I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files today!
There’s nothing like going on a trip with a small capsule wardrobe and then coming home to see your closet bounty, right?
Also, I took late summer stuff and when I got home it definitely felt like fall here.
So, I have pulled all my fall colors out and have created a fall capsule. I plan to wear all the oranges, mustards, greens, browns until Thanksgiving. Then, I will switch to black, wine, red, blue, grey, and other non-fall colors.
Here are some recent outfits:
This blouse is from a boutique and the brand Entro. I have had it for maybe four years? I really love it and have worn it a ton. Obviously, the sneakers aren’t the best choice, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
Another school ‘fit;
I was glad to hear the leopard is back in a big way because I really like this short sleeved cardigan and I don’t think I wore it last season because leopard felt weird to me then. In both of the above photos I have on Matilda Jane flares. They are the perfect length for me and they are a very of the moment silhouette, I think. I am so glad I have these. Also, for teaching, non-fussy clothes help you to be able to get to the restroom and back in four minutes! Can you do that? Ha!
Another one;
I love this blouse from Target maybe three or four years ago? It looks great with black pants, too. The jeans I am wearing are also Matilda Jane and I didn’t even know they did jeans. I found them at my consignment store and then I cut and frayed them myself being the fashion designer that I am. The mules – love the look but they hard to keep on.
I have also switched to my fall lipstick;
I keep lipsticks longer than I should but I really love this color.
And another one…
this is a fall like blouse from TJ Maxx a few years ago.
And with a cardigan;
Don’t you love the time of year that you can just throw on a cardigan and a jacket isn’t required?
And, my funeral outfit from last Saturday:
I don’t really think people are strict about black anymore, but you still see a lot of people in black.
And, that is a little of what I have been wearing!
I am going to really go through my fall and winter stuff soon and see what I would still buy today and what I would be mad at if it got dog poop on it. Lol! I haven’t bought anything new for this season, really. I really do try to inventory first!
1. How did you meet your significant other? If you don’t have a significant other, tell us how you met your best friend.
I was 25 and my roommate and bestie Heather had just started dating a guy from Louisville. We lived in Lexington (about an hour away). We were convinced it was time to date a guy who was 30 because 20 something guys were too immature. Lol! Heather invited me to go on a boat with her boyfriend’s friends (which turned out to be a brand new 53 foot yacht that Tom’s now brother in law was allowed to use because it was for sale) and meet this 30 year old lawyer who was friends with her new boyfriend who was also 30. This is so ridiculous! I showed up at the boat and Tom was also there and I got in trouble for talking to Tom instead of the lawyer. Heather kept saying, ‘”go talk to the lawyer”. The rest is history! I didn’t talk to the lawyer much but kept migrating back to Tom and Tom was 30. And, Heather is also married to the friend of Tom’s!
2. It’s Department Store Day (October 16)…do you still shop in department stores? If not do you miss that kind of shopping experience? Do you have a favorite department store? Any fun memories of department store shopping when you were a child?
I go in Macy’s and Von Maur because those are the two we have. I am from a small town so we didn’t have one. They are a bit overwhelming for me. I prefer small shops. I really feel weird shopping in person now. I like to go do it once in a while, but online shopping has changed me, I think.
3. Something you’re currently nuts about?
My two super soft oversized sweatshirts. I want to put them on every morning and every evening after my shower. I don’t like a hood and I don’t want a zipper.
4. What’s your favorite nut and is there a favorite recipe where this nut is used?
I hate nuts! I have never liked nuts! That is a sure way to keep me away from a dessert. I love peanuts and pistachios but I don’t think those are true nuts.
5. On Wednesday we officially reach the ’70 days until Christmas’ mark. Have you purchased any gifts? If you don’t celebrate Christmas then how about Hanukkah presents?
Wow! That’s hard to believe. No! I usually don’t even start until after Thanksgiving and manage to get it all done just fine. We have reduced gift giving in our family and only give to grandparents but some years we do a Secret Santa, too. I will ask my sisters if they want to do this for this year.
I am off the day before Thanksgiving and do like to do my minimal decorating that day so that when I come home from Thanksgiving – poof! It’s Christmas. I will have to be very minimal with a new puppy. But, we are also excited for his first Christmas and his first snow! Hopefully!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I really want to be a person who enjoys January this year. If you enjoy it, how do you do this? I need tips. It’s long and cold and boring and school is hard in January. It try to get all hygge and decorate in blue and white and twinkle lights.
Tuesday is usually my least favorite day of the week because of after school meetings and it just makes for a long day. Tomorrow will be my least fave this week because they are taking my planning period and I have an after school meeting! I usually love Wednesdays!
Also, Tom never has to travel for work but this week he is traveling to Dallas for a training. His bestie Eddie Otis will really miss him. Mason has committed to helping extra with him.
There’s nothing like travel to make you appreciate home. We loved the tap water in Madrid but in Barcelona it was bad. We are very proud of our tap water here in Louisville, KY and it is so nice to have water, water everywhere in the US! Have you seen the memes about how to tell someone is American in Europe by their water bottle? Are we now the most hydrated population?
I’ll say that teens today are super hydrated with their emotional support water bottles. They are constantly asking to go to the restroom. Did you even have a drink of water in high school? I drank nothing in the morning but my Golden Grahams or Honey Nut Cheerios milk, then had a white milk at lunch, and then I think I went to one water fountain by my English class in the afternoon.
