Hi ya'll! well we are in the process of making the new apartment our home, putting the "Martinez Touch" in it!! It has been going very well. The difference is already very noticeable. We don't have internet access yet, probably after Friday so until then, we will be rather quite. Hopefully next weekend we'll have pictures to show ya'll!
Greetings from chilly and sunny Madrid!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Royal Palace and the Cathedral of Almudena
Today Fede started a refersher weeklong course on Financial Accounting, which means I have been with the kids most of the day. We decided to take a walk before lunch and made some terrific discoveries. Amongst them, were the Royal Palace and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Almudena. Seen above. Inside the church, as is typical, you find many side chapels. In one such chapel I was delighted to see St. Josemaria Escriva (above right).
We also had the fortune of arriving at the Palace just in time for some kind of procession/calvary display and the kids were thrilled by the men on horses!
Magnificent no? I loved the embroidered fabric that adorned the carriage -- exquisite! The Palace and the Cathedral are in the same complex, facing each other. The whole area is really majestic.
Above is the side entrance to the cathedral and one of the iron doors with a beautiful relief.
Here we are at the Palacio Real complex above. Since our walk did not require the metro I took the big stroller, a thing of beauty!
Near where we are staying you'll find a lovely old church called San Andres. Above you can see pictures if the outside and inside of the church.
Tomorrow is the move to the apartment. From that point on we will be without internet for a while so just bear with me while we get settled!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
And the Winner is....
We are relieved to tell ya'll that we settled on a place to live. If you read previous posts, I mentioned it as our Plan B. Well, Plan A looked like it wasn't going to happen until Oct 28 at the earliest which basically put it out of the running. Disappointing yes, but that's life. As the Rolling Stones so aptly said, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need". So be it. I think we found what we needed. While the decor is not to our taste, we will do the best we can to get it into decent shape and take pictures for yall. The move is expected to happen on Thursday.
It is just a few blocks away from the Plaza de los Toros (where they do Bull Runs), in the area of Madrid called Salamanca for those who are familiar with this city.
Now, the next big issue is finding a school for the kids that is within walking distance. At this point, there's nothing we can do because the Educational Commission will give us the choices and we will have to pick one of those.
It is late so I'll sign off but more to come in the following days. Thanks for your prayers!
-MM
It is just a few blocks away from the Plaza de los Toros (where they do Bull Runs), in the area of Madrid called Salamanca for those who are familiar with this city.
Now, the next big issue is finding a school for the kids that is within walking distance. At this point, there's nothing we can do because the Educational Commission will give us the choices and we will have to pick one of those.
It is late so I'll sign off but more to come in the following days. Thanks for your prayers!
-MM
Monday, October 17, 2011
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!
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!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Chorizo n' Oreos
No, this is not the post where we tell of our fabulous new apartment.... that post has yet to materialize.
However, we had a pretty interesting day. After three nights in the apartment-hotel where we were staying on Atocha (one of the main streets in Madrid), loud, dirty, and busy, we were relocated to another apartment-hotel in another area called "La Latina" until Wednesday. We are on a tucked-away street, in a working class area which apparently gets quite a bit of night life (we're waiting for the ruckus to begin!). This apartment has three bedrooms, and is typical of an older-style European home (ie: no open spaces, very compartmentalized).
This afternoon we went to see an apartment in Ciudad Lineal -- northwest part of the city. It is somewhat far away but the realtor told us that it was very large and very cheap (well below our budget) so we decided it was worth a look. Lo and behold, we were escorted to an old, ugly flat --big, yes....but depressingly ugly. Again of the old style -- little rooms connected by halls (true, it had four bedrooms, and a fifth that served as a tiny living room), small "hallway style" kitchen. The guy sat in the living room on one of the old green couches and said "Yes, it's a bit old but VERY comfortable" and as he said this he patted the couch lifting a cloud of dust! hahah... I won't go on. Needless to say that the rule holds: 'You get what your pay for' and frankly, we're willing to pay a little more to maintain some semblance of our old USA lifestyle!
It humors me immensely to recall Fede's effort to maintain a neutral expression while talking to the realtor in regards to this potential home that was so grossly below our standards :) If you all know Fede, and you all do, it is easy to see why this is so funny....
Speaking of the good ol' US of A. I went yesterday to a mini supermarket to buy toothpaste. Now, as all of you will note, when you walk into any Walmart, or Walgreens in the U.S. you have a seemingly endless variety of toothpastes, brands, some with mint, others with whitening agents, scope, "clinically proven" formulas, etc...well, at our local mini-mart (run by Spanish-speaking Chinese women I may add), we had two choices: 1) something that I suppose was toothpaste although from the looks of it, I'm not sure if it was caulking glue 2) and colgate. yes, I mean bottom-of-the-line "anti-cavity", 1960-esque Colgate -(See pic below). Wow. Welcome to Socialism!! Man, given the choices I immediately grabbed the colgate although I could hardly believe I was buying such a miserable little tube of paste!! (And, the product met my low expectations, although it gets the job done). No more Mrs. Picky right?
