Hello again. I volunteered/was told to contribute to the blog for part of my time in Spain, so here we go. First, I would like to thank the fans for the positive feedback we received on the London post. Unfortunately, this one will likely flop as most sequels do. This one will also include more pictures than last time because I took a lot and think that they deserve it.
3/13/23, Monday
After a lengthy flight filled with playing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Dad and I each became one), the crew--me, Mom, Dad, and Jan--arrived at our Airbnb around noon. We took an hour finding our bearings and then walked to a nearby restaurant called Cañas y Tapas. I now know the solution to blurry pics but that's above my (current) pay grade so sorry fam.
Tough guy with his grilled chicken salad.
Good ahh grilled cuttlefish for me. Mom had spicy potatoes (top right) and something else we tried, and Dad had huevos rotos. I'd say this was a pretty Spanish meal to start us off.
After this, my parents went to the grocery. I watched the new Pinocchio for 20 minutes before deciding I needed a nap. Fast-forward some hours later, we met Elizabeth at Hotel Riu for a delightful rooftop sunset viewing.
What is he thinking?
Elizabeth pic creds.
We sat down with our complimentary drinks on a floor below the top for about 40 minutes while waiting for the sunset. Gale force winds at the very top so we kinda just walked a lap around and took a few pics and called it a day. We Ubered from there to dinner at Sur de Huertas. Dad missed out because he had a work call, but wasn't too hungry anyway. The rest of us shared a few different tapas and entrées. Onto tomorrow!
3/14/23, Chewsday!
A new day. We had some much-needed rest that had us all feelin' swell, trumping the jet lag. Besides Dad. He was ill and stayed home while I went to the Almudena Cathedral with Mom and Jan. It was the first cathedral consecrated outside of Rome. It also took over 100 years to build because of the Spanish Civil War and some other interferences, finishing in early 1990-something.
Cool ceiling (IMO).
View from near the top of the cathedral. Right across from the Royal Palace of Madrid. Nobody lives there anymore but it's still used for occasional ceremonial stuff within the fam.
90ish minutes later and we were walking to lunch. Mom and Jan shared a few tapas and I had the worst fish ever. Cod with black olive emulsion (I didn't know what that meant when I ordered it, so maybe my bad). The fish itself was fine but the sauce ruined it and tasted/looked like silvery toothpaste kinda. We saw all the other tables had bread pretty soon after they were seated and thought we were being discriminated against as Americans. They did eventually bring it like 30 minutes later. I tried a couple of their tapas and they were better than the fish. Then Ubered to the crib and winded down while watching a short docuseries about a former bodybuilder shooting her mean husband who also did bodybuilding--it's called Killer Sally since I know you're interested in watching.
Late dinner time at Takos Al Pastor.
Thankfully we had a translator for the Spanish menu.
Unfortunately they were out of most stuff we had planned to order during our 1+ hour wait time, but it was still good. Takos was the place to be. Good night!
3/15/23, Wednesday
Day trip day. According to Google, it can take either 30 minutes or 2 hours to go from Madrid to Segovia depending on the train. We did neither. We were a little late and unable to get tickets from the station ahead of time, so we rented a car and drove for about an hour.
First up was the 'ducts. It goes like this for 10 miles to channel that precious mountain spring water. Pretty cool. In use until 1970-something.
Onto the cathedral! Better than Almudena (IMO). They had some pretty tall and heavy ahh doors in this thing. The back side (pictured here) faces the main square, which is unusual. I don't remember if I saw the front but Elizabeth says it's lame anyway.
There were 15 or so individual rooms like this throughout with their own themes. I'm unsure to what extent they are trying to preserve the exact history of this establishment, but it could really use a heating system or two. It was very cold.
I forgot to mention we had lunch before coming here. Kind of a nice place, but it was our only option for dining. We walked in around 11:30 and asked if they were serving food and they laughed at us. Americans.
Onto the castle (Alcázar). Very blurry on this one. There wasn't much picture-worthy stuff in the castle itself, but this is the view Mom and I had of the cathedral after a 156-step journey to the top. This was our briefest stop.
Time to go back! Truth be told I was a little nervous about navigating the city driving because there are lots of weird roundabouts and lane-change stuff that you don't see in the U.S., but Dad did a good job. That evening, Elizabeth went to some weird opera with Rose while Dad and I went to a Champions League game. I'll let you decide who won that one. Elizabeth did say that the opera wasn't bad though. (This is Elizabeth--the opera was super weird and the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. It was awesome.)
