Next Stop, Rome

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We're off for Rome today, and I had some final thoughts on Madrid. In the end, perhaps the city is not the ideal tourist destination, especially with young children. Indeed, even the locals will tell you that as far as sights and attractions, cities like Barcelona and Seville have more to offer. Madrid is a large, busy functional city with lots of restaurants and shopping and plenty of attractive, hip people, and we've enjoyed our time here doing everyday things like eating and exploring the city and simply going for walks. If not for the business/work aspect of our trip and our love for Spain, however, we might not have been inspired to come. Good to know for the future. We love the idea of one day living in Europe, perhaps France or Spain, and the big city is appealing to us, but that's for another time... and maybe another blog.

And we managed to see the Picasso's and Dali's. Actually got to see Guernica in the flesh, which is pretty cool.

I will say this, the city transforms on the weekends. The place rocks, and the streets and parks fill with people and it's almost like a carnival. There are street performers that target all ages, with puppet shows, magicians, marionettes, and all sorts of vendors, not unlike Central Park or Church Street in Burlington, but on a much larger scale. We had a lot of fun yesterday just hanging out as a family, though the city gets a little crazy on a Saturday night. Not that we had a car, but the traffic was terrible, and while we tried to sleep, the noise was intolerable. Chalk it up to big city life, but I couldn't sleep!

And to add to our adventure, we're going to attempt to take the subway to the airport. It's actually pretty convenient if you can work up the huevos to just to do it. The Metro goes right to the terminals, and you can even check in at the Metro station. It's all part of the adventure. (Quick note-I got scolded for taking a picture in the subway station, a big no-no.)

Rome should be interesting, my first trip to Italy. Again, I think Rome is more crowded and geared to tourists, so there should be a lot more to see, especially from a homeschoolers POV. Also, this time we have more of a plan, so stay tuned.

Is it possible to learn to speak Italian overnight?

Until then, thanks for reading.

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