I missed my patio for sure. Yes, I know you are tired of hearing about it, but hear me out. For your next birthday, ask for lights to be put up somewhere. I have been asking Alexa to turn these on each morning and it has made me so happy.
Even my students are tired of hearing about my patio. After only four weeks of school, this funny kid commented on how I always say in Spanish I read on my patio when we talk about the weekend. He jokingly asked what was so great about my patio and I showed him a pic and he was indeed impressed.
I also missed cooking!
I made chili last week and we all loved it. Yes, we put macaroni noodles in (keep them on the side and don’t use too many) and we like Fritos corn chips or Scoops.
I also missed my grab and go breakfast sandwiches and made some Sunday morning to help me out during the week.
I am not part of the sourdough sorority. My starter failed. But, I make a mean no knead bread, I think.
I wanted to make this for a friend and used this recipe.
Last week we had another meeting that could have been an email, but at least they bribed us with this candy corn salted peanut combo;
I have been super productive at work lately. I keep a running list of things i need to do and re-write and cross things off to get that high after accomplishing something! We have just a couple of weeks until our next long weekend. The kids are off Monday before Election Day and the Tuesday of Election Day. Teachers have a teacher day on the Monday. This month is really flying.
This week is going to be the coldest we have had! I have salmon, chicken alfredo, and potato soup on the menu.
Are you excited for colder weather? Let’s see how much I can walk to school as it gets colder!
Well, here we are again…it’s a new week. my shift key isn’t working so maybe i will do all lower case. we can’t have it all, people, can we? it only works if i really slam on it, so how ’bout we just forget conventional grammar rules?
thank you for all of your comments on my five (five?) travel posts on Spain. i really can’t believe i had that much in me to write that many posts, but i thoroughly enjoyed re-living it. it wasn’t perfect but it was really special for me and my crew.
also, i want other people to know you can do this. we have house projects waiting and really old cars. the money could have gone to much more practical things. but, there is a sense of urgency with not knowing where our kids will be in a year and what jobs they will hold and sometimes you just have to do it. also, some international vacations are not much more or even less than vacations within the US.
With paying for a trip, it doesn’t come all at once. you first start with the plane tickets. you can wait a bit for the lodging if you aren’t super particular, then the train tickets, and i was still booking activities up until a week before. this whole trip came together from july 15 and we left september 28.
someone asked what we did with not-so-little anymore eddie otis. he had a dogsitter (and his new best friend) stay at our house. she was wonderful and she is the best friend of ali who watched ernie during our uk trip. she sent us lots of pictures and kept in contact with us so we could enjoy our trip.
so, seriously, if you have any other trip questions or want any help, let me know. i am definitely not a travel agent, but i have learned a few things. we only had a week so that had me questioning this whole idea, but a week was perfect for us. less time means less expense. we have learned as a family that after about 9 days, we are done. our uk trip was pushing that limit and to be honest, we wasted our last couple of days because we were just so travel weary and ready to be home.
so, let’s talk about the weekend…
how was yours? Mine went so quickly! I am linking up with Sarah and Holly, by the way, for hello monday.
friday was a day. no, it was a good day at school. after school, erica and i went to mojito and had a drink and some melted cheese with bread. i went home and then the kids wanted to door dash tacos and i just ate left over vegetables from the week because i wasn’t very hungry. i read a bit and watched a bit of tv and then went to bed at 8:08! And, then I slept like crap.
My drink at mojito which wasn’t a mojito. it had bourbon and some sort of berry.
i got up Saturday morning and had to get ready for the funeral of one of my best friend’s dad. the visitation was right before the funeral so i wanted to be there for a bit of that, too. tom is also good friends with her and her husband so we were going together. tom is very serious about showing up for people like this.
I did this wine colored press on set:
The church food was really good after the funeral and she really wanted us to stay. it was in a small town about 45 minutes away and the church ladies really did a nice spread. No one likes doing this, but I now know how important it is to just go even if you don’t know what to say or if you feel uncomfortable.
On our way back we had to put our boat in the water and make sure it was running well after being repaired and then we had to put it back on our trailer. Our trailer was also repaired. We brought clothes to change into at the marina.
Then, we went home to our baby who had missed us. We had been gone all day. I am pretty sure he acted out because he was upset.
i read a bit of this. i feel like I have read this premise so many times and also some of the book (most of the book) isn’t realistic.
we ordered pizza for dinner and I watched Lonely Planet on Netflix. Zero chemistry between Laura and Liam. Did anyone else think that?
Sunday morning Eddie otis snacked on some leaves. leaves are starting to turn and drop here.
I ordered a bunch of the Premier pumpkin spice to make cold brew with my instant coffee. I really like it!
And, we got the boat out for real but it was really windy and the water was choppy so it wasn’t that enjoyable.
We went to Captain’s Quarters where they were decked out for fall. we ate lunch on the boat and I saw my student who works there.
We had a gorgeous view of a sailboat as we headed home and a…
beautiful blue sky and bridge view.
And, we returned home and did a few things to prepare for the week like changing sheets and mowing and a little bit of meal prep.
I swear I didn’t think I had 5 posts about Spain in me, but that is how it has played out.
We had just left off on Friday at the Picasso museum around 2:00.
