Yesterday was our first full day in Madrid. As I’m writing the rest of the clan is “doing what the Romans do.” You guessed it, they’re taking a siesta. After many hours of walking the lively streets of the Madrid center and taking in a menu del día, we came back to the apartment and crashed. I imagine our evening will be full as well with a possible large evening meal and then some World Cup watching somewhere.

We started the morning by boarding the Metro for Puerto del Sol around 8:30. Sol is a main hub in the center of Madrid. Our apartment – the apartment in which David grew up – is about 8 Metro stops from Sol. So, it’s a relatively breeze to get from the apartment to the busy main part of Madrid.

Looking to get a little sustenance, we grabbed a light breakfast at the Museo de Jamón in the Plaza Mayor. The sun was shining the temps were still rather cool. Most of us got some sort of Spanish ham sandwich, juice and café con leche. It was a perfect way to start the day. We then ventured to an outdoor street market called “El Rastro” than only functions on Sundays. David had gotten an earlier start than the rest of us, so we met him there. The crowds were rather light when we started walking through the Rastro around 10:00 but things picked up quickly and by the time we were done a couple hours later the place was jammin’. The kids all bought a part of inexpensive – hopefully not too cheap – sunglasses, Grandma Nancy bought a t-shirt and a Spain collar for Jack, and I bought myself some undies and socks because I had failed to pack any whatsoever. Yes, I know. Rookie mistake. Not sure how that happened. In between walks through the vendors we dove into a bar and had some refrescos – Fanta limón, beer, and tinto verano (wine with sugary, fizzy water). Then after getting our fill of the Rastro we enjoyed some caracoles – snails – in the basement of a small restaurant. Santi was the caracoles champ downing about twice as many as the rest of us combined.

After little more walking, a little more shopping, and a couple more refrescos, we settled in for a very nice menú del día – a midday lunch that includes three courses and, yes, more wine. Salads, a thinly cut steak, and flan were the choice of most. But other things ordered were gazpacho, some kind of tasty bean stew, and grilled fish. It was all really good and made me very happy to be back in España!