First Days in Madrid

It's finally sinking in that we're actually finally in Spain, after so many months of planning it and talking about it - it's really happened. We couldn't have been luckier with how it all turned out for us in the first few days. We were welcomed to the country at the Bajaras Airport in Madrid by Elyse's aunt Ana, who lives here in Madrid. She took us on a driving tour of Madrid before we even got to where we were staying so that we could get a feel for the city. Madrid is absolutely beautiful. The palatial buildings, the historic palaces and old churches, the parks, the shops, the narrow streets, all fit together to create an incredibly aesthetic city. Ana took us to her sister Sonsoles's apartment, which is just outside of Madrid, and showed us where we'd be staying over the next few days. The apartment is more than we could ever have wished for. We each have our own bedrooms, a bathroom, free internet, a kitchen to cook in, and a beautiful view on the subburb of Aravaca.

We couldn't believe our eyes or our luck. That first night Elyse and I made our fabulous pizza for three of the sisters - Sonsoles, Ana and Paloma. They're three of twelve siblings and are incredible characters for my next book. Sonsoles is a middle-aged, but barely aged, beautiful woman who's been twice divorced and has three kids. One could never tell. She lives alone in this apartment where Elyse and I are staying and has the most incredible attitude about her life. She loves to travel and takes every opportunity that she can to leave the country and spend time in another culture. She'd just gotten back from Cuba when we got here. She made gazpacho to go with our pizza and the five of us enjoyed a quintessentially Spanish (and Italian) meal and a bottle of red wine at their normal dining time of 10 or 10:30. Elyse and I have decided that this lifestyle fits us quite well and we're adapting to it seamlessly.

We spent our first day "vagando por las calles," which is their expression for roaming the streets. We found our way around Madrid wonderfully and saw a lot of interesting shops, restaurants, cafes and a used book market on our walk. We spent a lot of the afternoon at the Parque del Buen Retiro, a huge park in the middle of the city where we walked, lay in the grass, and observed locals in their daily activities.

Last night we experienced our first dose of Spanish nightlife. We left the house around midnight, when the streets were still full of kids and old people, and got to Plaza Santa Barbara, looking for a good bar or club to go to. We found a little jazz club that was crowded and had a live band, and we decided to take our first drink there. After paying 6 euro for a Coronita, we were a little discouraged and thought the night might be a flop for our poor pockets but the night took a nice turn when we met our first Spanish friends - characters for my next book.

Antonio was a 39-year-old, married man who claimed that he wasn't in love with his wife. He said the last time he was in love was when he was 16. He was quite a character though and taught us new expressions in Spanish and let us practice our broken language in public. He wrote a few important lessons about Spain in my journal even, in his broken English - what socialism is, how religion is practiced in Spain, etc. His friend Eduardo was even more of a character. He was around 35 or so and must have been rich off of something he did because every so often he'd pull out his iphone and show me pictures of faraway places he'd traveled to like India, Namibia, Thailand, etc. They danced like buffoons but showed us a good time and before we knew it, it was 4:30 and our legs were tired and ready to retire. We took a taxi back to Sonsoles's apartment and fell into a deep, deep slumber smelling of smoke, sweat and other scents of nightlife.

Today we visited the Museo del Prado, an overwhelming display of Rennaissance artwork including Goya, el Greco, Rembrandt, Valazquez, and others. We spent a couple of hours in the museum, but I don't think we even saw half of it. Tired and hungry we made our way back to our temporary home and ate a dinner of red wine, bread and brie. We'll be in Madrid tomorrow as well and then on Sunday we head to Barcelona.

The Spanish life is one of opulence, indulgence, pleasure and fun. They say the south is different and I can't wait to find out in what ways....