Madrid, Sevilla and Cadiz

Tuesday, August 2
We arrived in Madrid today at 11:30 am. Kristen met us at the airport and we then headed down to the subway to catch a train to her apartment. Kristen lives smack dab in the middle of Madrid and her apartment is on the top floor, floor 7, in a large building. Since it´s the top floor, she has a terrace from which you can see quite a ways around. It is not quite high enough for great views, but it is lovely to spend time out there at night. We spent our first three days in Madrid walking around and seeing the entirety of the city. . Some buildings and parks were cool, but the market was the best. it was great to see Kristen. On Friday night, Jeff came into Madrid. We all went out to the bars and clubs and stayed out until 5:00 am. Spaniards don´t sleep! At night we would sit out on the terrace and eat cheese, that was magical! On Friday, we all boarded a high speed train to SBevilla. The train ride was unimpressive, it reminded me of the ride from Seattle to Spokane.

Friday, August 5
We stopped over in Sevilla for about 3 hours and wow, what a difference from Madrid! This is a very cultured, old town with absolutely stunning buildings and a really cool, very old cathedral. We took tons of pictures and I will attempt to upload them at a later time. All buildings are very tall and very old, so much character. After touring the city, we boarded a slower train to Cadiz, which is where we are now. This city is amazing! It truly is everything Marie had set it out to be. Very old, friendly people, tons to do. It is currently Sunday, August 7. We have seen most of the city. There are two sections, old and new. We are in the old section. The cathedral is very old and in one of the main squares. However, there are several squares throughout the city. Yesterday we spent the entire day at the beach. The water is warm and the sand is soft...life is tough. We all got burned a little bit with the exception of Jeff, who looks like a walking lobster. Poor Jeff. Last night, Saturday night, there was a beach party and we stayed out until 6:00 am. There were thousands of poeple and it looked like we were the first to leave, if you can believe that. We routinely stay up until 2:00 am and we are definitely not the last ones to bed, this includes several kids below the age of 6 who remain up playing in the streets.

All of the buildings are so tall and the streets so narrow that it is very easy to lose track of where you are, it´s tough to get your barrings straight.

FOOD
The main dish here in spain seems to be ¨tortillas.¨ However, these are nothing like the tortillas in the states. They are like a calzone filled with potatoes and eggs, except the outside is made of egg, which is cooked to resemble pizza dough. That´s the best i can do to explain them. They are magically good. But my favorite food here is the ¨kabobs,¨which again are nothing like the kabobs in the states. They are like an evolved form of Gyros, man, they are awesome!

RANDOM TID BITS
We are having such a great time. Travelling with Jeff and Kristen has been a ton of fun. With Marie and Kristen navigating and talking, we truly are emersing ourselves in the true culture of Spain. It´s truly wonderful. The temp here has been near 100, with cooler breezes coming off of the ocean in Cadiz. A few more days and then Marie and I are breaking off and heading to Rome. Shortly, we are all heading out for ice cream (helado) and the most popular drink (tinto de verano), which is wine with a lemon soda, essentially. Very good. We will try to update this every few days, maybe longer, so tune in! We love you guys!