The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain

Can you guess who wanted this title?  And for what it's worth, it isn't an accurate statement.  Per the inter web it falls mainly in the northern mountains.

The past week has been quite busy and yes, it included a trip to Madrid, Spain. Our good friends, Carol and Ivan (from Spain but currently live in Texas), have a lovely apartment in the city and graciously let us stay there during our visit.  The weather was perfect, sun, mid 70's and a nice breeze. Just what we needed. Madrid is a big, bustling city with so many beautiful sites to see. Considering the time we had there we believe we saw everything we could. 

Once we arrived and got settled we took a walk around our neighborhood (Chamberi) to find some food and beverage.  Mission accomplished.  Although, dinner in Spain doesn't start until 9:30/10, so we technically had snacks for dinner.  Chicken fingers for the boys and cervezas for us. Win, win.

 

Henry was very excited for ice cream.

Oliver sharing a taste of his many small popsicles. 

Henry fully enjoyed his chocolate cone. And so did my cardigan.

Saturday we ventured to the Madrid Zoo and Aquarium located in the Casa de Campo (The Casa de Campo (for Spanish: Country House) is the largest urban park situated west of central Madrid, (Spain). It was formerly a royal hunting estate. Its area is more than 6.6 square miles.) (Wiki)

This zoo is one of the biggest in Spain and the biggest one I've ever been too, next to San Diego.  So many different kinds of animals and it had a manageable size aquarium.  Perfect for the boys! 

 

We got to see the seal show.  Bravo!

This was our first time seeing a baby elephant.  So cute. Not from this angle per say but you have to trust me.

Now, the bears.  I've never been to a zoo that didn't have a large, thick plate of glass between me and the bears before.  From a distance it seems like the bears could just walk up to you and give a big hello. The closer you get, you realize there is a gigantic moat that separates you and the bears. Rightly so. There was actually a guy feeding them when we showed up. Not a professional, a visitor- just throwing bread or something.  Despite the large moat, Mark and I still felt a little uncomfortable. 

 

Holding on for dear life.

 

 

Later that day we took a walk around and stumbled upon this park. Hilly but beautiful.

                                          

As most of you know, I've had double strollers for the boys entire life.  Well, we did take ours but Carol had 2 single umbrella strollers in their apartment so we tried it. 

 Heaven. on. earth.

No one was fighting over space issues, or fighting because someone was touching someone or something, or crying because someone looked at him the wrong way. Nada. Not to mention you can just get around so much easier.  Should have done this a year ago and I will be purchasing 2 singles very soon.  Look how happy I am!!

                                          

 

 

And look how happy my very European looking husband is!

 



Sunday was another beautiful day.  Our plan was to see the Royal Palace.  En route we entered a piazza that was a bit crowded but wouldn't you know that through the sea of people my kids spotted Minnie and Mickey - and of course they were ecstatic.  Oliver ran up to Mickey and gave him a hug. In turn Oliver was offered a Sponge Bob balloon thing.  Henry got a cat balloon of some sort.  These things were the bain of our existence the entire day. They used them as weapons, dragged them on the ground and of course made for lovely pictures. Among the characters like Mickey and Minnie was a Chucky doll- yes, like the one from the horror movie.  Why?!?!?

The Royal Palace of Madrid.

 

Yay, Sponge Bob.

Once inside the gate, we took turns playing guard.

 

The Royal Palace was stunning and the rooms inside were amazing.  The boys weren't all that fascinated but that is ok. They were very patient as we walked through and we were glad we went.

 

We then landed on another piazza and decided to rest and eat. It was a little tricky with food, as the boys weren't as thrilled with the tapas as we were. And they weren't too keen on our Sangria either. (kidding)

Gelato was in order at this point.  

We then hopped on a double decker tour bus for a few stops.  As you can see we are all paying very close attention to the tour. They had a channel for the younger kids to listen too- pretty cool.

 

We then got off at Buen Retiro Park.  It was probably our favorite place of the whole trip. The Buen Retiro Park is the one of the largest parks of the city of Madrid, Spain. The park belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century, when it became a public park. A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid's premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city. (Wiki)

They actually have row boats you can rent and row around the pond. We thought about it but considering we were reaching hour 7 out with the kids, we'd better not push the fun.

 

 

 

Two Minnies at this park.  Another big hug from Oliver.  Henry was hanging back as he watched this woman put the Minnie head on. I think he was disturbed by this because he didn't want to go to her after.  Can you blame him??

This was one of the last pictures taken before we hopped back on the metro. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it is, but it was beautiful.

 

The kids were out for a total of 9.5 hours that day. Troopers!  Madrid was a lot of fun. And by the end of the trip the boys were giving out unsolicited "hola's!" to people.  Thank you Carol and Ivan for the use of your apartment.  It was very cool to experience Madrid this way.

 

 Adios amigos. xo