After that, we walked through Barcelona’s Parc de la Ciutadella. So many things were named in Catalan, but everyone spoke in Spanish to us and the Catalan was not a problem at all in my opinion.
We stopped at this cute coffee shop to buy a coffee and use their aseos (bathrooms).
The weather could not have been more perfect!
We were headed to the beach. I am fascinated by cities with beaches!
But, first we were hungry. This would be our big meal of the day around 3:00. We found the cutest little plaza close to the beach. I ordered a clara (beer with lemon soda).
And, we had not had paella yet, so it was time!
And, we had not had flan yet, either, but decided to try this region’s version called crema catalana. I like flan better, but was glad to try this.
It was fun to see what we had seen from the catamaran the night before.
Tom and I put our feet in the water so we could say we did!
Then, it was time to make good on Mason’s messenger bag. We also had to work our way back to our Airbnb neighborhood and the luggage storage place.
We found the cutest workshop/shop. Spain is known for their leather goods.
Mason picked the most beautiful bag that was less than half the cost of what we could find here and is way more beautiful.
And, I don’t usually worry about something for me, but look what came home with me:
It can be a wristlet or a crossbody. I was looking for something in this color to take on the trip but wasn’t satisfied so I brought my cream and my black and two colorful straps.
I snapped a few more pictures since we were leaving soon…
Everything was just so gorgeous. I get why Tanya said she liked Madrid and loved Barcelona. I loved both but in Madrid I felt like a local and in Barcelona I definitely felt like a tourist.
So, this is kind of crazy, but I picked the latest train back to Madrid for our flight. I looked into just flying out of Barcelona (called a multi-city ticket) but it was going to be significantly more money for four people. We had a really smooth and quick AVE train back to Madrid from 9:25-11:55 pm. We then taxied to our airport hotel called Zleep Madrid. I didn’t think I would be able to zleep because it was now 1:00 am and we had to be up at 6:00 or 7:00 am but zleep I did. The bed was so comfy! We all raved about it. Now, we did have to get two hotel rooms, but it was pretty affordable.
Here is my luggage set up:
We made it to the airport by 8;30 for our 11:00 flight and all went smoothly including needing to carry on a guitar on the plane. All of our flights (four) for this trip were on time or early. The flight from Madrid to Atlanta was 9 hours and 35 minutes but on the way it had only been 7 hours and change. The flight home was much more smooth so for that I was thankful.
Packing:
Travel outfit for both going and coming:
I always take a shower and sometimes just go with wet/unstyled hair because travel is dirty and I want to be as clean as possible for as long as possible.
I changed into a pink dress as soon as we arrived, but no photo.
Day two:
A similar outfit later on in the trip;
Other outfits and really bad photos:
So, I took zero jeans and that was the right call. I would have been too hot walking everywhere in the hot sun.
I only took sneakers and two pairs – the Vejas and the Sambas. I am having shoe issues. The Vejas pinched my toes and the Sambas seem slightly too small and too flat for the streets of Barcelona. I saw tons of people wearing them and the sturdier leather Vejas, though. I also saw a lot of New Balances. And, Spanish women were wearing a suede flat Mary Jane everywhere I turned.
Maybe I have a wide foot and don’t know it?
I took four dresses, two skirts, and one skort. I was not able to wear one dress and one skirt but they didn’t take up much room.
I took three pants not including the travel ‘fit. I took the blue and black gauzy (perfect weight for the weather) and the black and tan palazzo pants. I took two graphic tees (could have used more) and my gauzy black button up (could have used my pink and white, too). I took my long sleeve blue and white button up and wore it over a graphic tee or a white tank that I brought.
I took the two small purses with colorful straps you see in photos and a small cloth tote (everyone uses these in Spain) and it really came in handy.
I would give myself a B in packing, I think.
Toiletries:
I didn’t take a razor, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, or face wash. I shaved at home and thought I would be good! Lol! And, I used the hosts products in the Airbnb. I washed my face with body wash. Ha! The horror! I did have to go buy facial sunscreen because my face got burned in that hot sun. Duh – should have thought of that.
I brought my Seint makeup palette and brush and just a few makeup products – all solids.
Deep Thoughts:
Travel is exhausting and planning for travel is also a ton of work. Just know that going in. I had a lot of fun planning but I was also annoyed when people wouldn’t give me input.
As we reflected on the UK trip in 2023 my kids said they didn’t want to move around as much. So, that is how I just picked two cities as home base for this trip. I also asked each person what their non-negotiable was and then planned for those things. Mason’s big thing was art, Jack’s the flamenco and guitar lesson, Tom said everything so I picked the catamaran, the beach, and the Sagrada and Park Guell for him. Erica has been to Spain more than I have and asked me what my non-negotiable was when she looked at my doc for me. I said mine was really just the daily life stuff and all the stuff that we were doing for the other three people in the family.
My family does not like having posed pictures taken of them or really being in photos. They don’t like being on social media or being on the blog. I asked them for a few outfit photos of me for the blog and that is what you see here.
Everything takes double the time you think it will! The hardest part for me was planning things geographically. What makes sense to do with what thing based on location? That was hard for me to wrap my head around. And, how much time to allow for each thing was hard, too.
I may have more thoughts later, but whew…re-entry is rough! I wish I had had a few more days to rest before jumping back into school, but that’s ok! I also have not done an official total amount spent yet. UK cost $9000 and I think this will come in at $7000.
