Day 1 and 2 - March 18 and 19, 2009

---

After a few long travel days on Wednesday and Thursday, we made it to Madrid around 5:30 PM on Thursday the 19th. We left SFO at 5:15 PM on Wednesday and with the 8 hour time difference we lost track of time. From the airport we took a taxi to our apartment which is located a half block from the Puerto del Sol which is the geographic center of Spain. It is also the tourist center of Spain as it is packed with tourists all hours of the day and night. Plaza Mayor is about four blocks away and it reminds us of St Marks Square in Venice.

Once we got unpacked we decided to venture out for a walk to get our bearings but soon came across a cervaceria where we had a small beer and some tapas. With each beer we purchased, the bartender picked out one of the tapas for us to eat free of charge. Our walk quickly turned into a tapas crawl and Jim was able to practice his Spanish as we went from place to place. So far, Jim speaks enough Spanish to get us food and drink. We do need a picture of Lisa’s face when someone asks her something in Spanish. She shrugs and looks at Jim to rescue her. However, she was easily able to identify the Chocolatier where we got churro and hot chocolate. Mmmm.... We did have to make an early night of it since we got about 3 hours of sleep Wednesday evening/Thursday morning.

On Friday we decided to finish the walk to figure out the layout of Madrid. We visited the Palacio Real de Madrid where Spanish royalty still holds official events for dignitaries. The palace was very impressive with large rooms and beautiful frescos and paintings. One thing we noticed is the palace must have over 100 antique clocks and every one kept perfect time. From the Palace we ventured to the Gran Via, the main boulevard in Madrid similar to Market street in San Francisco. Popular shopping district with a sprinkling of McDonalds and KFC. We stopped in another cervaceria for a beer since the temperature got close to 80 degrees and our feet were getting sore. After our beer we located the Prado Museum and the Arte Reina Sofia which we are planning to visit later in the trip. We stopped by the apartment to get refreshed and rejuvenated for our first Friday night in Madrid. Tomorrow we take the high speed train to Malaga which is the city Jim’s grandmother is from originally. We leave the apartment around 6:30 am so we will see how late we stay out tonight.

---

Photos

Our first night at the apartment
At Heathrow Jim picked up a bottle of Macallan Elegancia 12 year old so we had to open it up to celebrate our arrival.

Palacio Real de Madrid
From the palace plaza

Museo de Jamon
These cured ham shops are all over Madrid sell cheese, sausages, salamis, and other cured meats. Jim did not want to leave.

Cheese Heaven
The selection of Manchego cheese at the Museo de Jamon store. At home it is hard to find one type of Manchego, in Madrid there are offered at many different ages.

Friday Afternoon at Puerta del Sol
This shows the crowd on one of the streets that come off the Puerta del Sol. This is one of the pedestrian only streets.

Comments

[Mike]

Fun
Hey - Ok, so you are blogging to rub it in? Sounds like you guys are having a blast already. Stay safe and have fun. Budget will be waiting for you when you come back.

[Edward]

Sooo Jealous
Loved Madrid, wait till you get out in the countryside a bit....its such a pretty country....enjoy!!

[Max]

Are you sure that John and Jim aren't twins separated at birth? John always takes picture of food, too. I thought it was just an idiosyncrisy, now I see that it is an art movement. The apartment looks fabulous. I have caught John's virulent cold, so keep the sunshine coming on the blogs-it may be the only fun I'll have this week-end.

[Pete]

Vicarious Traveling!
Hi, Jim & Lisa We are traveling vicariously through your wonderful travels! Keep the pictures and the notes flowing. We all know the beer will be flowing! Yum!

[Jbrewco]

Budget in Euros or Dollars
That was cruel Mike! For now, budget is not something we are not thinking about. We're used to trying to find money where it doesn't exist so the vacation will be fantastic!

[Jbrewco]

So far it's great!
Edward, it has been fantastic so far. Normally we stay in a different place every night but since I had to have all those clothes for the cruise, we needed a central point. We did get a rail pass though so we will see more of Spain.

[Jbrewco]

Food - oh boy!
Max, we hope you are feeling better. The food is unbelieveable. We have not had a full meal yet but lots of little dishes all day long. Luckily we are walking and walking and walking so I think we should be losing weight instead of gaining it - we'll see. We will have to post all our pictures on Smug Mug so you and John can see just how many pictures of food Jim has taken.

[Jbrewco]

Adjusting Nicely!
Pete, we are getting used to the food, drink, different time zone and culture. Ahhhh!!!