We had a bit of a scare in the new apartment-hotel this afternoon. Being that it is old, it has sliding locks on the inside of all the bedrooms and these locks are below the door handle. Well, Francisco went into a bedroom, shut the door and slid the lock shut!!! I freaked! We would say, "Frankie, open the door" and he would just laugh from the other side. Of course, we had no way of picking the lock since it can only be opened from the inside. Finally after a few dreadful minutes, I told him we were going to watch a movie and he promptly slid the lock open and we opened the door. Wheeeeeeew. What a scare. Seriously, what brainless constructor would put such a lock within a child's reach?
After that experience, I put a generous amount of masking tape all over the locks so that they won't budge.
Finally, we come to the title of the post "Chorizo n' Oreos". That pretty much sums up our dinner. No, that's not completely true, because I did try to make a simple pasta to deviate a bit from the sandwich menu, but still we are subsisting off of random non-perishable items for the moment.
We know this is all part of the adventure and are trying to take it in stride. Still, we will be happy and relieved when this bohemian lifestyle ends :)
Til tomorrow!
-The Martinez Gypsies
However, we had a pretty interesting day. After three nights in the apartment-hotel where we were staying on Atocha (one of the main streets in Madrid), loud, dirty, and busy, we were relocated to another apartment-hotel in another area called "La Latina" until Wednesday. We are on a tucked-away street, in a working class area which apparently gets quite a bit of night life (we're waiting for the ruckus to begin!). This apartment has three bedrooms, and is typical of an older-style European home (ie: no open spaces, very compartmentalized).
This afternoon we went to see an apartment in Ciudad Lineal -- northwest part of the city. It is somewhat far away but the realtor told us that it was very large and very cheap (well below our budget) so we decided it was worth a look. Lo and behold, we were escorted to an old, ugly flat --big, yes....but depressingly ugly. Again of the old style -- little rooms connected by halls (true, it had four bedrooms, and a fifth that served as a tiny living room), small "hallway style" kitchen. The guy sat in the living room on one of the old green couches and said "Yes, it's a bit old but VERY comfortable" and as he said this he patted the couch lifting a cloud of dust! hahah... I won't go on. Needless to say that the rule holds: 'You get what your pay for' and frankly, we're willing to pay a little more to maintain some semblance of our old USA lifestyle!
It humors me immensely to recall Fede's effort to maintain a neutral expression while talking to the realtor in regards to this potential home that was so grossly below our standards :) If you all know Fede, and you all do, it is easy to see why this is so funny....
Speaking of the good ol' US of A. I went yesterday to a mini supermarket to buy toothpaste. Now, as all of you will note, when you walk into any Walmart, or Walgreens in the U.S. you have a seemingly endless variety of toothpastes, brands, some with mint, others with whitening agents, scope, "clinically proven" formulas, etc...well, at our local mini-mart (run by Spanish-speaking Chinese women I may add), we had two choices: 1) something that I suppose was toothpaste although from the looks of it, I'm not sure if it was caulking glue 2) and colgate. yes, I mean bottom-of-the-line "anti-cavity", 1960-esque Colgate -(See pic below). Wow. Welcome to Socialism!! Man, given the choices I immediately grabbed the colgate although I could hardly believe I was buying such a miserable little tube of paste!! (And, the product met my low expectations, although it gets the job done). No more Mrs. Picky right?
We had a bit of a scare in the new apartment-hotel this afternoon. Being that it is old, it has sliding locks on the inside of all the bedrooms and these locks are below the door handle. Well, Francisco went into a bedroom, shut the door and slid the lock shut!!! I freaked! We would say, "Frankie, open the door" and he would just laugh from the other side. Of course, we had no way of picking the lock since it can only be opened from the inside. Finally after a few dreadful minutes, I told him we were going to watch a movie and he promptly slid the lock open and we opened the door. Wheeeeeeew. What a scare. Seriously, what brainless constructor would put such a lock within a child's reach?
After that experience, I put a generous amount of masking tape all over the locks so that they won't budge.
Finally, we come to the title of the post "Chorizo n' Oreos". That pretty much sums up our dinner. No, that's not completely true, because I did try to make a simple pasta to deviate a bit from the sandwich menu, but still we are subsisting off of random non-perishable items for the moment.
We know this is all part of the adventure and are trying to take it in stride. Still, we will be happy and relieved when this bohemian lifestyle ends :)
Til tomorrow!
-The Martinez Gypsies
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