Our First Day in Madrid

This morning we were met at the airport by Mary and her host mom's daughter. It was great to be greeted by two such smiling faces. They drove us to Madrid and we started our visit. We walked a lot today and we made an early stop at a market. This is Mary and Brad at that market.



We'd never seen cherries displayed like these!



At about 2:30 we went to Mary's apartment and her host mom, Pilar, made us a delicious four-course lunch. We enjoyed visiting with her (in Spanish!) and spending the afternoon at her apartment.



This is the street where Mary lives with Pilar.



This is the other side of that street.



We walked through another market. This is the salamis. Hans are hung behind them.



In the square boxes are beautiful spices.



On the way out of the market we lucked into the Parade of the Giant Heads, part of the weeklong San Isidro (patron saint of Madrid) festival.



Fighting fatigue, we started our dinner early at 7:00 p.m. Having Mary with us makes life a lot easier. Her Spanish is great!



Yummy cheese platter at our first dinner place.



Here I am with Mary, looking even more fatigued than I feel, at our second dinner place. (We had tapas at both places.) We got home by 9:30, which is early by local standards. Next up: bedtime!