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| {The view from our hotel room after a long storm.} |
Onto Madrid!
Excelente!
Sadly, we only spent 2.5 days in Madrid but we were able to cram some great sights and food in our little visit. And...I was able to whip out my extremely rusty high school Spanish! Below, you'll find an exchange I had with a museum worker at the Museo de America, which chronicles the history of pre-Columbian America. I had to ask for a couple audio-guides since all of the information was in Spanish.
Me: Hola! Um...uh...tienes audioguias in Ingles?
Museum Worker: Si. Una? Dos?
My Brain: I totally understood what she said! Go Spanish classes!
Museum Worker: Senora?
Me: Oh! Um...dos! Gracias!
Thank you, thank you. I know you are awed by my fabulous Espanol.
*Takes a bow*
Onto some photos!
We spent one day strolling around Retiro Park (so beautiful!) and then the Reina Sofia Museum where we saw Picasso's Guernica as well as a Mark Rothko painting that I dragged Justin to see. My poor Justin! He has seen more Mark Rothko paintings than he has ever wanted to see.... The perks of being married to me.
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| {Retiro Park! Love!} |
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| {Spring flowers in Madrid} |
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| {More views of Retiro Park} |
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| {Reina Sofia} |
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| {Justin reads about an exhibit. I prefer to be a part of it.} |
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| {Stained glass at the San Jeronimo Cathedral} |
Since Justin is a big Ernest Hemingway fan, we also spent an evening visiting Hemingway's old haunts. But first! Here is a picture of my new blouse from Zara! Yay! It's actually on sale in the U.S. too but I didn't know that, okay? It shall forever be my Spanish souvenir.
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| {Justin deemed this my Easter blouse since it is pink and yellow.} |
So here we are at La Venencia, a little bar that Hemingway used to frequent during his travels through Spain. We grabbed a table toward the back and I made a new friend: the bar cat! He was super friendly and camped out on my lap while Justin looked on with mild disgust. (Justin hates cats. His one true flaw.) Still, he named the feline "Don Ernesto." Fitting, eh?
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| {Justin toasts Ernest Hemingway. I hang out with Don Ernesto.} |
After we toasted Ernest and his feline counterpart, we headed to a restaurant called Botin, which is known for its suckling pig and for being the oldest continuously running restaurant in the world. Justin, devoted admirer of ham, ordered the suckling pig; and I, rabidly excited amateur photographer, had to take a picture of it. Justin was not very amused, hence the eyebrow quirk.
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| {"Are you really taking a picture of my food?" WHY YES, I AM.} |
Well, I'm afraid I don't have too many more pictures from our Madrid adventures! It rained a lot during our trip---the rain in Spain does NOT fall mostly in the plain!---and some of the sites we visited didn't allow photography. *Cries* But I did take a picture of the DC area right before I landed at Dulles Airport.
I flew on Aer Lingus, the national carrier of Ireland, which has meh food but fantastic TV/movie choices. I totally watched an episode of "Homeland" because I've been dying to watch it but...um...there were some sexy bits during the show. Now, I don't necessarily have a problem with sex scenes but...um...I get really self-conscious watching such scenes when I'm sitting next to complete strangers.
Dear Man Sitting Next to Me: This is not porn! I promise!
I miss it already. And I miss Justin. *Sighs* Can't we go back for just one more week?