Gracias and let me know if you have any questions in the comments.
Ok, we had just left off on Wednesday evening. We arrived in Barcelona around 1:00, dropped our luggage off at the apartment, and then hit the ground running. One of our kids loves aquariums so we split up at the Barcelona harbor and the kids went to the aquarium and Tom and I had so much fun wandering around looking at the water, the boats, and everything else there was to see. There is a mall called the Maremagnum there, too. We found out the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup race was going on and we saw some of the boats on display. We talked to the lawyer for the Red Bull boat, too. That was cool. We were happy to find water bottle fillers there for the event. We carried our own water everywhere we went and it was a good call.
The Red Bull boat:
It started lightly raining but it wasn’t a big deal.
I took tons of photos. The hardest part of blogging is picking what photos to include out of so many on your camera roll!
So, we met back up with the kids and went to the catamaran booth and they had cancelled our trip for the night due to the rain and choppy water. But, they rescheduled us for the following night.
We walked toward our place for dinner and saw such beautiful things on the way.
The rain just added to the charm of the old streets.
We picked a tented outdoor seating restaurant facing the cathedral in the Plaza Nova for our dinner.
For this trip I made zero reservations. It was nice to just decide on the fly for the most part.
This was probably our most upscale meal of the trip. I ordered artichoke flowers for a tapa:
Pan con tomate:
And, then I ordered a fish dish and it was really good. I didn’t take photos of all the rest because I sometimes have criticisms of my photo taking!
We ate and then walked back to our apartment. We hadn’t settled in there much since only being able to get in at 3:00 that day.
The next morning I wanted to visit this place I had seen on Instagram!
It was adorable. What has social media done for travel, though? We saw so many people posing and making videos and what seemed like just trying to get shots for the ‘gram.
After the Corgi cafe, we walked through the market. So interesting! This market was way better than the one in Madrid.
Then, it was time to Uber to La Sagrada Familia. It was pretty far from where we were staying. I had been twice before.
We had a guide in English and this really old sound system to be able to hear him. It was horrible. We couldn’t understand his English, there was no room for questions, and this thing was just so bad. Kids finally gave up and wandered off and I sat in the pew and looked around. Tom is the only one who stuck with Victor.
After the Sagrada, we had entrance tickets to Park Guell. Well, our kids wanted to go shopping and look at vintage clothes and comic books and things they had seen earlier. So, we split up at 1:00 ish and made plans to meet at the harbor at 6;00 for the boat. The bad thing about the Barcelona Airbnb is that they only gave us one key. In Madrid, having two keys to the apartment was really nice. I need to remember to ask about that.
The walk was 1.5 miles and we had plans to stop along the way. It was all up hill. Erica couldn’t believe we didn’t take a taxi when I told her. I think this is the day I hit 23,000 steps. We stopped and had a drink and a small lunch. Tom had empanadas again and I had a bocadillo (sandwich).
We thoroughly enjoyed the park and we enjoyed just the two of us at this point to be honest. It had been a lot of time of togetherness and some of us were getting cranky with each other.
We were happy to be reunited at the water and they had had so much fun and had to put their purchases in a locker because they couldn’t get in the apartment. We were going to have to use those luggage storage lockers the next day so they found out the deal for us.
We saw a car on the water! This might have been part of the America’s Cup? There was a floating device below the car, but it looked really crazy!
Our boat;
A singer serenaded us and she was great!
It was really a highlight for me to get to be on the water and see the sunset.
After, we walked around and headed back to our neighborhood and ended up at a Turkish place that still had patatas bravas!
So, this was the end of Thursday night and on Friday we would have to vacate the apartment and head back to Madrid for our Saturday morning flight home. We did some packing back at the apartment.
I made coffee in the Nespresso in Madrid and enjoyed it on the patio, but in Barcelona there was no coffee maker at all and no patio, but there were several coffee shops on our street.
So cute!
Tom joined me and we ate a small bite.
Then, the kids were ready and we took our luggage to a storage place where they had gone the day before and we paid for our luggage to be kept until our train that night. That can be dicey with check in and check out times and train arrival and departure times. We were without a home base from 11;00 until our train at 9:25 that night but it was fine.
The kids got some coffee shop breakfast to go and then we really had no plan except to see what we hadn’t seen. I kept the last day in both Madrid and Barcelona loose for us to do that and it worked out well.
We found a flea market and I bought two photos of the Sagrada that can be framed!
We happened upon the Picasso museum and did that!
We really managed to make 11-8 go by quickly! We will leave off at around 1:00 on Friday in Barcelona and then will end with the next post and my deep thoughts and possibly how we packed!
I may do a Friday Favorite post tomorrow and the trip post next week.
So now we are on to Monday night (the end of our second day in Madrid) and we had just arrived at a flamenco cave? It was in the basement of a bar and was a pretty cool atmosphere. It was mostly tourists, I’m sure. It was small and intimate and really passionate. We all loved it! Our ticket included a drink and a bowl of olives.
After the flamenco performance which lasted an hour, we walked around that part of town and it was great. There were tons of little tapas bars in the area. So many people were out and about! We ended up walking home or almost all the way home and then Ubering. I don’t think we had a dinner that night. We just went back to the apartment and ate some snacks before calling it a night.
