Madrid Happenings

Yesterday we went to see a possible apartment. It's located in a good area, nice building, relatively large (3 bedrooms) on the 5th floor. It pretty much meets all of our requirements (park, church and metro nearby) except we haven't seen the schools in this area. The only other objection we have is that the decoration and furniture are not at all to our liking. Old, mismatched, cluttered, dusty....cats live there currently. While we are not head over heels in love, it is definitely an option (a Plan B).

We also ruled out three other apartments: two that were already taken, another that was too far and expensive. So, I'd like to think we're making progress. Tomorrow we were supposed to visit our current top pick, but it looks like that might be delayed (yes to our dismay....).

In other news, we went to a park and Francisco bit a kid. He was very tired and grouchy, but it's no excuse. I was mortified and felt inclined to invite the poor, sobbing, little boy to bite Francisco back so he'll know what it feels like. The father was probably thinking he should call animal control.

Today we were walking back to our apartment-hotel after having lunch at Burger King and noticed a number of police and expensive cars parked outside a big, governmental building. Several people were also standing around, so we decided to wait to see who would come out. When out walks the Queen of Spain, Reina Sofia!! Pretty cool. :) We were surprised that given who it was, there were relatively few body guards and security.

I'm happy to report that we are having paella for dinner (ok, leftover paella) and vegetable soup. And, Fede gave us the nice surprise of bringing churros and hot chocolate for breakfast this morning (churros are like an unsweetened donut in the shape of a long stick which you dip in the hot chocolate/pudding). They were a hit with everyone.

Another thing for which we are hunting is an umbrella stroller for the metro outings. Fede asked me the day we left Houston if we should take ours and I quickly said no (afterall, we were taking 5 suitcases, 1 big stroller, 2 backpacks and a diaperbag) and wow...I really regret it. It has been incredibly difficult to find a simple umbrella stroller. You know, the kind you buy at Babies R Us for $20 bucks. Impossible. So we have to lug Francisco all over Madrid, swapping him off between the two of us and forcing him to walk at a turtle trot on his fat little legs until he complains. By 6 pm, after a whole day out, it feels like he weighs 200 lbs.

As convenient as everyone says the metro is, I dunno...the amount of time it takes to get to the station, go down a bunch of escalators, study the map, switch lines, wait for the train, down more escalators, up more escalators, wait for another train, until you finally get where you want to go ends up being a heck of a lot of time. In fact, I will go as far as to say that even though Madrid is smaller, and their metro is one of the best, I think we get places faster in Houston by car despite the distance. Not to mention that the smells you encounter on the metro are not of the aromatic variety!!

Every day we go a small grocery run. Milk here comes in 1 liter containers, which is tiny compared to the 3-4 gallons we are used to consuming a week. Everything is in smaller containers, the french bread is great, Rioja 1997 wine for 6 euros, chorizo for a couple of euros...not too shabby!

Antonio and Alejandra have been playing extraordinarily well together. Despite the lack of toys and entertainment, just having a playmate seems to be enough to keep them happy, laughing and getting into trouble. Frankie isn't far behind and usually partakes in the fun too.

Til tomorrow!