We hit the ground running this morning, bidding "adios" to Barcelona and saying "hola" to Madrid. Many told us that Madrid is not as charming as Barcelona and that we wouldn't enjoy it as much. It could be the wine. It could be the limited time. But we LOVE the capital. It is fast and furious, alive, beautiful, historic with amazing museums, stunning architecture, scenic parks, gardens and bubbling fountains.
We galloped into town and found ourselves with an upgraded room (as Heather has been reminding us the whole trip, "It never hurts to ask!"), although we are paying 19 euros in order to write this with wi fi service in our room. Bags dropped, hair brushed, make-up applied and a plan in hand, we set out on the streets of Madrid. Tapas in Plaza de Santa Ana were delicious until the chicken came to the table. Jill had the good sense to pass and Heather and I dug in despite the gray hue and pool of oil it was back stroking through. I don't know what possessed me to eat this, as I just lectured the girls about how I never go off the grid, meal wise, the day before a long plane ride.
Meal finished, we walked to the famous Museo Del Prado where Jill allotted us an hour for the masterpieces. Thanks to Jill's ability to trim the art fat, we managed to see the masterpieces by Goya, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Millon and many others. Heather enjoyed the religious artwork, especially the Madonnas. Jill like Goya's painting of the Spanish royal family. And I can only continue to wonder about the piece depicting a cherub squeezing mountains of milk from a woman's breast which was apparently the origination of the Milky Way.
Needing a pick me up, we went to The Ritz Madrid for afternoon coffee where we had the usual - cappuccino, black coffee and Heather's 15th chocolate caliente of the trip which we discovered has 800 calories a serving (yesterday she had three and has now had to narrow her wardrobe down to stretch pants for the plane ride home).
We rushed across town in a taxi to tour the Palacio Royal only to find we missed the last call by 15 minutes (FYI: the Royal Palace closes at 1800 hours but you have to be there by 1700 hours. I know this because besides the Metro system and city maps, Jill has also mastered general military time).
We proceeded to walk around and take pictures. At one point, Heather asked Jill to take a picture when Jill realized her "wristlet" was wide open and hanging upside down. She dropped to her knees and rifled through her things. Who knew one little wristlet could hold so much sh@#! When Jill noticed her credit card was missing, Heather crouched down next to Her as if consoling a small child and posed a question in a very sensitive tone delivered with a very slow cadence, "Jill, do you think you were pick pocketed?" and Jill responded "ABSOLUTELY (5 second pause)... I know WAS pick pocketed!" As we decided to retrace our steps, and got up from kneeling on the ground, Jill's credit card magically appeared beneath her tush. We all breathed a sigh of relief and were most proud of the fact that we had maintained our perfect record of not being pick pocketed as many warned us we would be (although Jill is still claiming it was an alleged pick pocket attempt).
We decided to go big on our last night- getting all dressed up for a special dinner. Jill did Heather's make-up just like high school. Heather's eyes have never looked bluer or photographed better. We arrived at restaurante El Botin, the world's oldest restaurant. (We stole the menus to prove it). As we strutted in, pashminas and leather flying in the breeze, Jill turned to us in a panicked voice and said, "Oh My God, we are totally overdressed. Why didn't the Concierge tell us???" I say better to be over than under! Dinner was delicious and we were among the last table out because as you can imagine, there is no shortage of conversation in this group.
We are in our jams laughing about stories from the past week. We leave for the airport in 6 hours. It is 1:30 am (actually one of our earlier nights). All of our stomachs hurt from overindulgence and laughs. We are hoping we can get our bags closed in the morning (Jill just now shouted from the bathroom that she finally found her jewelry and hair care products). And to quote the Italian chiropractor from The 4 Cats, "What happens in Espana, stays in Espana."
And being the overachievers that we are, we are already planning for a new adventure next November. All suggestions welcome!
"Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.". -Jane Austen
NOTE: all blog entries have been a group effort and one of the best parts of every day.
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