Tuesday
Here’s where I messed up a bit. So, I wanted to keep some flexibility along with the set in stone plans. Our plan for this morning was to go to the train station as early as we could and buy regional train tickets to the medieval town of Toledo. We got there later than we had wanted (slow people in my family) and waited in line. When it was our turn, they told us there were no tickets left until 4:45 pm which wouldn’t work with our evening plans. I could have maybe gone to different train companies to check, but we decided to forget that plan, sadly. I have been to Toledo before and it’s incredible.
We had some disappointment but decided to check out more of the city that we hadn’t seen yet. First, we went to find the luthier/guitar shop where Jack was going to have a lesson that evening at 7:00. That’s why we couldn’t do such a late train to Toledo.
We found it and also explored the Plaza Mayor:
Walked by the world’s oldest restaurant El Botin:
And enjoyed the famous San Gines churros with chocolate:
We also ate a very forgettable lunch because we were desperate. It’s the only meal I didn’t like of the whole trip so no big deal or as they say, “no pasa nada”.
Everyone was tired and we decided to go back to the apartment. I changed clothes and took myself and my book down to the tree lined median outside our apartment that has all the restaurant seating:
I ordered a clara (beer with lemon soda) and they brought me cheese, little baguette shaped crackers, and a bowl of potato chips all for free with your drink.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and really couldn’t read because I was people watching hard. This was so fun for me! So many people walked by and I loved hearing conversations, observing their footwear (ha!), and seeing their style. Ahhhh…
I went back up to the apartamento and the fam and I went to the guitar shop for the guitar lesson. We walked through Retiro Park to get there and it was again, so lovely! The guitar shop owner was so nice! Tom and Jack stayed for the lesson and Mason and I went to the nearby plaza with tons of restaurants with outdoor seating.
We got a table for four so the others could join after and we tried the very popular vermouth. It was ok, but I probably wouldn’t order it again.
And, Mason wanted patatas bravas. I swear it wasn’t me this time!
So, we had a lovely time sitting and talking and then we decided to give up the table and go back to the guitar shop because the smoking is next level in Spain! So many people smoke or vape. They are allowed to smoke at the food tables and there were smokers smoking their brains out next to us. I hardly ever smell smoke in the US now and I am so happy about it.
The lesson was a success and we purchased a guitar from them. We had not given birthday gifts to our 22 year olds but rather had given IOUs that said “a guitar in Spain” and “a leather messenger bag in Spain”. Spoiler: Mason would later get the most beautiful bag so we did make good!
For dinner, we grabbed more of the 100 Montaditos little baguette sandwiches and Tom found an empanada stand, too.
So, as much as we were disappointed about Toledo, we ended up having a really good day.
Wednesday
So, sadly, it was time to leave our beautiful Madrid apartment. We had tickets for 9:00 a.m. on the high speed train (AVE) to Barcelona. It was going to take almost three hours because there was one stop.
We had a problem with our tickets and if was a good thing I spoke Spanish. We didn’t get the email with our going to Barcelona tickets, only with our return to Madrid tickets. I was able to get the train company people to print us new ones.
Our luggage with the added guitar:
Love the train!
The train went as fast as 300 kilometers or 180 miles per hour. It’s so smooth though and you can still see things out the window. There is a bathroom and a train attendant selling drinks. There is also a cafeteria car. Love train travel so much! Why US? We need it here!
And, we arrived in Barcelona around 1:00 and took a taxi to our place in the Gothic Quarter. The taxi couldn’t get very close because the streets are tiny.
Here is the little street our apartment was located on:
And, another view:
And our apartment is owned by an artist and had the cutest details:
And, we could only drop off our luggage because the cleaning lady needed until 3:00. That’s ok! We were excited to wander and get our bearings. She did let us use the bathroom!
The Airbnb host had left us suggestions of her favorite eateries and we ended up in a cute little spot called Caravelle.
My meal:
Not very Spanish, but one of the best meals I had. I ordered cauliflower shawarma. My body was begging for a vegetable besides a potato.
I immediately knew I had picked the right location! We were in Old Town in the Gothic Quarter.
We went back to the apartment to change and unpack and then we headed to the Barceloneta, or the seaport area of town which was walkable from our place.
Here is where we split up…the kids went to the aquarium and Tom and I looked at boats before our catamaran ride. Spoiler: it started raining and it was cancelled, but we did get to do it same time the next evening. Oh well! And, that is where I will leave you at 7:00 on Wednesday night!
First, before getting into second blog post, let me say I am so saddened by the damage Hurricane Helene caused. My former student lives in Asheville and lost everything. She is having to move back here to live near family for a while. School was cancelled for us on the Friday before we left because they were worried about the weather impacts here, too. I was happy to have that day off to get ready but definitely not at the expense of the hurricane damage. So incredibly sad.
Also, I am behind in responding to comments as re-entry is rough. I do so appreciate you taking the time to leave me one! I am also behind in reading my beloved blog roll. I am working to get caught up on all my favorite bloggers’ lives.
On to Spain Part Dos…
Ok, we left off with the morning of day two (Monday) in Madrid and we had just had our bakery carry out breakfast from Manolo Bakes which was recommended by our Airbnb host.
Then, we ordered an Uber and headed to the Royal Palace. Uber probably woudn’t make sense for one person, but with a family of four, it’s a financially smart way to go. We could take an Uber to most places for 12 Euros.
