6 flights, 1 week

We leave for a week and Adele is having a baby, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting a divorce, Anderson Cooper reveals he's gay, Enrique Peña Nieto is elected President of Mexico and there was a storm in the DC area that left over 1 million without power in VA (our apartment apparently lost water too, but it's all back now). Man, oh man. 

The reason for the lack of posts is because we just spent the last week in Spain and Italy (not before having some major issues with my passport renewal; will share that stressful and costly experience with you later)! Remember when I told you the (love) story about my good friend Katie (and former roommate), marrying her Italian boyfriend? Well, the day finally came and it was absolutely magical. Will write another post about their amazing day; we are so happy we got to be a part of it.

Our adventure began in Madrid for two reasons:

a) we wanted to see our friends Rodrigo and Fortuna (remember their incredible wedding last February?) who have been living in Spain for a little over a year (he just got his MBA there)

b) this particular route was surprisingly the most affordable from DC

We looked for flights almost every day for about 6+ months. For some reason, flights to Europe this summer were higher than ever. On average, $1300 and above, from the East Coast, no matter where to. Not sure if we have oil prices to blame, the Olympics or what. However, back in April we found a deal, if we flew from Tuesday to Tuesday, to Madrid, with a stop in London. Done! We were a little worried because we bought our tickets from a site called airfare.com for the first time (kayak forwarded us there and it had the lowest prices), but luckily we had no issues. The only other ticket we needed to get, was the one to Italy and Ryan Air, per usual, was the most affordable. We flew to Pisa, which is just 1 hour from Florence by bus.

Ok, back to the land of tapas. We arrived in Madrid on Wednesday in the early afternoon. Just in time to shower and head to lunch with our friends (like in Mexico, the heavy meal is around 2pm/3pm and then they have a light dinner around 9pm/10pm). We went to a delicious seafood restaurant and let Rodrigo take charge of ordering (he's fantastic at it, few people would I entrust with my meal selection). All of a sudden, olives, lox, bread, tuna salad in vinagre de jerez, octopus and lobster paella magically appeared. Afterwards, we strolled around town some more (it didn't get dark until about 10pm) and then set up shop at an outdoor bar for a few hours. There, we had some chips, cheese, cured ham (SO many types), anchovies and bread. As you may know, we are usually pretty early risers (7am/8am), but thanks to the pitch black shutters and our travels, we had to be woken up for breakfast, around 11am! I think we need to invest in some of these pronto.

The next day, we did a lot more walking, exploring the area of Salamanca, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, the Royal Palace, Retiro Park, the Cathedral, San Miguel Market, El Corte Ingles and even looked around some stunning bridal boutiques (Rosa Clara, Aire, Pronovias). Afterwards, we had lunch at Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world (founded in 1725)!! Rodrigo did the honors again - salad, fried calamari (best we've ever had), judias (Spanish vegetable, tasted a little like green bean pasta) with cured ham, roasted lamb with potatoes and arroz con leche to complete the delectable feast.

Later that evening, we had a fun get-together with some friends, back at the apartment, two of which, I also went to middle school with in Mexico (Marisol and Cecilia). We schmoozed for hours and as it turns out, the time difference suits me quite well - 3am there, is my 9pm bedtime here :)

Me, Ceci and her fiance Toño

Trying to show how late I was up, but didn't quite work...

Marisol and her sisters

Fortu and Rodrigo

The next morning, we had breakfast together, said goodbye to our wonderful hosts and headed to the airport. Even though we had flown on Ryan Air before and we were reminded on several occasions just how annoying of an airline it is (service wise, not safety), we were quickly reminded. Extra charges for everything (if they could charge for breathing they would!) delays, constant announcements during the flight (scratch tickets for sale, Duty Free products, etc) no snack or beverage, no pocket on the back of the seat to store things, BUT most annoying part of all: no assigned seats or at least numerical groupings - so people start lining up way in advance (read: 2 hours!!!) to ensure a half decent seat. GRAWR. So, one has no choice but to do the same, unless you want to be split up, sit in a middle seat next to the bathroom or pay for "priority seating", which we will happily do next time. 

Despite the 102°F...we loved spending a few days with our friends and exploring the city. Next stop: the most populous city in Tuscany and one very dear to my heart. 

Happy 4th of July!! We will not be partying like it's 1999, quite the contrary: laundry, grocery shopping and hoping to catch the fireworks from our balcony (if we manage to make it 'till then)...

P.S: My mom's article in Pink Pangea: Stockings, Preferably Black