WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
As I mentioned in my post about Hanah's visit, Justin's and Christy's visit overlapped by a day. I'd been in Spain for two years with only one visit by Mom and Ali and then they all decided to come at the same time! Though I expected it to be a bit overwhelming, it ended up working out very well because I was able to get some last travels in with Hanah and then enjoy a bit more of Spain with Justin and Christy. Terrific places, terrific people, terrific two weeks.
When Justin and Christy arrived, they arrived full force. Christy had managed to sleep on the plane and Justin had the will to overcome any and all fatigue. They experienced the wrath of Amber's first day get-accustomed-fast plan, which basically leaves no room for rest and then helps you to sleep very well, like champs. Hanah, Mom, and Ali had all experienced it before (Mom twice!) and though they claim torture afterwards, I think they'll all admit it helps the process.
We started the day off with breakfast at my favorite neighborhood bar for some coffee, tortilla española or pan con tomate, and fresh squeezed orange juice, a breakfast both of them got used to right away and enjoyed ordering throughout the week. Christy, though she claimed to have forgotten her middle school and high school Spanish, was quite impressive with all she remembered. She was Justin's translator at restaurants and stores throughout the week as he repeatedly stated, "No hablo España" (I don't speak Spain). Gradually he improved, learning a few important words and phrases: vino tinto (red wine), otra cerveza (another beer), por favor (please), gracias (thank you), and ¡Estamos perdidos! (We're lost! - He used this phrase in conjunction with his arms thrown up in defeat any time he thought we were walking too long. We were almost never actually lost.).
After breakfast we checked out La Sorolla, an art museum in the home of the famous impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla before heading over to the apartment to check in. After we got the keys and dropped their stuff off we went to Kilometro 0 (the center of the radial network of Spanish roads), walked through La Plaza Mayor, got Hanah some turrón to share with her co-workers in NYC, and headed towards Retiro Park.
Once in Retiro Park, we feasted. We celebrated Hanah's last day the same as her first and gave Justin and Christy a taste of jamón bellota, queso manchego, olives, fresh fruits and vegetables, and the turrón that I dropped in the store and broke. Justin laid down and passed out for a few minutes before we headed over to check the last event off of Hanah's list: La Reina Sofía. This is also what we did on Mom and Ali's first day in Madrid, so it seemed appropriate. Since Hanah is a graphic designer, she loved seeing all of the different modern artwork and enjoyed seeing some Dali and Picasso works that were different from anything else she had ever seen. Justin, on the other hand, had never been through an entire art museum and began to take it very seriously, letting us know that we missed a tiny corner room and taking care to make sure that he saw every piece of art in the place. We laughed at some of the artwork with the maturity of high schoolers and gave passing glances to some of the darker works that looked like a child had done them. Nevertheless, we saw every. single. piece. Goal accomplished, Justin!
We rewarded ourselves with a delicious tapas meal at Entrevinos and then hit up the Chocolatería San Ginés for some churros con chocolate. In that one day, Christy and Justin had experienced most of what most tourists come to Madrid to experience. (In fact, Christy had a list of 10 things she thought she should do while she was in the city and we had crossed 7 off the list in the first day.) But they stuck around and we continued on with our adventures.
The next morning was Easter Sunday and we celebrated by having brunch in my apartment: pancakes, eggs, embutidos (cheese and chorizo), asparagus, and fresh squeezed orange juice. My roommate Rob was hanging around so he joined us and we chatted about our breaks from school and our upcoming plans: Hanah back to the U.S. (sad day) and Justin, Christy, and I off to my favorite city in the world... Sevilla.
We took the AVE there, the high speed train that makes the trip in less than three hours and promises to arrive within a few minutes of its estimated arrival time. Unfortunately, we hit a bit of rain along the way that caused the train to slow down and stop for a bit. Fortunately, that meant that we got a refund on our three tickets: €120! While we were still in route, we figured out how we were going to spend the money: on the best flamenco show in the city, Los Gallos.
So, 20 minutes late but no worse for the wear, we arrived in Sevilla ready to check-in to our apartment and continue on to a spectacular cultural experience.
The view from our balcony
Los Gallos was truly impressive, probably the second best flamenco show I have ever seen, coming in just after the show that I saw as part of the XVI Bineal de Flamenco when I was studying abroad in Sevilla. Justin and Christy were more than content with their decision to spend the extra euros on the show and I was so thankful to have gotten to experience one more flamenco show before I said goodbye hasta luego to Spain.
After the show, we headed out to my "secret bar" for some of the infamous croquetas. Unfortunately, however, we got soaked as we walked across the city in the pouring rain. Double unfortunately, the bar was closed when we arrived (which was somewhat expected since it was Sunday and Easter Sunday at that). But all was not lost because we hit up another one of my favorite bars in Triana (a famous neighborhood in Sevilla) and ate our fill of delicious tapas.
A view I will never tire of, not even in the pouring rain
The next morning we woke up, enjoyed another Spanish breakfast, and then stood in line (again, in the rain) to enter El Real Alcázar, the royal palace in Sevilla.
