Life in the Old World: Day #2: Exploring Madrid

We slept in a little bit on Friday but once we got going, we saw quite a bit! We started off by going to Mercado Maravilla. This is is Ben's absolute favorite place to go and also where we get our meat and produce. Mom, Dad and Amy enjoyed it too. It is fun to walk through all the stalls and see what is for sale. I can only handle so much though. It can get pretty busy and I don't like to wait in line for 15 or 20 minutes to buy jamon. It was fun to watch my family experience the market though. After we got some food we stopped at the bar at the mercado and got some drinks and tapas. Dad, Mom and Amy tried paella for the first time.

Once we got home we had some lunch and headed out again. We went to the Palacio Real, the crypt that is in the cathedral, the old Muslim wall, the Basilica San Francisco and the catedral de la almudena. We pretty much hit all the main touristy things in one day. I was quite impressed with how much we were able to see and how well the family was holding up under jet-lag. We weren't able to see much of the cathedral because there was a service in progress. While we were at the crypt though, on some of the tomb stones we were seeing R.I.P and D.E.P. I thought maybe D.E.P. meant "Duerme en Paz" but I wasn't sure and Dad wasn't either. There was an elderly gentleman walking around so I asked him what it meant. He told us "Descansa en paz" which makes more sense. "Dureme" is sleep and "descansa" is rest. He then started chatting with us a little bit and showed us where Franco, Spain's dictator's son-in-law was buried in the crypt. So that was kind of cool to see!

When we got home, Ben and I had earlier bought a little chocolate cake and some cava, Spanish champagne, to celebrate Amy and Jack getting engaged. Unfortunately Jack wasn't there but we did cut him a piece of cake and poured him a glass of champagne....and then split his portion amongst us. :)

It was a good first day of touring.

Heading to the metro.

In the mercado getting ready to do some grocery shopping.

At the bar in the mercado.

Before we left the mercado Mom and I had to go to the bathroom and as we were walking we saw two men pulling and pushing this cart. I was trying to sneak my camera around to take a picture but one of the guys saw me and said he would take a picture of us with the pig. This is one GIANT pig cut in half!

We got a fruit called chirimoya that we don't have back in the States for them to try. Apparently Amy didn't like it.

Resting a bit before heading out to see the sites.

At the Palacio Real.

At the crypt in front of a picture of the saint of Madrid.

Franco's son-in-law.

Basilica San Francisco. Technically you are not allowed to take pictures so when Ben and I were there we didn't take any. This time however, there was a man giving a tour but we didn't join it because it was in Spanish. Mom was asking if you can take pictures and I was in the middle of telling her no when I looked over at the tour group and the tourists are flashing their cameras right in front of the guide. I decided that it must not be as big a deal as I thought so Mom, Amy and I snapped away.

The sacristy where the priests get dressed. In the corner not pictured is a rack with all the robes hanging up and Ben and Amy were joking about trying them on!