I had originally signed us up for a tour guide in Spanish but we were late – oops. We just had no idea how bad traffic in Madrid would be! We were just getting our bearings in the city. They let us in slightly late and we switched to the self-paced audio guide that you wear around your neck with headphones. You could choose a bunch of different languages and it turned out to be nice to have all that information and get to do it at our own pace.
The grand staircase leading up into the palace:
The dining room:
The thrones:
I’ve been following the royal family since 1989!
Juan Carlos, the father, was the king and was actually trained/mentored by the dictator Francisco Franco and now his son Felipe is the king. Felipe is tall! Our Airbnb host Sergio was tall! My friend Carlos from Spain is tall! There are some tall Spaniards in case you were wondering.
I took so many photos in the palace, but I picked just a few to share.
One regret I have is not getting to Valencia where I lived in college or Tarragona where I lived in high school. I have friends in both places and it would have been great to get to do that. We just had such limited time and this was about my kids and wanting to do Madrid and Barcelona and not be as all over the place as we were in the UK, but next time I will definitely make that my number one priority. I feel badly that we didn’t get to those places, but I couldn’t wrap my head around how to do all that in such a short time.
And, then we left this gorgeous view from the palace grounds…
And, after the palace, we hoofed it to the Mercado de San Miguel where I was meeting Madeleine! Madeleine is my former student who is teaching in Madrid for the year. She is so happy and already talking about signing up for another year. I am so proud of this chica! I have known her since she was a junior in high school.
We walked around the market together and decided it was too crowded to try to eat there. You can buy both raw and cooked foods in the market and their cooked foods looked amazing, but there was no place to sit and it was overwhelming!
I asked Madeleine if she had time to sit and eat and she did. She led us to the cutest little patio of a restaurant that was next to a small plaza and church. She hadn’t been there before but thought it looked good and I did, too.
Here was the patio next to the little plaza and church:
So, when we first sat down we noticed elementary school aged boys playing soccer in the plaza. I thought it was quaint and very Spain but also wondered why they weren’t in school or if maybe a school was attached to the church. Then, we see all these camera people and other adults hanging out. I asked our waiter what was going on and he said he thought it was a promotional ad being filmed.
I then saw this guy and asked if he was a professional athlete. The waiter said something about it being called “The Bach”. Now look back at the above photos and see all the adults milling about that look American!
And, I sat there and Googled and sure enough! It was Grant Ellis, the next bachelor, and his season will air in January!
His date:
How crazy is that? We weren’t in a touristy area and it was really tucked away. Madeleine texted me about an hour after we said bye and said she saw them filming in another location, too! What if I am in the scene when it airs? What if I am popping a croquette in my mouth? OMG!
Speaking of croquettes, we ordered patatas bravas to share,
croquettes to share,
and I feel like we ordered one more thing but I don’t remember what it was.
Also, the waiter asked if I had been there before because he recognized me. When I said no, he realized he had seen my TikToks. He quoted the Silent H one and he thought it was amazing that he saw me. That was crazy! And, another person recognized me from TikTok at the end of the trip. I was not expecting that!
After we left the restaurant, it was time for Mason’s Museo del Prado pick! Mason loves art museums and took AP Art History in high school.
You weren’t allowed to take photos of the art, but I snapped the interior. It’s a beautiful museum and it’s huge. We were there from 2:00 to 6:00, I think.
I was hoping to change clothes into a dress for the flamenco in the cave performance at 7:00, but this is where you have to be flexible with travel. It made more sense to go directly from the museum to the flamenco. Oh well. It was fine.
We all loved the hour long performance of one guitar player, one singer, and two dancers – one male and one female.
We walked home and it is so lively at night in Madrid! We walked down some great tapas streets near the flamenco area and felt very safe. So many people were out and about.
Next up, we will talk about Tuesday which was our last full day in Madrid. I kinda had a failure this day, but it turned out to be a great day anyway with some highlights.
Let me first start by saying that I took a blog break last week and didn’t tell you this was for Spain because I am very superstitious and didn’t want to jinx anything. Also, I am a bit weird about posting in real time anywhere. This was our fall break and this is the perfect time to travel, really!
So, a little back story. I lived in Spain for a month in 1989 with a family and then again for six months in college in 1993. I got to go back to visit for a week in 1996 with my mom and sisters. But, I had not been back since.
Also, keep in mind that I’m a Spanish teacher so my experience is through the lens of a Spanish teacher.
This was really a dream for me from the minute I had kids to get to take them to Spain. Well, really, I had also wanted Tom to get to go. This was why I was so worried about it. The anticipation of this trip was literally 22 years plus in the making. The decision to pull the trigger on it and go ahead and do it may have seemed a bit impulsive, but it was really a plan for a high school graduation trip since well before 2020! Doing it now stemmed from not being sure what job our kids will be in or where they will be after this year. We didn’t really want to do summer and let me tell you that was a good call. I tracked flight prices for over a year. When Tom’s Montana trip was cancelled I literally bought the tickets that same day because they had gone down to $930 each (and it’s much cheaper in the fall than in the summer) and then I knew Tom would not be spending the Montana money he had planned to spend. And, for comparison, I was seeing $1400 in the summer. So, when you are talking four people it’s a huge difference. Anyway, a lot of back story, but this trip meant everything to me.
