Madrid, Spain

Hola! After a few delays in NY, the Horns have arrived in Madrid! We managed to contort into several somewhat comfy positions on the plane and ending up getting a few hours of sleep. The downtime was spent listening to several great podcasts (thanks Cara for the recommendations!). We got to the airport at 10am Spain time (4am Texas time), but we're not going to think about that :).  Our hotel is right by a metro stop, so the first order of business was check in and crash for a 30 minute power nap. 

Looking like complete old-school tourists, we pulled out a huge map given to us at our hotel. I had my iPad in my bag, but for some reason we went with the big map (ha). Tom is our man for directions. Big maps don't mark locations by fast food/yogurt stores, and compass directions were never were my biggest forte. Although Tom is the man, Madrid has a unique way of marking streets and we followed the wrong "Calle de Segovia" for what had to have been miles. We were trying to catch a 2:00 free walking tour and despite our detour, we managed to catch them just in time. Spain is very lazy with time and being late is not frowned upon like it is in the states. It's so weird! We stayed for part of the tour, but the tour guide was very bias in her religious views, so we only stayed for the first half. We did learn a few neat things though:

Did you know that Tapas were intially named because the king's beer was served with a piece of ham on top to keep the dirt out of his drink? Funny that such famous sayings come from these quirky instances. 

Once we started going our own way, we quickly found out that we like Madrid, the weather, people, parks, cute streets, ICE CREAM...It's a town for full of history that caters to Foodies!  In just a few hours we saw the Mercado de San Miguel, Puerto del sol, Plaza Mayor, and got gelato of course. I saw that the first stand we saw had stracciatella and it was GAME OVER. 

Madrid is going to stretch this "old young" couple to go back to the college days and "be cool." They eat dinner from 8-10:30pm, this is when the city comes alive. We are taking a quick nap to see if we can wait for the locals for dinner and enjoy a night on the town.  More to come soon- we wanted to let our amazing family/friends know that we're here.                           

Our home for a few days...

Mercado de San Miguel 

Sandwiches Euro Style

We spent hours just roaming the streets looking for the best little spot to have dinner. We literally just got lost in Madrid as recommended by travel sites. It sounds romantic, but kind of goes against our natural tendency for sure! The goal was to find a place that the locals would be. The place that we settled in was quite unique. Tom had a traditional Spanish dish (Paella) and I attempted at ordering a safe ham sandwich. I have not quite figured out the Spanish menu, because I ended up with about 7 fried ham balls with a mash potato like cheese substance. Anyone who know me know that this is not the typical fresh meal that I was hoping for, but we laughed and I filled up on free bread and Tom's paella.

While dinner was not what we expected, we then found a great local place to enjoy drinks. The owner spoke only Spanish and we were the only English speakers in the place. I ordered what the owner recommended which was a semi-sweet white wine and he gave us a free tapa which was a fried egg. The owner picks the tapa that he feels you will enjoy most with with your drinks.

Ok America, lets adopt the idea of free tapas!  We still don't have our bearings here, the streets wind, loop, cross. However, we know how to get back to our little local joint, so we may have friends by tomorrow :). 

6/24
We slept like a rock last night and woke up to a beautiful and sunny 68 degrees. While food has been a common topic, I love experiencing foods and cultures...So, this morning we walked into a bustling coffee shop where we had two choices, cafe or cafe con leche. The cafe was straight up espresso and Tom drank it like a man. He also ordered a "tostado" in hopes of a tortilla with meat, but he was surprised with a piece of toast and peach jelly. People swarmed this place and I love the local coffee shop. 

Ok enough with food...

The royal palace was closed today, due to a very swanky event, but we enjoyed the exterior.

 

We saw two large and ornate cathedrals. We both agree that the reverence honored in the cathedral is something we forget in America at times. I should be reverent in a place that honors God and I don't spend enough time simply in awe of how holy our God is. The "Jesus is my Homeboy" attitude is not the most humble approach and I pray I remember how small I am and how big God is. I also feel very sad though, a majority of the younger population in Madrid do not go to church because they've seen abuse come from the church. I'm so thankful for the Bible that is truth and to have so many people teach me how to study and know what is the good and right will of God. We enjoyed the paintings and sculptures in second cathedral because they were very scriptural. The twelve disciples were depicted around the church and above them were images that represented Old Testament prophets. 

View of Madrid from the top of the Cathedral

FrontBack looking from the Cathedral to the Royal Palace

Back to Food :). We ate lunch at the Mercado De San Anton. Central Market times 10! We had sashimi (raw fish) Don't worry mom and dad, I'll bring some home ;). We also enjoyed bocadillos (small authentic sandwiches) and I got some Spanish fruit. I could have hung out in the market all day!

After our siesta, we went back out on the town. There is a place on a back street where convent nuns send you cookies on a lazy susan, but they were closed when we got there. Instead, we found Tom a patch for his backpack. In my whimsical travel mode in search for all things cool, I took a blind step into a huge hole in the floor. Seriously, there was a piece of the floor missing and I fell right in. After being shocked, I looked down at the montrous bruise I have as a scar of proof. Although it's not the most attractive, I am so thankful that the drop was only 4-5 ft and I didn't end up with a broken leg or worse. The rest of the night was so much fun and filled with Tapas! We found a cute windy street of Puerta de Sol and got a table outside of Tapas y Mas.

Our Crazy Foodie Experience:

Tapas, Tostada, Britt's Ham Balls, and the largest sour straws (this pic is for you Eliseo).

Unique Sites of Madrid:
Worlds Oldest Restaurant (Ernest Hemingway was a regular) and Crystal palace in Retiero Park.

As we get ready to leave Madrid and head to Budapest, I'm going to brag on my man. Tom used his Spanish many times to help us find directions, order food, and probably apologize for my mixed Spanglish. Many people here only speak Spanish, so it has been hearing Tom talk with the locals. 

We're off to Budapest, Hungary!

I apologize to my font lover friends who follow the blog, the fonts and pictures are all kinds of crazy when using my phone and iPad to post.