Throughout the week I brought my family to all the major
tourist spots worth visiting. We rowed boats in parque de retiro,
ate dinner at the oldest restaurant in the WORLD, saw the cathedral and palace
at night along with the Egyptian ruins of Templo Debod which are being
preserved in Spain.
We even did a little shopping in between! One night I took
them to el Mercado de San Miguel which is an upscale version of Redding
Terminal Market in Philly. I made them all try some paella which is a
traditional Spanish dish and a MUST HAVE when you are in Spain.
When my cousin
Alex arrived a few days later from Boston, we all went out to one of the top flamenco
dances/dinners in the WORLD too! The amount of muscle needed to flamenco dance
is outrageous, not to mention how sweaty you ge3t from the nonstop small, but
quick movements with your feet. Attending a flamenco show really submersed us
in the Spanish culture. This was an excellent idea. Our waiter even allowed us
to stay for the second show for free! Every show is different which is what
makes this place so special. You never know what you’re going to get.
The next day I took everyone outside of Madrid to a small town called Toledo. I had been here before with Gloria so I knew what to expect. In fact, this was one of my favorite towns outside of Madrid that was not extremely far away. The trip there was about 45min which is very accommodating. From the moment we left the bus station in Toledo, my family fell in love with the town. I took them on the same route Gloria took me on and actually remembered where everything was extremely well! We headed towards the cathedral and purchased our tickets. The cathedral at this time was surprisingly empty so we did not have many people to move around and obstruct our observations. We quickly glimpsed through it and Alex was fascinated by all the Greco paintings in one specific church. After that, I took my family to eat lunch at the same place I previously ate lunch at. At first I almost forgot how to get there but had a general idea of where it was located and stumbled upon it once again. Lunch was delicious. The waiter hardly spoke English so I did my best to converse in Spanish. He was waiting on every single table in the restaurant which caused him to forget to charge Alex for her second glass of wine! I even saw someone eat there that I knew from SLU Madrid. What a small world. After lunch, we had a specific set time to climb the bell tower of the cathedral. My mom already had it in her head that climbing all the steps would be a challenge when in reality, there weren’t very many steps at all! Low and behold we all made it and got to see the panoramic views of Toledo. Once we finished climbing the bell tower, we headed back to the bus station but did a little shopping along the way. Alex and my family bought pottery and my sister bought some earrings. This day was an overall perfect day. We even ate dinner at my house with my señora.
She LOVES hosting people and having dinner parties
so she went to town. She actually asked me what my favorite foods are that she
has cooked for me and cooked them again that night for my family. I chose ride
with walnuts and raisins, croquettes, and stuffed mushrooms. They were all
thoroughly impressed by how exquisite her platters looked and how rich the food
tastes. You would never know that she is vegan and vegetarian. Most of the
foods taste like the real thing! We all spoke mostly in English but I, of
course, talked to Gloria in Spanish since that is what she prefers and
understands better. There was no better way to end my family’s trip to visit me
in Spain than with a home cooked meal at my señora’s house.
 |
| Retiro Park |
 |
| El Botin - oldest restaurant in the world |
 |
| Templo Debod |
 |
| Paella from the market |
 |
| Flamenco dinner |
The next day I took everyone outside of Madrid to a small town called Toledo. I had been here before with Gloria so I knew what to expect. In fact, this was one of my favorite towns outside of Madrid that was not extremely far away. The trip there was about 45min which is very accommodating. From the moment we left the bus station in Toledo, my family fell in love with the town. I took them on the same route Gloria took me on and actually remembered where everything was extremely well! We headed towards the cathedral and purchased our tickets. The cathedral at this time was surprisingly empty so we did not have many people to move around and obstruct our observations. We quickly glimpsed through it and Alex was fascinated by all the Greco paintings in one specific church. After that, I took my family to eat lunch at the same place I previously ate lunch at. At first I almost forgot how to get there but had a general idea of where it was located and stumbled upon it once again. Lunch was delicious. The waiter hardly spoke English so I did my best to converse in Spanish. He was waiting on every single table in the restaurant which caused him to forget to charge Alex for her second glass of wine! I even saw someone eat there that I knew from SLU Madrid. What a small world. After lunch, we had a specific set time to climb the bell tower of the cathedral. My mom already had it in her head that climbing all the steps would be a challenge when in reality, there weren’t very many steps at all! Low and behold we all made it and got to see the panoramic views of Toledo. Once we finished climbing the bell tower, we headed back to the bus station but did a little shopping along the way. Alex and my family bought pottery and my sister bought some earrings. This day was an overall perfect day. We even ate dinner at my house with my señora.
 |
| Toledo |
We had a great visit! So proud of you! Your Spanish was impressive! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!
ReplyDelete