Day 3: We had a "Real" good Day in Madrid

 

Part of our consolidated group in front of the Plaza Mayor

I had a really rough night, last night, when it comes to sleep.  It happens sometimes when I travel, especially with students.  I think I finally fell asleep around 2am for us and our wake-up call was at 6:15.  Needless to say, I was dragging for a bit. That said, there are some things I've learned along the way that can make up for those doldrums. First, you should eat a healthy breakfast.

The hotel we are staying at is a modern Holiday Inn Express. It isn't the most amazing place, but it provides a bed, a large dining area (where kids can hang out), and a complimentary breakfast in the morning. I only has a small breakfast today, but it was enough to give me fuel for the day.

Some of the kids took full advantage. 

Delicious pastries and fresh bread.

The Spanish Ham was amazing! 

These kids were at breakfast right when it opened. The cafe quickly filled up afterwards!

Another group of the Breakfast Club

 

Another thing you can do, when feeling really beat by travel and lack of sleep, is get lots of exercise. For us Eurotrippers, that's not a problem. As I sit to write tonight's blog, I have over 15k steps and I took it easy today...sitting when I could get a chance and not running back and forth on our line chatting with everyone and keeping the pace constant.  The kids have a lot more steps than me today, because they went dancing, but more on that in a bit!

The sun was out this morning!

Stefano asked Maria to translate a sign. She did great!

Stefano is explaining Plaza Mayor to the group

The way these tours work, typically, is that the bus drops you off a designated spot and then you walk to where you are going.  In Madrid, they've built really nice underground bus drop off stations. While the bathrooms scarred our kids, the convenience of these areas allows for us to pop up right near the city center. Our morning walks have never really been very long. Stefano stops along the way with tidbits and fascinating facts. This morning, our walk took us through the heart of Madrid from the Royal Palace to Plaza Mayor to the San Miguel Market. It was so different this morning compared to last night. The city was ours!

After a brief walkabout, we ended up at our Flamenco Dance Studio.  Here the students were instructed in how to properly dance the Flamenco.  I am not a dancer, so I sat this one out, but the kids all took the lessons seriously (for the most part).  I am including some pictures of their workshop as well as the performance afterwards.

Our instructors!

Look at that footwork!

Center Stage!

Flamenco is more than just a dance. It is almost a theatrical performance. The dancers, the singer, the guitarist, they all displayed so much passion. It was amazing to watch.  A few of us were so entranced that we may have dozed off into dreamland for a few minutes.

I have some video, but this platform doesn't really allow easy video uploads. I will work on making it a TikTok while we leave Madrid on Monday.

After the dance, we left for lunch...the restaurant was fairly close by.

Chicken Caesar Salad. It was really good.

The Main Course was roasted chicken and potatoes

 Our restaurant was pretty good. The Caesar salad was really good. There were croutons and small bits of diced chicken. It was not over dressed either.  There were a few extras available to our group and all of them were eaten.  It was followed by a main course of roasted chicken and potatoes. The chicken had mixed reviews, but only because a few of the kids thought it under-seasoned. Others really liked it. Some dug right in and picked up the drumsticks while others carefully carved off the portion that was calling to them. Dessert was a small cup of ice cream (think Hoodies).  Again, no spares were left behind.  
 

For the sake of time, I will not narrate the next portion of our day. We had a roughly 2 hour city tour on our coach bus followed by an hour long tour of the Royal Palace. I have some great photos though.

Happy Birthday to Max!!!

This was a view we had right before the bus tour!

Leticia was our guide for the day. She was superb!

Madrid's Bull Fighting Arena. It was a really cool building!

A funny statue, but I didn't catch the explanation!

I was facing the wrong way

Because I was trying to catch a glimpse of Christopher Columbus

In the entrance hall of the Palace.

Just me, hanging out with the King!

This table seats 110 guests. We hope to eat there tomorrow!

A Stradivarius 

When our tour completed, we broke into smaller groups to grab dinner at a local square. Some of the kids ordered Churros and they gave me the thumbs up! Others had a more formal meal, but those seeking Paella are going to wait until tomorrow when we have a little more time. We met back at our meeting place and walked to the underground bus terminal. It is only a twenty minute drive, or so, to the hotel, so we made it back fairly quickly.

From what I gathered from the kids, they had a good time today. We got rained on a little bit, but missed the heaviest rain over night and while we were at the Royal Palace. The sun broke through the clouds to give us clear skies and amazing views.  Now, the wind is whipping and the kids seemed almost ready to go to bed. We will check rooms a few times tonight, but I think they are exhausted from a long day of travel followed by a long day or touring. Tomorrow, we do it all again!

Mr. Lavoie, currently in his hotel room preparing some Easter surprises for the kids...Sshh, don't tell them.