Day 2: Welcome to Madrid!!

Off we go!!  Adios USA!  Spain, here we come!

Flights went well today, except for a delay from DC to Madrid, but thanks to an awesome tail wind, we left an hour late and arrived 10 minutes early.  We were met by our guide, Fran, and were whisked away to our hotel.  Since we couldn't check in, we had free time until 1:30ish, so off we went exploring!

We saw the Don Quixote statue (above) in the Plaza de Espana, Royal Palace (below), beautiful cathedral, Plaza Mayor where we people watched (crazies!), Puerta del Sol, grabbed some lunch before heading back to the hotel.

Our afternoon excursion included a trip to the Prado museum where the kids saw amazing art from Goya to Velazquez - and recognized much from Spanish class!  :)  By this time (8 pm), were were all pooped and trudged to dinner. We had Gazpacho, Paella and a yummy desert...but decided we needed more, so instead of heading back with the group, we went for ice cream!!

We didn't find our Magnum bars that we originally had wanted, but found a great 2nd choice - GELATO!  It was delish!  We sat in Puerto del Sol, people watched, headed back thru Plaza Mayor and had a gorgeous stroll home near the Palacio Real all lit up at night...spectacular!

All in all, the kids were troopers!  They saw sooo much of Madrid already and tomorrow (Day 3) is our official city tour, so they're bound to see much more!!

Weather is perfect, by the way...70s...delightful!!

Talk soon!!

~steph :)