Second Day in Madrid

Monday's sun was some of the last we'd see for the remainder of the trip. The temps dropped as well so we sought out more indoor activities on Tuesday. Prior to trips, I research where the playgrounds are in cities. I had found one in front of the Naval Museum so we made a morning of it. 

Just as we left to head to the corner bakery, the airline called and our luggage was delivered at our apartment! We were glad to see all of stuff safe and sound, but didn't know how we'd manage the rest of the trip with all of the new things we had bought!

I loved learning about all of the Spanish explorers in elementary school so the Naval museum was right up my alley, plus model ships for the kids and PD for Pete!

We have a lot of pictures like this, which seem so sweet, but really Jude is squeezing Maeve around her neck and she's about to lose it!  

Lots of cool ship figureheads

One with Madrid's symbol

Our new found friends suggested a few areas to get tapas. One, Calle Jesus, very close to the museums and one, Calle Cava Baja in la Latina where we ended up having dinner that night. We opened up Vermnu, a cute tapas place at noon just as snow was starting to fall outside. The staff were really kind and accommodating with the kids. We had the whole place to ourselves the entire time. 

 

In the afternoon, we decided to bite the bullet and go with the kids to the Prado museum, one of Europe's greatest art museums. It was about as we expected it would be with kids. Magnificent artwork that we got to glance at out of the corner of our eye as we chased one kid or another. Still, I was glad to see masterpieces like Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, Valezquez's Las Meninas, and Ruben's The Three Graces in person. Pete also spotted the actor, Jason Schwartzman (of Wes Anderson films fame) in the lobby with his wife. They were in town for the Spanish premier of their new Isle of Dogs movie. I'm so glad Pete's facial recognition software also works abroad!

We fittingly stayed on Calle del Infante (Infant's street).

Getting out of the rain at the Prado museum. 

One of the highlights of Jude's trip was getting to meet up with his music teacher from ISA, Violeta, who is from Madrid. She met us at a cafe (one that we could find open for dinner at 5:30!) with her mother.  She even brought us chocolate and sweets from her namesake shop in Madrid.

Violeta had also helped us find a babysitter so we had a rainy date night walking the streets, stopping for tapas at Mercado de San Miguel and at El Tempranillo on Calle Cava Baja.

Super cute street, even in the rain

That's a lot of wine!

Grilled octopus and garbanzo beans

A great get away to a new city! Now time to head South!

Exploring Sunny Madrid

Our first day in downtown Madrid, we packed a lot in, taking advantage of the sunny day. We started the morning with Rick Steves walking tour done in reverse so that we'd end up at the Mercado de San Miguel for lunch. We had to reacquaint ourselves with typical Spanish eating times. Well after 1pm for lunch and well after 9pm for dinner. Those times were way out of sync with our kids normal schedule, so we settled on lots of tapas places for lunches, which tend to be open most of the day and lots of take away pizza for dinner.  And thankfully, we had babysitters in both cities so Pete and I could experience the usual dinner scene. We sat down to eat at 10:30pm on 2 different nights and felt very local and extremely tired! 

So our tour started at the Puerto del Sol, taking in the Bear and Strawberry Tree Statue (a symbol of Madrdi), the Tio Pepe sign, the central fountain and the office building for the head of the regional government complete with armed guards.

 

 

Rick Steves warned about the people dressing in costume, posing with kids and wanting money. So when we spotted Mario approaching Jude, we swept in and went on our way.

Next stop, the San Gines church with the famous Chocolateria San Gines located behind it. Known for their hot chocolate and churros, I wasn't going to pass this place up. We have one kid who hates chocolate (but enjoyed dipping his churros in warm milk) and one kid who couldn't get enough! The hot chocolate was so thick, but not that sweet.

 

We continued past the Teatro Real to Plaza de Oriente, in front of the magnificent Royal Palace. It is the largest royal palace in Europe by floor plan and boasts 3,418 rooms! I would have loved to have seen the inside, but knew our kids wouldn't have the patience for that. So instead, we took in the exterior while we played in the playground in front of it. #travelingwithkids

   

 

 
We did think we could manage a stop into the Catedral de la Almudena adjacent the palace shown below.

We didn't realize our entry free would give us an elevator lift up to the outside of the copula and bell towers. Wonderful views of the palace, snow capped mountains and Madrid itself. We spent a lot of time up there letting the kids run around and around chasing each other in the very secure, enclosed area.

   

 

I love when I think I know what to expect when I enter a cathedral, only to be completely surprised by some element. This cathedral's striking feature was the colorful ceilings and stained glass. The place had a Sagrada Familia feel with light seeping through the brightly colored, modern stained glass. Check out the ceiling!

Back outside, it was time to find some food before the kiddos' siesta. We continued the course, passing this cool inlay in the sidewalk showing the town symbol again, then City Hall and finally Mercado de San Miguel, an indoor food market hall. 

   

So many goodies to choose from in there and at around 3 euros a pop for a dish or a glass of wine, we may have gone a bit overboard. 

