE and in such great condition.

We stopped to grab some lunch at an outdoor cafe just feet from the aquaduct.  We ordered little bocadillos - small sandwiches on baguette rolls - for 1 euro each.  Yum!

After lunch, we headed off to explore Segovia.  First stop, the cathedral.  Oh, how I LOVE European cathedrals!  I love how they dominate a town, and the details and workmanship that goes into them.  

Segovia's cathedral did not disappoint!  It was stunning from the outside, and even more beautiful inside.

I loved this painting that was in a chapel at the back of the cathedral.  It's called "Tree of Life" by Ignacio Ries.  According to Rick Steves:  It shows hedonistic mortals dancing atop the Tree of Life.  As a skeletal Grim Reaper prepares to receive them into hell (by literally chopping down the tree), Jesus rings a bell imploring them to wake up before it's too late.
Imagine the Primary lessons we could teach if we had this sort of artwork in our church buildings.  :)

Next stop was the Alcazar - the castle in Segovia that Cinderalla's castle was based on.  The cathedral may have been the glorious epicenter of town, but the Alcazar was the towering jewel at the far end of town.  I couldn't even begin to capture it's grandeur in my picture.

Torah charmed this cute Roman guard as we entered the castle.

Inside, the castle was truly medieval.  I kept trying to envision the real people who lived here hundreds of years ago.  It made all the Hollywood movies come to life.

I especially loved the side-by-side thrones in the throne room.

Despite the heat & our exhaustion, we climbed (& climbed & climbed up a winding, narrow stairwell) to the top of the highest tower so that we could take in the views.  They didn't disappoint.  It was so fun touring Spain with these two great guys!

See what I mean about the cathedral being the epicenter of town?  Awesome!

 After just 2 days in Spain, it was time for me to say good-bye to Micah & Russ for a week.  They spent the next week at a church camp in Segovia - FSY (For the Strength of Youth).  They were the only English-speaking kids out of hundreds of Spanish kids.  And they had a blast!!

It was fun to watch them head into this unknown experience with such excitement and confidence.  I'm glad they had each other, but they also made a lot of great new friends.

Meanwhile, Torah & I had a week to kill in Spain.  I considered a lot of options, but ultimately I'm so glad that I decided to just take it easy and book us a room at one of the only hotels in town that had a swimming pool.  It was a fun, relaxing week for us.

We would get up in the mornings, eat some yogurt, bread & cheese in our hotel room, then catch the bus to do a little exploring.  I never could get enough of seeing this amazing aqueduct!

We roamed through the local outdoor market and mourned the fact that we didn't have a kitchen so we couldn't really take advantage of all this great produce (although we did enjoy munching on fresh grapes as we wandered).

Torah had been happily eating jamón (Spanish cured ham, sliced very thin) with our bread & cheese for days, until we watched this woman slicing it off a pig's leg (complete with hairs & hoof).  But she was only grossed out for about a day and then she was back to devouring the delicious meat.

It's really hard to eat healthy when you are living in a hotel for a month.  I tried my best to find us fresh vegetables to eat.  This is Torah painfully trying to eat her entire carrot before I would buy her an ice cream cone.  

Segovia had one of the coolest bullfighting rings!  It was easy to imagine the roar of the crowds coming from its ancient benches. 

After a morning of exploring and an afternoon of swimming, we would look forward to the cooler evenings when it seemed like all of Segovia (all of Spain!) would head outside to socialize.

I love finding delicious, cheap eats!  This was one of the best meals I've had yet in Spain - 2 poached eggs (perfectly cooked with runny yolks), chorizo and fries.  All for 3.5 euros!  

Then it was time to find a park!  This one was so cool - just a huge pile of boulders to climb all over.

Torah was never shy and loved jumping right in when she found a group of kids playing on the playground.

She could also just sit and play with a new friend, even though they couldn't understand what each other was saying.  She didn't care; she was just happy to have someone besides mom to play with.

Hola from Madrid!! A Looooong Day 1

Our first day was flat-out exhausting.  Jared drove us to catch the 4:45am ferry, and this was where Micah, Torah & I had to say good-bye to him for 2 years (since he would be leaving for his mission to Turkey a month later).  Yeah, that was pretty tough.  

Our flight left SeaTac at 7:50am.  We had a brief layover in Chicago, then on to Madrid...

14 hours of traveling with this goof ball was actually not too bad.

 We landed at the Madrid airport at 6:30am.  Ugh!  BAD idea.  Now I understand why these were the cheapest tickets I could find.  No one wants to travel across the U.S. and then Atlantic, and then have a whole day to kill.  We dragged our sorry selves through the airport, got our bags, and then tried to figure out how to get from the airport into town.  We finally ended up catching the metro and then a bus and then walking.  We were such clueless newbies in Madrid.  But we made it!

We spend much of that first day in Madrid walking this stretch of pedestrian street, under the "cool" shade of the canopies overhead.  It was HOT!

We were finally able to get checked into our hostal:  Hostal Luz Madrid.  The location was pretty good - right in the heart of all the action, but off on a quieter side street.  Plus both the A/C and the wifi worked great!

Our room was pretty tiny - 3 single beds.  Yes, we were 4 people (Micah, Russ, Torah & me).  But it is virtually impossible - and very expensive - to find a place that sleeps 4.  So Torah & I shared one of those tiny beds.

Except when she fell asleep next to Russ.  Jet lag about killed us all!

We tried to get in a little sight-seeing that first day.  The Royal Palace was beautiful.

Plaza Mayor might have been neat, but by then we were too hot & tired & hungry to really appreciate it.

We stopped to eat at a little outdoor restaurant.  We wanted to immediately try some local cuisine.  Torah got the tortilla (basically potatoes & egg baked together).

I tried a bocadillo de calamares - squid-rind sandwich - very popular in Madrid.  Not bad, kind of chewy.  

Micah had paella - delicious & filling.

 That first day seemed to drag on forever!  Seriously, take my advice & if you are ever flying overseas, be sure to land in the evening!

The next morning, we checked out of Hostal Luz and ate our first (of many) Spanish breakfasts - toast drizzled with olive oil and spread with crushed tomatoes.  Delicious!