The Manzanares River

The other day I was talking to Ana, my sister, on the phone and I mentioned we had gone to see the river here in Madrid and her reply was "Madrid has a river!?" -haha. Indeed, it kind of came as a surprise to me too, because unlike other major cities whose central point is a river (the Hudson River, Charles River, Le Seine, TheTiber River), Madrid's River only covers one quadrant of the city (running from the West to the South of Madrid). It's called the Manzanares River (sounds like Manzana, Apples, but I'm not sure why it has that name) and it's a pretty narrow, unassuming river as far as rivers go. Nevertheless, some locals had told us it was worth checking out and so we made plans.

Valentina and Miguel mentioned that they knew of a chicken joint near the river where we could have lunch that day. As we walked down the street looking for the restaurant, I was imagining some small, hole-in-the-wall place, when we suddenly came upon this big rustic beautiful building called "Casa Mingo". It was awesome, really old and had the best chicken in town!

After a delicious chicken meal with homemade Cider we were ready to hit the river. Before we got there though, we went to visit this little church where the famous painter Goya is buried. To be exact, there are two identical churches: one being the original, which houses frescos painted by Goya, and the other a replica, becuase the first one was in delicate shape. Goya is buried in the replica, which is somewhat ironic being that he's buried in a church that has an imitation of his own artwork.

The plan was to rent bicycles, but we weren't really sure where to rent them. So, we just began to walk down the river. After the first 10 minutes we came upon this really cool "pine" park - very new and funky where the kids could play. In the picture below, Francisco is riding the wooden warthog like a Harley Davidson!

 

We kept walking and about a half kilometer up the path there was another park, even neater than the first. They had what may be described as an up-side down see-saw, where you sit on hanging sticks (below). Even the adults had a blast on that one!



Park number three along the path was pretty sophisticated. It had this fortress (below) that was rather tricky to climb up (knotted rope) so we ended up hauling all the kids up the long slide, and then enjoying the ride down. No matter what your age, there's always a kid inside ready to enjoy a good slide, right Fede?



I lost count of how many parks are along this 7km stretch of river, but it's more than seven. This was an ideal plan with the kids. The backdrop to the Manzanares River is the Royal Palace and the Cathedral of Almudena. Another Basilica (San Francisco el Grande) can also be seen. We were all impressed at how well designed portion of the river walk is, it is very exercise/kid/family friendly.

The Cathedral of Almudena

 As you can see, we did finally find the bike place and rented two of these quad-cycles: the two people in the back pedal, while the kids sit in the front. One adult steers and there's a brake in the middle. The pedaling is slow-going but super fun!

 

Antonio and Tomas were in one "car" while Eva, Alejandra and Francisco were in the other "car" and we took turns racing past the other car. The kids were in hog heaven :). Below we took a little break to enjoy these long swings that we came upon.

The Toledo Bridge can be seen above. This is as far as we got along the path before we had to turn around because we had to return the bikes to the rental place. Next time though, we are going to set aside a whole morning to spend at the river so that we can go the full 7 kms! That's it for now!

Three Wise Men

In view of the coming of the Three Wise Men (Jan 6th), here we have our Three Wise Guys you might say. Which brings me to my first point: in Spain, Christmas is not about presents, it's about the birth of Jesus....but Epiphany, now that's where the presents are at!!! All the little kids in Spain write letters to the Wise Men asking for toys and so you can imagine the excitement they feel knowing that on Friday they will receive heaps of gifts!!

One day we made an awesome Colombian "Frijoles" Dish that I just had to commemorate on the blog. It came out so tasty!

Another day we went walking to the Plaza Mayor to see the Christmas Outdoor Market. The kids loved the guy making the enormous balloons and he even obliged us with a special picture of the kids in the balloon!

Above are an assortment of pictures from this last week :) And below is the famous restaurant "El Botin" which is the world's oldest restaurant (you can see the Guiness Book of World Records Certificate from the window). It is located just off of one of the corners of the plaza mayor. The place has been open for business since 1725!!!

On Thursday night we actually got to go out (just the adults!!). You might say we pulled a fast one on all the five kids, because we put them all to bed nice and early (8:30pm) and then the babysitter came over at 9pm when they were fast asleep and we quickly slipped out! (of course, crossing our fingers that this would work, because if the kids woke up unexpectedly to find an unforeseen babysitter this could have been a big problema!). Luckily we had purposefully worn them out that day and they passed out like rocks.

