Madrid #2

The past couple of days have been really hot but really good. It was another late-waking-up day for Sara Sue (after Noon), so we took it easy for a while and went down to the pool for about an hour until 3:00. Then at about 3:45 we headed on the Metro down to the center of town and ended up at the very ornate building that used to be the post office (currently it's simply an office building). They have an observation deck on the roof, so we headed up there to see the sights.

After that we went to go have a snack and a drink at the historic Cafe Gijon, located right along the city's famous Paseo walkway. It's one of those places known as an early 20th century meeting place for writers, poets, etc. It definitely had that vibe to it. Next we headed down the street to the Prado art museum where admission is free 6-8 PM. We got there about 6:30 and saw some cool El Greco paintings. At 7:00 I had to step out to join a conference call for work (they added an international plan to my mobile phone for this trip), but thankfully I was done with that within 20 minutes. I met back up with the girls for a few more stops before closing time.

From there we walked over to the Plaza Santa Ana area where there is a lot of nightlife and several restaurants & bars on adjoining side streets that serve tapas and drinks. We did our own little version of a "pub-crawl" where we stopped at a place called La Casa del Abuelo known for its shrimp dishes, and then stopped a few doors down at Casa Toni where we had three dishes of potatoes, mushrooms and blood sausages, each of them delicious. Sara Sue wasn't down with the blood sausage, but the other things met with her approval. Elisa & I also split a small pitcher of sangria which was excellent. Before we knew it, we realized it was 10:00 PM (the sun isn't even fully set at this time), so we headed home.

Today was a full day. Elisa went to class as usual, but today Sara Sue woke up a little after 9:00, so we had time to head down to a local bakery to pick out some breakfast. Unfortunately they didn't have the Mickey Mouse bread that they had a couple of days ago, so she picked out something else.

After we came back to the apartment to eat and for me to finish up some laundry, we set out for the Metro and headed down to the train station where we were going to meet Elisa and then embark on an afternoon trip to Toledo.

We caught the 12:20 fast train which got us there in about 30 minutes, and once we arrived we were all hungry so we immediately took a taxi to a restaurant that Elisa had read about in two different guidebooks called Los Cuatro Tiempos. As promised, it was VERY good - a three-course meal for 15 Euros (about $20). Sara Sue had a rice dish and lasagna, Elisa had an orange salad with cod and a venison dish, and I had the same salad with a lamb dish. The dessert course was a chocolate mousse kind of thing. I'm not sure I'll have a better meal in Spain.

After lunch we began our touring. Of course our first stop was the huge Cathedral in the center of town. We hit most every nook and cranny, and Sara Sue was religiously (pun intended) taking many pictures. We then headed over to the Santo Tome, where they had El Greco's most famous painting (El Greco called Toledo home for over 30 years after moving there from Greece). Then after some shopping (Toledo is known for its excellent knives, so we splurged on a nice one for the kitchen) we headed down to the Sinagoga de Santa Maria de Blanca. It's an interesting place - a combination of Jewish and Moorish/Muslim influences. Rodney King's, "Can't we all just get along?" ran through my mind. Once we were done there it was nearly time to head back to the train. We stopped in the main city square Plaza de Zocodover for a quick drink and to buy some marzipan - another Toledo staple, and then headed home. We could have easily spent another day or two there, but this worked out well overall.

When we got back to the apartment we ordered some pizza from a place a couple of blocks away (it was surprisingly good) and I watched the Euro 2012 soccer semifinals between Spain & Portugal. (The streets were EMPTY as I was returning home with the pizzas about 15 minutes into the game.) Spain finally came out on top after a scoreless regulation and overtime, winning the shootout 4-2. Should be fun to be here when the finals take place this Sunday.

Tomorrow, much to Sara Sue's relief, Lucy arrives! Also Grandma, Grampy and Auntie Goose, but that's functionally beside the point. :) Hopefully they'll have a restful flight and won't be too exhausted when they arrive. More to come....