Madrid #1

It's been many months since I've posted anything on the blog, but I figure if I don't post about something as significant as a trip to Europe, I may as well turn in my blog-writing credentials. So.... here goes:

First, an introductory paragraph:
Each summer the Engineering School at USC (where Elisa teaches) provides classes at international locations, and obviously they need instructors to teach them. Last year Elisa was invited to teach in Rome and she was there for a month. I wasn't able to go, but Sara Sue went for about 12 days, along with Ann, Stan, Tracey & Lucy. This year she was asked to teach in Madrid, and I wasn't going to miss out this time around.

Now, on with the trip. Elisa departed on June 9th, so Sara Sue & I stayed home for two weeks while she finished school and had some sleepovers at Lucy's house. Finally we left on Saturday, June 23rd. Stan took us to the airport, and we had a connection in Atlanta (flew on Delta). The woman sitting next to Sara Sue asked her if this was the first time she was on an airplane. Sara Sue politely answered with a simple, "No," but I chimed in that she had been flying since she was an infant. Didn't even mention that this wasn't her first international trip. Anyway, in Atlanta we had a delay because the aircraft we were scheduled to be on had a mechanical failure. Passengers who had already boarded (which thankfully didn't include us) had to get off because we had to board a different plane. It took a while to make these arrangements (moving the luggage, moving the meals, programming the plane's computers, etc), but we finally left after a two-hour delay. Dinner wasn't bad on the plane, and we watched movies while we ate. After dinner we slept, with Sara Sue having a lot more success at this endeavor than I did. A good 4-5 hours for her, but MAYBE 1.5 fitful hours for me.

Finally we landed in Madrid at around 10 AM. We went through customs, got our bags, and grabbed a taxi to get to Elisa's apartment. Sara Sue napped for another hour or so, and I took a shower before we all headed out for the afternoon. We tried to get into one of the museums but it was closed, so we just hung out a little bit and got some coffee and a snack. After that we went to one of the big parks in Madrid called Parque del Retiro which had a small lake in the middle with a plethora of paddle boats. It was a nice walk in very hot weather; our walking strategy was to find the best and most efficient route in order to maximize being in the shade. We returned home after that and swam in the pool at the apartment complex, which was wonderfully refreshing. We went out to dinner after that and then returned home. Sara Sue and I were both able to stay up until past 11 PM, but when we went to bed we both zonked out in seconds.

Monday Elisa left at 8:30 to go teach her class, and I got up at about 9:00 and piddled around the apartment while Sara Sue continued to sleep. At about 10:30 my eyes got a little heavy so I went back to bed, and didn't wake up until Elisa texted me at 12:30 to say she was on her way home. Sara Sue was still asleep. Elisa got back at about 1:00, which finally woke up Sara Sue. We got dressed and went out to get some pastries for "breakfast" and some groceries. After eating we went for a swim and then took the metro downtown to do a little shopping, see Plaza Mayor and have some tapas at the ancient Mercado de San Miguel. By the time we got done with this Sara Sue was fried because it was so hot - very mopey and pleading to go home. We finally agreed but we had to make one more stop at a grocery to get some food for dinner - freshly cut ham with cheeses, figs & bread. We got home around 9:00 and had dinner around 10:00 (when in Madrid, do what the Madridians do), and we all hit the hay after 11:00.