*madrid*

Jared had work in Madrid, Spain this weekend and arranged to get me tickets to come out and meet him there. How could I refuse? We decided we better do one last swap with the Thomas' (our American neighbors) before they move back to the US in a month or so. I am watching their kids in a few weeks while they go to Bellagio, Italy... we have such a great symbiotic relationship going on here. I am so sad they are leaving!! (sniff, sniff, compose...) So here we are again ladies and gents, back by popular demand...

Alyssa's top five for Madrid, Spain (and surrounding areas)

#5 Avila, Spain
Avila is a cool Medieval town about an hour from Madrid. It has these amazing walls surrounding the city (dating from the 11th century- seen in background of this picture) and of course the usual cathedrals and such inside. This town is popular for it's local Saint... Theresa of Jesus. We got to see her birthplace and everything (not that I'd even heard of her before this trip, but hey, cool anyway.) I think my favorite thing was seeing her ring finger rotting inside a glass case with a emerald ring on it. (Sorry, they wouldn't let me take pictures.) Here's a panoramic of the city below. Click on the image to enlarge.



#4 Seeing 500 years of Fashion modeled by Barbie dolls at the El Corte Ingles department store.

It was actually REALLY cool. Top designers like Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Prada, etc. made little outfits for the glammed up (to the highlights in their hair) Barbie dolls on display. They also had a time line of fashion from the Renaissance period on up to the present day and replicas of certain movie stars in different movie rolls- you can see Wizard of Oz to the left. (That one was for you, Angie R.)
The display was great, but what I really loved about it was watching Jared and his reaction to the whole thing.


#3 Walking around Old Town Madrid

We didn't get to explore Madrid as much as we would have liked for sheer lack of time, but we took a night tour by bus on Friday night and saw all of the main places things to see and then walked around Old Town on foot Sunday morning. I love Spain because people are so social and love to get out and walk. It was crazy how many people were out and about-- even around midnight! On Saturday night we had dinner at a little cafe on the Plaza Mayor (the main plaza where all the important things in town happened in the old days... bull fights, beheadings, weddings, funerals, crownings...) that was a really fun experience- although the blood sausage and slice of lard in my bean soup was a little TOO authentic for me. The streets always echo with music from a random musician in hopes of making a euro or two. Great place to visit.

Jared with the Palacio Real , Alyssa with the Main Cathedral


#2 Segovia, Spain

We had a great time here. Probably my favorite thing we saw was the 2,000 year old Roman aqueduct- pictured with Alyssa. It was still in use 100 years ago! Amazing. We also found some really cool gaucho hats to wear around so that all the pickpockets would be sure to know that we were tourists. We had my favorite meal of the trip in this town-- chorizo, bread, Spanish tortilla and paella. This town also has an awesome castle- or alcazar. I am running out of steam on my writing here, so on to #1....















































Number one is.... Spoiling the kids with Spanish Souvenirs!