I wish I could say that we were all full of energy and ready for a long night out on the town, but when you're managing 5 kids ages 5 and under, energy is a commodity that's rather spare! Still, we had a great time at some tapas bars (the tapas were AMAZING) and it was really fun to experience the Spanish nightlife, which as you all may know, is something that Spain is known for. I asked a Spaniard in our group specifically about that because it seemed to me that the streets were packed with people going out (sure didn't seem like a recession in Spain!) and he said that Spaniards would rather not spend on clothes, vacations and other stuff just so they have enough money to still go out :) haha..



So here in the picture above is Ana Maria and Pablo, Fede, me, Miguel, Valentina and Patricia. We ordered something very typical in Madrid which is called "Huevos Rotos" (Broken eggs), and it's basically a dish with homemade potato chips, fried eggs and ham on top! so bizarre but very yummy!!

We also had a great picnic at Retiro last week with our friends Scott and Leah (who you may remember from our Thanksgiving Celebration). Leah is just a month away from giving birth and we are super excited!! The weather continues to be delightful.

And finally, I just had to include this pic of us at the Planetarium, not because of its photographic quality but because Francisco looks so darn cute pre-haircut. Fede says that he looked like one of the Three Stooges with his mushroom hair (so true!!) and I just found it darling...of course he looks terrific with his buzz cut too.

Ok, next post is all about the Manzanares River Outing a.k.a. Madrid's best kept secret.

cheers to everyone,

The Martinez Family

It's Raining Teeth!

We have exciting news to share with ya'll: Antonio lost his first tooth on Christmas Eve!! Well, technically speaking, it was yanked out by Fede but it was at Antonio's pleading. The tooth was quite loose and when Fede yanked it out with dental floss Antonio didn't even wince.  And....today he lost another one! So he has a SUPER hole in his mouth now, of which he is exceptionally proud. As some of you may know, in Spain (as well as other parts of the world) the Tooth Fairy delegates her job to "El Raton Perez" (Perez the Mouse) and he left Antonio 3 euros for his first tooth...let's hope the Mouse can cough up another similar sum for tonight's tooth too! Otherwise Antonio is going to be sorely disappointed. He's convinced that he's going to get rich off of this poor little mouse....

Yesterday we went to the Planetarium, which was a great experience. The kids (as well as parents) loved it.

Today our outing was to the Teleferico (Hanging Cable Car) Ride. From this vantage point one can see Madrid from the West looking towards the East. It's a really neat view of the Royal Palace, the Cathedral Almudena, the Manzanares River, and the Casa de Campo (Green park area) of Madrid.

At the end of the cable ride we found a terrific park as well as scenic views of the city. Here are the kids below on the slide (take a good look at the look of panic on Francisco's face! it's priceless! Don't worry he didn't get hurt).

We are had a good time taking turns on the playground equipment!!

The weather continues to be superb. Chilly in the mornings but with the sun by midday it's great. We managed to take the good camera with us today we snapped some terrific pics of the kids.....and us!

That's it for now. I will tell you about our outing to the Plaza Mayor and show ya'll a pic of the World's oldest restaurant soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

Hello everyone!

So here we are, Christmas Eve and the excitement can definitely felt. The kids had dinner and are watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (remember, that version from the 1970s?) and just waiting to go to bed. The adults will dine once they go to sleep, with a little peace, quiet and plenty of wine :). For the first time ever, we are having fish for Christmas (this is typical in Spain). Much has happend since our last post, mainly involving our School Christmas celebrations and the preparations for our special visitors!!

On Wednesday we welcomed our family from London: Fede's sister, Valentina, her husband, Miguel, and their two kids Tomas and Eva (4, 2 respectively). As one can imagine, our kids were thrilled to have new playmates, especially their cousins who they hadn't seen in 3 years!

But before they arrived, first we began the Christmas decorations. Perhaps the most original of these being our Paper Fireplace, one accessory that was absolutely essential for a smooth arrival by Santa (this was particularly important for cousin Tomas who is eagerly awaiting Father Christmas). Our kids pretty much know where the presents come from, but we're asking them to play along and they're enjoying it more this way.

As can be seen to the right, here is our new Fireplace! Made purely of paper, complete with colored paper stockings with the kids' names! (Hopefully the fireplace will stay for the remainder of our time in Spain...it looks very nice!!). We might even get some marshmallows to roast :)))

We went to Ikea to get a few more matresses and stuff for our visitors and the kids had a blast playing with their white train in the living room for several days. Below is our little Shepherdess Alejandra ready to participate in her school's play of the First Christmas. Her acting was wonderful, as can be imagined.

