Reunion

I've been trying to decide if I've been neglecting my blog or if now that some of my family is here, my stories are at a bit of an end. But as I've just sent off a bunch of pictures to Grandma with no explanation of what they are, I'm thinking that I'll go ahead and keep writing, so there's no mystery for the next few weeks before family Christmas in January. And there are more pictures to come and be added, of course!

There were lots of hugs at the airport, and I showed off my Madrid knowledge immediately by guiding us around the Metro to the hotel, which I'd scouted out earlier. After walking them down the brightly holiday lit Gran Via, Michael and I headed down to the river and Atletico's futbol stadium for the match with a couple of my Spanish friends. We agreed to root for the opposition, Celta, as my friends were fans, even though they were expected to lose. And lose they did eventually do, though it wasn't until the last 15 minutes of the game that Atletico finally scored. Which my friends thought was pretty good.

The most memorable part of the game was definitely the large guy who sat behind us yelling and swearing at the ref in Spanish for practically the entire match. I learned a lot of new words that night. The rest of the crowd was pretty fantastic though, with all their songs and calls. They're definitely more organized than any type of American fan base. Or at least they've been singing their songs for longer and make sure their children grow up knowing them.

After the game, A heard from a friend that there was a metro strike on, which meant only one train every hour or so. With the amount of fans packing the station, it wasn't likely we'd be able to get on it, so we had to hoof it back to the center of town. I went out for a drink of drowning sorrows with some of the group before heading back to the hotel. Michael was out cold, the late night walking coupled with jet lag.

The next morning we headed out for a walking tour of Madrid, covering most of the good places I've explored before heading out to Villaviciosa for lunch with my Spanish family. I think my family was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of food and drinks that kept coming, even though I tried to warn them ahead of time. The Spanish mother always says that she's not a good cook, but it was a pretty masterful meal. After, we took a stroll around the castle park before heading back into the city.

The next day was Toledo, and I again showed everyone around some of the good spots. We actually went into the cathedral this time, and it was pretty magnificent. The amount of detail they put into everything is just exquisite. No pictures from me on that, but I'm sure that my mom took plenty, and Michael took a few nice ones as well.