Ceramic tiles on a bench in the garden
One of the walls
Justin inside the labyrinth... Christy was too short to see anywhere
After our walk through the palace it was time for a snack, so we headed to the convent in the neighborhood to buy magdalenas (Spanish muffins)!
Enjoying our delicious nunfins from the mufnuns!
After re-energizing ourselves with some sweets, we walked over to Plaza de España, the most beautiful plaza in all of Spain.
Walking past La Giralda once again on our way through the city
The beautiful couple in Plaza de España
Side note: I brought Mom here just three and a half years earlier when she came to visit me in Spain!
A view from the opposite direction
After our trip to Plaza España we headed back to Triana for some lunch and ceramic shopping, which was then followed by an obligatory ice cream stop at Helados Rayas. I taught Justin and Christy how to ask to try flavors and how to order and shortly after, we were indulging in deliciousness. As we prepared to leave, Justin realized he had just enough time to head over to the cathedral (and in his mind, enough time to dash up the 104.1 meters worth of ramps to check out the view of the top). So Justin ran ahead and around the cathedral to find the entrance while Christy and I meandered along, looking for a place to buy her a flamenco apron.
When Justin finally found the entrance around 17:45, he also found the hours... very Spanish hours. Apparently the cathedral had only been open from 10:00 to 14:00 (on a Monday!) and Justin's hopes of seeing Columbus's burial site were dashed. Luckily, Christy cheered him up with a matador apron to match her flamenco apron and any hint of a frown was quickly turned upside down.
We headed back to the apartment to pick up our luggage and then walked to the train station to return to Madrid. When we got to the train station (after buying Justin some chuches (gummies) along the way), we had another train issue: the train to Madrid flashed 19:30 instead of 19:45... and it was 19:29. Suddenly panicked about missing the train, having to buy new tickets, and still needing to prepare multiple lesson plans for the next day, I set off running. Though the gate was closed off, I saw the train sitting there and was prepared to beg for them to let me on. We all ducked under the rope and started sprinting.
But there was no one working on the platform. Instead, the worker on the next platform started yelling at us, asking us how we had gotten there and telling us to come over to his platform. I yelled back, telling him I was going to Madrid and we needed to get on the train.
Finally, we conceded and walked over to him... and realized that his train was actually our train. And leaving at 19:45. Crisis averted, drama included.
Back in Madrid, Justin, Christy and I had a blast hanging out in the city. Here's a short list of our adventures in Madrid:
- Recreo (break time) at IES Ramiro de Maeztu to meet all of my teacher and auxiliar friends
- English class with the teachers from school
- Lunches at some of my favorite restaurants around the city
- Dinners with house church friends and my Spanish friend, Carmen
- Afternoon coffee on the rooftop of Círculo de Bellas Artes, overlooking the city
- Tapas at Melo's... one of the most Spanish bars in Madrid both in terms of food and space
With one of my shorter school days and a day off, we were also able to fit in two day trips outside the city. On Wednesday afternoon, we took a short trip to see Toledo, a historical city I visited during the fall with Joe. After Justin and Christy polled all of the teachers at my school, they decided it was a must-see.
Enjoying the walk from the train station
Considering our snack options... hoot dog anyone?
While Christy and Justin checked out the cathedral, I sewed a few more of Ali's table markers for her wedding. Then we took a nice, long stroll around the entire city. When Justin and Christy got a bit tired from the walk, however, they entertained themselves by hiding from me while I verified our location on the map.
Can you find them?!
Then, on Friday, we took a day trip to Cuenca, a city that Christy had read about online and I had heard about a few times from some of my European friends. The city is infamous for its massive gorge and the casas colgadas (hanging houses). It is also the sister city to Ronda, a city in Andalucía that I had visited with Mom! AND, it is the province where they bottle Solán de Cabras, Spaniards' favorite bottled water. (Really, Spaniards love this bottled water. I think you could find a positive correlation between restaurant quality and the service of the Solán de Cabras in the blue glass bottle).
When we first arrived, we had a coffee in the city's parador, a state run hotel. We drank fancy cafés con leche while we peeked out the window at the view.
GORGEous
Walking across the bridge
Me with the casas colgadas (hanging houses) in the background
There's a modern art museum inside the casas colgadas and there were some really cool pieces inside. But half the fun was looking out the windows.
Christy peeking out the window
A few more works of art on the wall
After we walked through the art museum, we walked through the city, checked out the cathedral, and sought out lunch at a 'typical Spanish' restaurant.
The Cuenca cathedral
On our way back, the AVE was late once again and we got a partial refund on our tickets.
Justin: Wow, how often does this happen to you?
Me: Ummm, never. Nor does it happen very often.
#WINNING.
Overall, it was an absolute pleasure to share my love for Madrid as well as my Spanish persona with Justin and Christy. They could tell where the culture had rubbed off on me and they enjoyed seeing how my habits fit in with daily life in Madrid. They enjoyed it so much that they promised that no matter where I went to live, they would come visit me. Yes, Justin and Christy, I published that promise publicly to hold you to it! To add to your adventures of starting your lives as foster parents, you'll have some Chinese adventures in your future!
Let's go!
¡Vámanos!
我们走吧！(Thank you, Google translate....)
Much love,
Amber
