I'm Back!

I returned home from my fantastic trip to Spain on Monday......missing the shutdown of JFK by mere hours (thank heavens!)  I don't know what I would have done if I would have gotten stuck there after flying all day.  I might have had a breakdown of some sort and done something desperate to get home to my husband and kiddos.  I was gone for eight days and Travis did a great job with the kids, Eli didn't even want anything to do with me for the first night I was home.....just wanted his Dad.  I have spent the last few days recovering from jetlag, eradicating mysterious smells around the house, and doing laundry (like 20 loads in two days).....amazing how it piles up when you aren't around to filter the truly dirty from the hardly worn.  I jumped right back into the insanity of spring sports around here and immediately missed the laid back slower pace I experienced while over there.

Our good friends, Brett and Amy, are ex-pats in Madrid for a 2+ year work assignment along with their four darling kids.  I am a homebody and have a hard time leaving but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit them while they were there.  It was great to be able to experience all the great tourist-y sites as well as get a good taste of everyday life.  They were the best hosts and kept my awkward moments to a minimum (except for ensuring their friends went for the double kiss to see my reactions).   I know it is akin to torture to look through vacation pictures so I have attempted to condense them into collage-form for less painful viewing.

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I absolutely knew nothing about Spain before I went.  I really had no idea there were so many historic palaces, cathedrals, and walled cities.  I was lucky to have a great tour guide to take me to see all the good stuff.  It is amazing to think that a lot of the places we visited were around for hundreds of years before the U.S. was even on the map.

Amy had been telling me how easy it is to spot an American tourist by their comfortable shoes and bad fashion so I made sure to bring along my sneakers, visor, and fanny pack.  It was supposed to be a joke but honestly.........have you used a fanny pack lately?  No straps digging into your shoulders, plenty of places to stow essential items, a water bottle holder, all-around-hotness, and easy access to all your travel needs!  The joke turned into a full day of bad fashion whilst spending the day on the train and touring Salamanca.  Although our jean shorts, sneakers, cameras, and use of "Poco Espanol" may have marked us as exactly what we were........it was definitely one of the most fun days.  Amy even whipped up an "I heart Madrid" t-shirt  against her better judgement, which I was very envious of.

(above:  a cool street cleaner (could really use one of those), the illustrious "casa rojo", storytime w/1st graders, and Addie's riding lessons)
I also got to tag along to the kids' school, and now I am convinced that wearing uniforms and speaking multiple languages is really the way to go.  Their kids go to school from 9-5 every day, have 4-course meals for lunch (with real plates and glass goblets!), and speak more Spanish already then I ever did with my 3 years of it in school.  Oh, to be an international traveling family of mystery........(too bad that we have put far too much time and effort into our baseball team to ever consider leaving:)

Emma sent one of her beloved Webkinz along for photo-ops.  I was heavily instructed to keep it away from anything dirty and not to place it in harm's way.  There were a few close calls but I managed to get it home in one piece.

Another highlight was hitting the grocery store.  It was definitely an eye-opening experience and I realized that I am perfectly happy with not knowing the exact origin of most of my food, specifically meat.  Jamon(Ham) is the food of choice in Spain and I don't think we walked down any street that didn't have at least one window full of cured legs of ham.  I am pretty sure that my kids would starve to death there, although chocolate is a much-celebrated food group as well.  There was some form of chocolate in every aisle we walked down.......must be their national secret on staying thin......chocolate ravioli, anyone??

The street performers were also very cool.  The heavyset Spiderman was my favorite.  He reminded me of Nacho Libre a bit and was quite entertaining.

There you have it, a glimpse into my week in Spain.  It was a once in a lifetime trip for me and I am grateful to all those who made it possible!!