On August 27th we left Biarritz to continue our loop and drive back into Spain for a three-night stay in the capital city of Madrid. Before we left, though, I had promised any children who wanted to wake up early that I would take them down to the ocean for a quick dip before packing up and heading out. Findlay, Tate, and Keegan all took me up on the offer and woke up with me at 6:45am to make the 30-minute walk down to the beach. It was a little chilly, but we quickly got used to it and pretty much had the place to ourselves! It was a great start to a long car day.
Our time in Madrid was pretty quick, but we managed to squeeze in plenty of highlights, including:
- eating lunch twice at the amazing Mercado de San Miguel, an indoor food market with a wide variety of small-plate offerings that range from traditional to downright curious. The market is over 100 years old and is my second-favorite food market that we’ve visited (Borough Market in London gets the top prize)
- visiting the Prado Museum and enjoying works from Caravaggio (especially the David with the Head of Goliath), Rafael, El Greco, Velazquez, Rubens, van Dyck, Goya, and Madrazo. Although we enjoyed our visit, if you asked the staff there, they would probably tell you we were quite the trouble-making family! It started with Findlay accidentally trying to sneak a pocket knife through the metal detectors, and then our run-ins with “the man” continued throughout, including offenses such as taking pictures, drinking water, sitting down, lightly swinging a water bottle, drinking water (again) and not having a mask secured above one of our noses
- seeing the world’s Guiness-certified oldest restaurant, called the Sobrino de Botin
- strolling down the Gran Via
- wandering through beautiful squares like the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor
- consuming loads of chocolate from Chocolateria San Gines (churros with chocolate) and our 15th Lindt store!
the fantastic Mercado de San Miguel (check out that swordfish that is posing with Findlay and Keegan):
churros with chocolate at Chocolateria San Gines
a couple pictures at the Prado before getting shut down:
We miss you guys, but it looks like you are having a great time!!! Is Tate drinking a slushee out of a bag in one of the pictures? Whatever it is, it looks delectable!😂😂😂
We miss you guys too! We reminisce about our time in Vietnam frequently (“Banh Mi 25, Banh Mi 25, okay!”). Tate is enjoying a kid-friendly margarita in a bag, which was a very popular Hartshorn boy purchase at the market.