I now have a fall break and didn’t have to take any days off, so that was really nice, too.
Also, this trip was a win because I didn’t get sick while on the trip and it wasn’t my time of the month! Ha! I had both of those lovely happenings on my last two international trips – Germany in 2016 and the UK in 2023.
Planning for a family of four is way different than for a married couple. I wanted to make sure everyone had their one big thing. I did it all. I booked the flights, the train tickets, the excursions, and I spent hours and hours on it. I overthought and asked for input but didn’t get much. Ha! It turned out that we split up a few times, but for the most part all four of us were together 24/7 . There will be tired, hungry, cranky moments and you have to remember that.
Everyones’ big things – Mason – art museums – El Prado and Picasso Museum, Jack – private guitar lesson, Tom – catamaran on Med in Barcelona, Amy – everything but seeing my former student in Madrid (and wait til I tell you what else heppened!) and just the daily life stuff. I did want to do a tapas tour but it was going to be almost $400 for a family of four and I didn’t really want to just do that with Tom and I. There were places we didn’t get to, but overall I really think we did a lot in the time we had.
My heart is so full and I am so happy we did it. Take the trip. It’s ok to eat ramen for months after! And, I will try to give you advice if it’s something you want to do.
This trip is also the best professional development I have ever had! I got to see what is the same and what has changed in the time since I have been. I got to eavesdrop on conversations – ha! I talked to everyone! My kids have both studied Spanish for four years of high school, Mason one class in college, some of middle, and some of elementary and the beauty of hearing them speak and ask me questions about vocabulary and verb conjugations was really something special for me.
Our airport here in Louisville is a “fake” international airport. Basically we can’t go anywhere without first going to another airport.
Our trip was Saturday, September 28-Saturday, October 5. We flew from Louisville at 3 pm to Atlanta with only a 1.5 hour layover and then flew from Atlanta to Madrid and arrived at 8:30 their time. The flight was rough. None of us slept because it was pretty turbulent.
Also, you know those $930 tickets? We weren’t together on the plane. The kids were in the same row but across the aisle and Tom and I were a few rows back with him in front of me. We also don’t get checked luggage with our tickets. We had our luggage gate checked in Louisville for free because they said they were out of overhead storage and then retrieved it in Madrid. No big deal. We are a carry on only family and if we can do it in the winter, we can do it in the late summer/early fall.
Wow! Arriving in the early morning in Madrid was majestic.
I am in love with AirBnb. I love meeting the hosts (sometimes you get to meet them and they give you the key and show you the ropes) and sometimes you pick up the key from somewhere like a lock box or a front desk. We made it through customs easily and grabbed a taxi and our host Sergio was letting us drop luggage at 11. Well, that timing was perfect and also it was already clean and ready so he let us have it at 11 – well before the 2 pm check in. He was really nice and this is the gorgeous door! The elevator was just like I remembered in my apartment during college. You open a huge metal door and step in and there is only room for like one or two people.
The other thing is – we need two bedrooms and preferably one of them with twin beds for our kids. We also liked having two bathrooms. Sharing space with adult grown children kind of requires this. The layout of this apartment was perfect.
We loved our residential street right by Retiro Park (kind of like their version of Central Park) and our street had a grocery store, pharmacy, and lots of restaurants. Well, that is basically every street in Spain! The funny thing is that the restaurants are tiny but the street has a huge median and each restaurant has an outdoor seating area that is covered and the servers bring the food out to the median. Our area was really walkable, too.
It is a bit cool in the morning and evening at this time of year. I only brought a black knit cardigan and a beige open weave cardigan and that was perfect. The sun is super hot in Spain and walking around a big city makes you hot, too. Short sleeves were the best call for during the day.
The apartment:
The kitchen had a Nespresso machine and I got a kick out of the 3 brands of individually wrapped olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, honey, and sugar along with pods to get you started. I did buy more pods at the grocery.
And, yes, I did buy their wonderful less than one Euro baguette (like two baguettes for one Euro), some Iberian ham and cheese to have in the apartment. I guess I like Airbnb so much because I like to pretend I live there!
We had the tiniest balcony, but I loved it! The tree lined median is where all the seating for restaurants was.
So, no one slept on the plane and we all felt pretty wrecked but it was noon and time to get our body clocks set so I said we were going to explore the neighborhood, get something to eat, and then do like the locals and stroll Retiro Park because it was Sunday and this is a big thing they do on Sundays.
My first Spanish coffee:
Why is their coffee so much better?
My former student Madeleine (she is the one in Madrid who is teaching in a school for the year as an assistant teacher) had told me about this cheap chain called 100 Montaditos and so when we walked by I suggested it. We sat on the street and enjoyed little bocadillos (little baguette sandwiches) with salmon, potato and egg omelette, tuna, ham, and cheese with some fries and potato chips. We really didn’t know what we were ordering but we were all starving.
It turned out that we would get this again to take back to our apartment on our last night. It was so cheap! Like our family could eat for twelve Euros? It was all locals, too. And, it was busy in the morning and again in the evening every time we walked by.
Our weather was literally perfect. It was mid-70s the whole week. It did rain when we got to Barcelona in the evening for maybe a couple of hours. None of us packed rain gear and we didn’t really need it because it was such a light and warm rain. Tom did go buy two touristy umbrellas but I am glad I have them as souvenirs now. I will show you a photo at some point.