Less than a 10 minute walk home to our AirBnB, we passed through Plaza Mayor just as Maeve fell asleep in Pete's arms and Jude fell asleep in the stroller.

 

After some good rest all around, we set out to find the playgrounds in Retiro Park, Madrid's big public park. On our way, we found some popsicles, which excited the kids to no end. We also found the botanic gardens and took a stroll (all in the name of professional development :)). A steep hill to the east led to the vast park located just behind the museum district. I was reminded of the upper east or west sides of Manhattan and entrances to Central Park. 

 

They loved the playground there and we briefly met a family who we would run into again 2 more times during our short time in Madrid! Once out at one of our 10:30pm dinners and at a different playground the following day. They are an expat family living in Barcelona and the run-ins seemed like some kind of fate, so we exchanged information for when we are in each other's corners of Europe!

Not pictured: My post-bedtime shopping spree as our luggage still hadn't made an appearance and no tracking information was available. We were leaving for Seville 36 hours later and it wasn't looking promising. It should have been fun to go shopping on the airline's dime, but it was exhausting buying essentials for a family of 4 at 9pm at night after such a busy day! I did get to experience the Madrid Metro and whole experience brought me back to my NYC-living days.

Krokusvakantie 2018 Trip to Spain: First Stop, Madrid!

We decided to continue with our Spain/Portugal theme for Krokusvakantie 2018 (2017, 2016 and 2015). Most people head for the mountains, but we'll save our ski holidays for when Maeve is old enough to partake. My childhood friend, Gregg, has been in Madrid for over a year and a half and we wanted to visit and see the city. We combined it with a visit to Seville, stopping in Cordoba for the day on our way south. 

From our other trips south, I expected spring like days with sunny skies. The forecast said otherwise. We had three nice days and then rain, rain, rain. It was disappointing to be in these places that shine in the sun, only to be waterlogged. But at the same time, the entire continent was dealing with bad weather and I decided we would take 60 degrees and rainy over below freezing temps!

The kids both fell asleep on my lap on the short flight to Madrid. It was too easy and I should have known it meant tougher times were ahead! 

The Madrid airport is really pretty with these high, architectural ceilings and bold colors. The kids spotted the playground at baggage claim before I did and we stopped to play while Pete went to fetch our bags. Except there were no bags. Not a single bag made it onto the flight from Amsterdam due to a broken luggage belt at Schiphol. We were in the last row of the plane, so the last off the plane and therefore the last in the lost luggage line. Over an hour later, our claim was made and my patience was worn thin. 

It was a welcome sight to see Gregg waiting for us outside the airport. We'd last seen each other on our big trip to Europe ~9 months before Jude was born when Gregg and his wife, Katie, were living in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

We walked to their local urban park and made for the play area, which consisted of these crazy long, steep slides! Our kids had no fear, though admittedly I did! Jude even convinced Gregg to go for the first time.

We were really loving the sun and warm weather! And Jude got to practice dog ownership with their very child friendly pooch.

We kept thinking that at any moment, we would get word that our bags had arrived so we held off getting any essentials that first day. That meant a good 24 hours in the same clothes feeling rather grimy! So Sunday morning we had a very local experience going to the big shopping center to stock up and to have lunch. Not a part of Madrid I expected to see, but a very authentic one! 

"Mi toca?!"

I took siesta-ing very serious in Spain as I was trying to get over a cold that turned into a sinus infection by the end of the trip. Thankfully I felt really fine, I was just more tired than usual and had a nose that wouldn't stop running. After Sunday's nap, we checked out a different neighborhood playground for a long time, enjoying more warm, sunny weather. 

The babies of both families enjoyed digging in the sand and occasionally eating it :) 

Thank you for your hospitality, Katie and Gregg! 

Gregg drove us to our AirBnB in downtown Madrid, pointing out the sites along the way. To be honest, Madrid wasn't a place that was high on our list to see. It just felt like a place we should visit. We were more excited to see our friends than Madrid itself. Maybe it was because our expectations were so low, but we really fell in love with Madrid. Our apartment was right in the heart of the Cortes neighborhood, with cute little shops and restaurants everywhere. We were really central and were able to walk everywhere. That meant we could easily be back at the apartment for the all important siesta (see above). Our new child carrying backpack was one of our lost bags, so unfortunately Pete had to carry one kid or the other all over town. I know he appreciated the relative short distances!

Playing with diapers, waiting for our AirBnB host

Building across the street from ours

Eager to check out our new hood, after an easy take out pizza dinner, we walked to Plaza Santa Ana where I had read there was a playground. Lots of families were out. Some local kids who were dressed to the nines were extremely jealous that our kids had popsicles. I, and their father, tried to explain to them that it really was too cold for popsicles, but they just stood there staring at our kids, willing them to share! It really cracked us up! It felt so good to be back in a country where I can converse with locals!

Around the corner from Plaza Santa Ana

We'd gotten a great taste for Madrid and couldn't wait to spend the next two days exploring!