Madrid

Our flight from Amsterdam to Madrid arrived in Madrid at 10 pm. Juan said that was perfect, as it was just before dinner time. Spain is on its own time zone! Juan and Victor picked us up at the airport and we met Sofia at a restaurant Juan had selected for tapas. It was super crowded, so we went across the street to another place where we discovered the delightful option of...non-alcoholic beer ON TAP! (Mahon Sin) Sign me up. After awhile at the first place, we crossed the street and ordered more tapas at the place Juan had chosen. Juan knows a lot about food, and he's very discerning. We were happy
to let him order whatever he thought was best, after he peppered the servers with questions. Everything was delicious. There we were, in a packed and lively tapas bar, at one o'clock in the morning in Madrid. As we left the restaurant at what would be considered the middle of the night in Kaysville, Juan said, "Where should we go next?" I love Spain. We opted for going back to our luxury airbnb right next to the Prado that Juan found for us. He really spoiled us with accomodations, and also with his vast knowledge of everything in the museums. It was so great to have our own personal guide!

We opted the next morning to walk through the Retiro gardens then the Reina Sofia Museum. It was excellent, of course. There was a Picasso exhibit focusing on Guernica, so we got to see that mammoth. The exhibit was well done, with Guernica surrounded by works that demnstrated the political and social climate as well as the art movements of the time, before and after Guernica. I learned a lot. Lunch was at a typical Galician restaurant. Juan's mother, Abuela Juana, joined us. She was the life of the party. Just a spitfire. The most memorable moment was when the waiter came to tell us about dessert. Victor had warned us that Abuela Juana can't have ice cream, but that she would do anything to get it. When the waiter mentioned ice cream, Juana's face lit up. She said, "Helado!!" I'm glad I'm not responsible for telling that woman no! She is persistent! We loved meeting her and dining in her sparkling presence.

 

At Retiro

Our plan was to see the Prado in the afternoon, so we were waiting outside to see Víctor and Sofia's aunt and uncle, Victor and Paloma. They were late, you know Spain, so we got to enjoy some afternoon sunshine before whizzing through the Prado in one hour, with Juan as our expert tour guide, steering us through the unimportant things and giving us an abridged version of the master works. It killed me to move so quickly, but I was grateful for the opportunity to see some amazing art.

Did you know there are two Mona Lisas?

When the Prado kicked us out at closing time, we met Victor and Paloma and their adorable little girl for drinks. The afternoon sun was bright and warm, and we took our time just relaxing. For me, it was so good to catch up. It was a bit of an emotional moment for Scott, as "Uncle Victor" had a starting role in our college/mission young adulthood as the guy I "Dear Johned" (aka dumped) Scott for. As we were on our way to meet the Correas, I said to Scott, "The great thing is that it was all so long ago that it doesn't even matter!" He looked at me dubiously and said, "WAS it?" We had a good laugh over that. Well, we all have our pasts, right? The important thing is how you integrate the past into the present, and I must give Scott huge kudos for handling a potentially fraught situation with dignity, aplomb and good nature. In fact, he loves to tell the story of how our kids have spent the past four summers with the family of his wife's college boyfriend. Kids, always choose a guy just like Scott. The end. :)

There's our fearless host, Juan, ordering more tapas for us! We had so much fun in Madrid, it was hard to leave, especially since our airbnb was so nice, and we had a private guide to all the museums. Then there was Abuela Juana. Who would want to leave her?! There was more to see, and we left Madrid en route to Toledo.