Nos vemos, Madrid!

View of Opera from our room

The week has flown by! As always my time in Madrid has been fantastic. Showing my family the city I feel is my second home made it all the more special.

John and I were noting... typically New Yorkers avoid Times Square and in DC we avoid downtown during the tourist-filled Cherry Blossoms, but you always find Madrilenos shopping in Sol, tapeando in Santa Ana, out in La Latina on a Sunday night... always an authentic buzz.

My second time in Madrid as a tourist instead of a Madrilena, Katie and I stayed our first night in the grande dame Hotel Ritz (my favorite!) with the closest Prado view. Now los Jenkins rest our weary feet at the lovely Hotel Opera after our long days of sightseeing and the views are also memorable - Opera to the left and the Palacio to the right. 

Jamon!

Between Sol, Ben's first experience at El Corte Ingles (buying a "euro" appropriate jacket), to the craft market in Plaza de Espana, we are getting lots of Christmas shopping done.  Not a surprise, most the Jenkins' favorite purchases are perishable and don't last very long... spending quite some time in the markets and tapeando in the evenings!

Of course we visited the famed Prado... Velazquez looks at me differently from Las Meninas every time...

... and spent the afternoon listening to street musicians play Christmas carols on repeat on the accordion in Retiro Park...