October 12-13

Saturday was a travel day from Barcelona to Madrid. We spent most of the afternoon in a train station and the 200mph train. I was also a hormonal and emotional wreck so that was good. Good thing I know Tard Carman can handle it because he survived 6 months of me on crazy birth control pills. So travel day/crying day ended with delicious kebabs and snuggling on our couch watching a movie en español. 

Sunday morning we made our way to the nearest ward that the internet said began at 10:45am when, in fact, it normally began at 11:30am, but this particular day they were having stake conference on the other side of town. We huffed it up there in time to be very late and so we walked around the Madrid temple grounds and bought cheap groceries at the Lidl across the street. 

We had a little picnic in a park with a pretty fountain and headed to the Prado Museum. The Prado was incredible and made moreso because I wasn't expecting any of it! I saw Goya's Saturn Devouring one of his Children and The Third of May. I saw van der Weyden's Deposition, Carravaggio, Reubens, van Eyck, Ribera, El Greco, a TON of Velazquez, Bosch and his nutso Garden of Earthly Delights, and SO many more. They have a huge variety from the fourteenth through the nineteenth centuries! Also, they have way more Northern Renaissance and Baroque art than I ever could have guessed.

When we were aboslutely wiped out from all of the exciting art, we went across the street to a bar/cafe and had drinks (lemon sparkling drinks are the best choice), croquettes filled with soft cheese and ham, and a pizza with mushrooms, fontina and truffle oil. The sun was out, a lush park was across the street and it felt so good to sit down. 

In the evening we walked the streets downtown from Plaza del Sol to Grand Via. We found Chocolateria San Gines that is famous for their churros dipped in hot chocolate and the place was packed!!! The walls were covered in black and white photos of all the famous people who had eaten there - mainly from the 70's and 80's like young Richard Gere, Roger Moore, Claudia Schiffer, Rod Stewart and a ton of Spanish people we didn't recognize. The churros weren't too sweet, but the perfect crunchiness and dipped in a thick, cinnamon hot chocolate they were perfection.

We saw the most beautiful McDonald's - I know it sounds like a joke. It was in a rounded corner cafe, two stories and covered in windows, fancy wood and iron work, mirrors everywhere, with a beautiful view of the busy city at night. It looked like it was once a theater or posh restaurant. Weird.

Funny things are: we laughed at each other all the day long, Todd used the term "shartburger" as a swear, and once when I made him laugh too hard he farted.

This was in a vending machine. "Feel make feel. Retard."