Madrid, I love you

Madrid August 10-14, 2015

Before arriving to Spain I booked all of our museum visits online to make sure we wouldn't be shut out of anything. We flew direct to Madrid from Philadelphia. The plane was only half full. That hasn't happened in years. We were able to take rows and stretch out and sleep. It was awesome a travelers dream come true (for those of us that have to fly coach). Our 10 year old decided to pull an all nighter and watch movies on the in-flight entertainment. That didn't translate well the next day.

August 10

We arrived in Madrid early and checked into our hotel, NH Madrid Suecia. Our room was a connecting room which was great in order to accommodate 5 people. Good luck finding one hotel room in Europe to sleep four let alone a family of five. Breakfast was included. The hotel was walking distance to a great amount of the important cultural and historical sites Madrid has to offer. Immediately we went out with map in hand (I hadn't purchased my sim card yet for my phone, so we had to use the old fashion means of navigation) and we were off to the Palacio Real. Kids were in good spirits. I thought I knew where I was going, I did live in Madrid twenty some years ago. We were lost and everyone got a bit ticked off. Luckily we got on track and made our way to our destination. It was a longer walk than I thought, but once there the kids loved it. They've never seen such an ornate palace with so many rooms. It was a quick tour, we were tired and kids were getting hungry. We decided to eat lunch at Mercado de San Miguel. The kids got a nice introduction to Spanish food, while trying many different tapas. We went back to the hotel for a siesta before heading out for the evening. This is where it kind of fell apart. My 10 year old that pulled the all nighter wouldn't wake up after the siesta. It was hard enough rallying the other two, but he was a mess. As you know jet lag can be a nightmare so we were determined to get him up. an hour later we were out the door with some very cranky kids. Retiro Park and let the kids stroll around. we bought them ice cream and shortly after they discovered the fish and ducks in the lake. So now we had to return every afternoon we were in Madrid to feed the fish and ducks. It was fun for the kids, and it was a nice evening stroll before

dinner. We were guided by a famous travel guide to have grilled prawns at Casa Del Abuela. It was "authentic," but touristy and we were treated like tourists. After a very quick bite of assorted tapas, we left and stumbled upon a restaurant filled with Spaniards, Saporem. That was it. We settled in for an awesome meal of Jamon, queso, chorizo, tortilla Espanola and much more. Satisfying and time to crash.

August 11

I had arranged for a visit to the Prado at opening. Although I bought tickets prior( Prado tickets), I figured there were still be a line. Nope right in. Not only did we get right in it was virtually empty for such a famous museum. First stop was Goyas work. We had an entire room of his work to ourselves. It was unreal, there was no one else there. I loved it and it helped that my husband was an art history major in college. He explained all of the pieces of work to the kids. Brought it down to their level and they loved learning about all the famous works of art. They couldn't stop talking about Goya's Saturn devouring his Son piece, but thankfully noticed how much religion was painted in renaissance and that the cherubs were naked. After the Prado we had an amazing lunch outdoors in the Plaza Santa Ana, (Lateral). We had a great siesta and then headed back to the Retiro to feed the fish and the ducks. The kids and my husband rented one of the row boats on the lake and we strolled around until we found a playground for the kids. After all we couldn't eat dinner until at least nine at night and that is early. We headed over to La Latina neighborhood and ate some tapas outdoors before settling down for dinner in Barrio Las Letras. Kids were psyched it was 11pm by the time we left for the hotel. A short walk back and to bed.

August 12

Toledo

After our adventure in Toledo, we had a bit of a nap and went back to Retiro to let the kids get out some energy before dinner. We went over Salamanca neighborhood and ate at Rafa. The meal was excellent, service was impeccable and the kids were awesome. White tablecloths, outside in the warm weather, great food. We will always remember it. When the waiters brought over small water bowls with lemon, the kids had no idea what they were for. We showed them how to use fingerbowls after a seafood meal, to squeeze the lemons on and then rinse our hands. It was so European old school; the kids had never seen such service. My daughter snacked on the delicacy of goose neck barnacles (she was 11), she devoured the red prawns sucked down some oysters and kept eating. We all enjoyed an amazing meal and by 11:30pm stumbled back to our hotel and passed out.

August 13

We took the kids to the Museum of Archeology today, didn't go as well as planned. It is a very well laid out museum, but not of great interest to the kids. There is a lot to cover in the museum and a LOT of detail. Somehow we felt married to the museum and conquering it in its entirety. Not the best choice, but did it. The rest of the day followed the natural pattern of a long lunch in Plaza Santa Ana followed by a nap and then a stroll to Retiro. We decided to go back to Barrio La Latina for another amazing meal which started at Casa Lucas. We however did not stay out late as we had an early flight to Lisbon the next morning.