 

Below are pictures from the NaviBus ride, the kids at home, Antonio's Christmas Play (their class narrated the play). We also found a mural of Maya the Bee in the Metro and the kids went wild, so we took a picture.

The King Francisco upon his trusty Steed Antonio!

They arrived with silly glasses and the kids have been wearing them ever since. All of them are practically the same age and so they all partake in the same games, as you can see below.

We've gone on several outings with them, including the "Navi bus" (the Christmas Bus) that takes one through the lighted streets of Madrid at night to see all of the decorations. We also went to a delicious Brasilian Restaurant and then today we had a picnic/park outing at Retiro Park. The weather has rather suddenly turned mild and sunny (50-60 degrees?) and this has made for perfect weather! (A much milder Christmas than I anticipated).

We've done a lot of walking through the streets and just hanging out with all the kids.

Here are the three boys, having a grand ol' time at the Estanque at Retiro Park this afternoon.

Ok it's almost time to put the five kids to bed, but before that we need to go sprinkle Reindeer Dust outside, set the cookies and milk for Santa and read the story "The Night Before Christmas". To those who have sent us Christmas cards (photos) thank you SO much!! We were delighted to receive them in the mail!! We want to end by wishing each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas from us!!!!



Cheers from Madrid!
-The Martinez Family



El Escorial

Last Saturday we decided to visit San Lorenzo de El Escorial. An hour's train ride from Madrid to the Northwest, this is the site of a Royal Monastery. That is, it is a monastery, a historical residence of the Kings of Spain, and a museum. All of the royalty of Spain is buried here and it is definitely worth visiting --yes, even in December, with dreadful cold, fog, and drizzle! I imagine that in the Spring it must be so beautiful...like in the picture below which was not taken by us, but gives you a better idea of what it looks like:



Here is another one off google, that I just love:

Here we are (left) walking through the streets --it was SO cold!

We quickly made our way to the monastery because the weather was almost unbearable.

Once inside, we first saw the typical rooms of tapestries (never been a big fan, although I realize they must have taken so long to make!). Then we saw various rooms of religious art, lots of little rooms, hallways, stairwells (we felt like we were in a laborynth) and neat courtyards.

We also saw the bed and room where Philip II died. He was really the one who built El Escorial. The bed is all faded and tattered, but still retains some of the royal elegance of those times. This made me reflect on the fact that now a days we, thanks to modernity, live better than the kings of the 16th century. I mean, central heating, electricity, antibiotics, cell phones, airplanes, internet! hahaha....can't say I envy even the kings of Spain :)

El Escorial though is different from Toledo. The Monastery is the place to visit in Escorial, but the rest of the town is not as picturesque as Toledo, in my opinion. For sure, the pantheon of the kings is the best room in the place: built completely of marble (green/deep red colors) one walks down a narrow stair corridor and it opens up to this majestic room with a dome. There before you are some thirty tombs each in their niche carved into the wall, all uniform in style only differing in the names "Felipe II, Rex" one says; another "Isabella, Regina". One is left in a state of awe in this room, perhaps because it is a palpable example of the concentration of history, power, and legacy found there. In a sense, the identity of Spain was forged by these figures and here they are all buried, a piece of the past. By the way, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the Monastery, but below is another pic I found online of the Pantheon of the Kings:

 

The Basilica, along with the pantheons to the Kings and the Infantes, was awesome. The basilica has one feature that stands out in my mind: the enormous dome is completely bare. This is rather rare (at least I've never seen one). Normally they are filled with frescos and artwork, but not this one: it was made of solid stone with a few windows and I loved the simplicity of it. The dome and the enormous columns of the main naive contrasted exquisitely with the very ornate and tasteful altarpiece and imposing stairs leading up to the altar. Again, courtesy of the internet, here are some pics I found of the interior of the basilica:

The pictures below are inside the monastery, in the courtyard with the facade of the Basilica in the background.

Last, but certainly not least, we made our way up the stairs to the Library. We almost forewent this room because we were all kind of tired and cold, and a little sick of hauling our mega-stroller up and down stairs, but I'm glad we decided to make one last effort to see it. I've never seen a Library that really captures the Renaissance like this one:

After the library, it was down the long hill to the train station and by 4pm we were on our way home to Madrid again.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just a week away!!! The kids are so excited and this weekend we hope to get a few decorations to get us in the spirit too. Antonio and Alejandra have learned several Christmas Carols at school and they happily croon their little tunes around the apartment. It's super cute!! The next post will include a link to a youtube video with them strutting their carols!!