Halaaaaa Madrid. Good guys won 1-0 this leg, and 6-2 on aggregate taking their previous game into account. Shout-out Simon's fam for helping Dad get the tix. They played Liverpool btw. Saw a few drunk blokes that got lots of looks from the Spaniards on the metro.
They started renovating this stadium in 2019 but still had lots of apparent work to do. The important part (pictured) is nice but there were porta potties for bathrooms and employees with hand-held baskets selling a total of 4 things for concessions.
Concession/bathroom lines.
3/16/23, Thursday
Woke up and went to this cafe near our place with Simon's parents. It was a cool spot and I tried my first cold brew. Then we caught up. Shared some laughs. Exchanged some hugs and eventual farewells. They were in the midst of preparing to go to Singapore for an extended time, so I'm sure that will be a cool experience.
It's just a bev, bro.
Plaza Mayor time. There's this structure all around of housing/work buildings and on the ground level there are different restaurants and stores. We never did much here or stayed long but it's just one of those places you'll probably end up walking by anyway. Then Mom and I went to Gran Vía, Madrid's famous shopping street, while Dad and Jan went to a famous churro place to camp out until lunch later in the day at like 3:30. We spent our allotted hour or so at Uniqlo but had some good finds. Mom went back with Liam the next week.
Chocolatería San Ginés since 1894. Famous. Not bad👌. They weren't the kind you'd expect with cinnamon and sugar and stuff, so the chocolate really had a big role in this duo.
Our late lunch spot was this warehouse-type building that had lots of different individual stands set up selling their own stuff. This will be my 2nd reference to the Fall Festival in my blogging history, but it really was like if the booths were to be moved into one building and operate from there. We had empanadas and fruit. Pretty good.
Last-minute bracketology/lab work for hoosierbabie. Congrats on a respectable 5th-place finish.
Then we walked home.
View from outside our place.
Mom then went with Elizabeth to "teach" English at her weekly spot. I *almost* went but March Madness was tipping off and they ended up staying until like 11pm so I was very happy with my decision after the fact. I was asleep before they got home.
3/17/23, Friday
Last day (for me). First stop was Retiro Park. 300+ acres of nature basically. Some statues here and there and a man-made lake. Even a crystal palace, since they wanted to call it that. UNESCO World Heritage Site too.
Quack
Wanted a pic but Mom said we'd have to pay 😢😢 Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and a bunny were also encountered later upon this path.
Mom and I then went to a different part of Gran Vía. I got a shirt and a pair of shoes. Bless. Then it was late lunch time again. Diehard Elizabeth in Madrid fans may recall her visit to a "Running Sushi" in previous months. This is where we went.
Moving conveyor belt in the tube-looking thing. There was no menu or assisting chart to identify the plates, so Elizabeth and I just grabbed whatever looked good for the table. It was 14 euros per person (I think) and we could have whatever we wanted during our 1-hour time limit.
Small plates. I think we totaled 80 by the time we were done. Some stuff was weird though so they weren't all cleared.
Went back to the crib for a little before our Spanish Inquisition tour at 7. It was advertised as a walking tour that showed some of Madrid's landmarks that related to the inquisition's origins. It also mixed in some legends. Our guide impersonated this dude who had been alive since 1500 and was immortal the entire time. I wasn't a fan at first but he grew on me a little. Silly guy.
He had full-fledged conversations with his lantern (named Mikey) and other inanimate objects on the streets.
We were done at 9:15. I went with Elizabeth and Alana to pick up vegan food with Rose for dinner. It was surprisingly good. Carmen arrived from the airport as Elizabeth and I were leaving da crib to go to her apartment before da club. I saw her for a total of 5 minutes before I left the next day but it sounds like they had a good time without me.
Scenes in the club as Purdue Purdue's (Purdoes?). And to think I almost stayed home to watch. This may be the IU side of me speaking but no one will take them seriously until they make a Final Four.
We got home a little before 4. I had to wake up around 8 to get to the airport but I would have been up late anyway to watch the games so it was worth it. I planned to sleep on the long flight but there was a baby legit right behind me who wouldn't shut up and kept hitting my seat. A pair of noise-canceling headphones may be in my future for emergencies like these. Spring break went by pretty fast for me but it still felt like we did a lot of things together. Fun trip. Adiós familia.
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