Spain Day 11

Our first, and probably only, full day in Madrid. I asked Bennett to tell me about Madrid and he goes, “Ooh. Hard to describe...” To me, Madrid is all about construction. There is construction everywhere, and on everything. 

We started off our day with breakfast, which, aside from its location in the heart of the city, is the best part of the hotel. 

After breakfast Caroline wanted to wear her new pink shoes:


Then we made our way back to Plaza de Sol for a picture with an iconic statue:


The inside of a museum:

Photo by Caroline:




We went to the Parque del Buen Retiro where we planned to spend most of the day since the palace is closed. Once in the park we found THE MOST INTENSE teeter totter. At the highest, Bennett was about 8’ off the ground, and it could spin.










Picture with a mermaid fountain:


Crystal Palace:


























Then we went in to the Jardines de Cecilio Rodríguez and saw real peacocks, just walking around and screeching. It was so cool. When one would get near Caroline, she’d flip out, but it was super neat.












A bush fort:






We found another playground for the kids to play on:


Then we had some pizza for lunch. The kids were happy to be eating pizza and frozen lemonade. Then they took pictures of us, directing every shot. “Sit closer together... put your arms around each other... no drinks in the picture...”


















Then we found yet another playground:


The kids played for quite a while. I even managed a short nap laying on a bench. It was fantastic. Then we let the kids have a treat. “Smelly feet popsicles” they called them.


One last photo at the park:


Then Caroline fell asleep while we made our way to the Plaza Mayor. I don’t even know how she was comfortable enough to fall asleep. We were most worried a shoe would fall off, but that never happened.


Our goal was to eat dinner at the Mercado de San Miguel but we wanted Caroline to be awake for it, so we decided to rest and have our first official chocolate con churros. “This is better than I thought it would be!” Bennett said.

After eating, Bennett said he needed his notepad to make his list.




Then with Caroline awake, we made our way into the Mercado. Joel tried a tapa at the mozzarella bar it’s mozzarella, jamon, tomato and olive paste.




Then I tried what was basically sea urchin cake, and crab cake baked in the shells. Both were okay. Joel had some croquettes.


Then for once, Caroline pointed at something she wanted to eat, that was not pizza! Amazing!!! She picked paella.


Then Joel bought me sea urchin and barnacles that I was just dying to try. The sea urchin was amazing, like lobster fat. The barnacles were good. Kind of like a clam and sea water.

After we walked through the Plaza Mayor and did some shopping on the way back to the hotel. The kids ate their paella so they got dessert... and chose fresh juice instead of an actual dessert. Caroline sucked down some orange juice, and lemonade for Bennett, so we didn’t want to be too far from a restroom.




Once back at the hotel, Caroline tried on the outfit and new accessories we purchased. So cute! Since I can’t really get all dolled up, Caroline is basically my little doll, who thankfully loves getting dressed up too.