Retiro Park:
We split up a bit in Retiro and Tom and I walked and the kids walked and we met back up. I am sure I was annoying because I was majorly people watching and taking photos. I loved seeing the families and the old people and what everyone was wearing. Spanish women are so stylish! They are gorgeous! Also, this is weird but I had heard that the police are good-looking and we saw several that fit the bill! In the park, there were street performers and stands to buy snacks and it was all so very Spain! There were girls handing out free Nature Valley protein bars, too. We strolled for a couple of hours and it was really the perfect thing to do on a jet lag day.
Around 3:00 we went back to our apartment and I had done a stupid thing and packed our electricity adapters for the UK instead of ones for Europe. Duh! I asked a waiter where to buy the correct ones and he told me to go to the grocery. I went to the grocery and another guy told me they didn’t have them but to go to the “chino” which means Chinese another block down. I was super confused but went anyway. I didn’t think I would find them since it was Sunday and then did have a lot closed on Sundays. I went in the tiniest bodega with a Chinese man (“el chino”) who didn’t speak English or Spanish. He had the adaptors for way cheaper than at home or on Amazon! I bought four of them and we were good to go.
We rested in the room for a couple of hours and then Ubered to the Templo de Debod. It had a nice view of the city and of the palace. People were gathering on blankets to watch the sunset that would be happening in about an hour.
We didn’t stay for the sunset because we were feeling the jet lag. We went to a tapas restaurant nearby and it was a hit. The owner was from the north of Spain where the tapas are served in huge portions.
There were zero tourists in this place. You could tell it was a locals place. Also, it was a huge advantage to know the language, I think. The people were so lovely to us everywhere we went. We also never felt in danger of being pickpocketed.
My first tinto de verano:
This is red wine and lemon lime or just lemon soda. I like it better than sangria. I didn’t drink much and if I did it was just one drink at a time. I had one sangria, two tintos, one glass of red wine, two claras (beer with lemon soda), and one vermuth during the whole trip. Apparently vermuth is big in Spain and I didn’t know this before planning the trip, but Mason and I tried it one evening. Madrid’s tap water is so good! Barcelona’s is gross. You get bottled water at restaurants in Barcelona, but in Madrid you get tap water and save lots of money that way. We drank tons of water the whole trip. We would refill our bottles any chance we got.
Also, I did the set of press on nails you see above. As I type this I am one day 8 and still going strong.
This was free to start the meal:
It was cheese atop olive oil and these little crackers shaped like baguettes that we got everywhere in Madrid!
And free baby empanadas:
We ordered mushroom croquettes (croquettes are everywhere but usually have ham), some sort of tempura cheese things, patatas bravas (spicy potatoes with sauce – these vary from place to place and we ordered them like almost every day!), and Mason got beef tacos and Tom got broken eggs with ham on top of fries (this was also common). I also got a tortilla de patata but it was the type that was runny and I didn’t love it. We way over-ordered but it was our first dinner.
We Ubered back to our apartment and all went to bed pretty early. Ahh! The beds were Tempur-Pedic and so were the pillows. So comfy! I fell asleep four times in the Uber on the way to the temple and on the way back from dinner. Ha!
Awake with the pajaritos on the second day…
Wow! People of Madrid stay up super late but they also get moving around 7:00. They really don’t sleep much. A driver told us that they don’t need much sleep. Maybe it’s the siesta in the middle of the day? We went to a guitar shop that still observes siesta with hours from 10-2 and 5-8. They definitely have a more balanced way of life. I also heard someone say we crash on the weekends because we are so unbalanced.
I hate blow drying my hair so I washed my hair every night and actually curled it this trip in the morning. My hair loved Madrid’s water! And air! I guess? I also had the sink space for my curling iron. Amy is the fastest to get ready, then Mason, then we have two major slow pokes.
Mason and I went to a recommended chain bakery from our Airbnb host that was a few blocks away. Again, it was all locals and I loved being in a non-touristy area and feeling part of daily life! It is called Manolo Bakes and it was delicious. They did boxes of savory or sweet croissant sandwiches or croissants of different flavors.
We took them back and then got ready for our tickets to the Royal Palace.
And, that’s where we will leave off. Next up I will talk about the rest of day two and try to be less detailed, but I love details! And, this is for my memories so I want to put them all down.
A couple things to note:
It was fun to message with Tanya before I left. She was exactly one week ahead of me on her Spain trip! If you are a fellow blogger, you probably read her blog, too!
We could have been fine with zero cash the whole trip. I imagine this would be different in small towns, but in Madrid and Barcelona cards are taken everywhere. You can also use cash at most places, though.
They hardly take Amex anywhere so you do need Mastercard or Visa.
All you really need to focus on are portable chargers and good walking shoes! Ha! Fortunately or unfortunately, travel today is all by your phone. Your tickets, your maps, your everything are on your phone. I made a bad choice in my two pairs of tennis shoes. I only brought two pairs of shoes and they were both sneakers, but I didn’t pick the right ones. I also needed better socks. You need athletic socks that are moisture wicking. I chose my sneakers that are more fashionable over my Nike Waffles. Bad move. I have fourth and pinky toe blisters to prove it. I walked 9-12 miles each day.
If you are still here, let me know if you have any questions!
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 