Ávila

This morning we trained to Ávila, a perfectly walled in, medieval city.  My favorite saying about it is that in Ávila, one can hear the silence.  We went to our favorite lookout spot, called Cuatro Postes, and then walked through the city and along its walls.  We then had a huge chuletón, which is an oversized beef chop from the Ávila cows, which are special in Spain, and some great homemade desserts.

After returning to Madrid, the boys observed modern Spanish artist (Picasso, Dalí, Miró) at the famous Reina Sofía museum.

Toledo

After breakfast, we took a high speed train to Toledo to see and learn about this important historical city.  We had a great tour of the Cathedral and saw many of El Greco's works, including the ultra-famous Burial of Count Orgaz.  We also passed through the Jewish Quarter and entered one of the few synagogues still standing in Spain as a symbol of it Sephardic past.  After returning to Madrid, the boys toured Real Madrid's stadium.

Bring on the steak

After a tour of the city center, the boys got ready for a fantastic steak dinner.  After a big, late meal, everyone is ready to get a good night's sleep.  Tomorrow morning we head for Toledo.

No time to siesta

After an uneventful flight and no lines at immigration in Madrid, our only hiccup was a baggage handler strike that delayed our checked in bags from being delivered by about 15 minutes.  We got to our hotel in the city center and stored our bags so we could head for breakfast.  They seem to really appreciate the offerings of pastries, small sandwiches, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice.  We then made our way to the cellphone store.  The process to get each boy a phone is always tedious and after 2 and a half hours, each boy now has a Spanish phone.  We then checked into our rooms, showered and got some lunch at El Brillante, a great restaurant that serves quality bocadillos de calamares, the squid sandwich that is famous in Madrid.  They also had blood sausage, good quality jamón ibérico, croquetas and patatas bravas.

We have an afternoon plan of hitting the center highlights and dining at Casa Paco, a very traditional steak house where Woodberry has been dining for over 20 years.  I thought I would post now so all the parents can see that we are here safe and sound.

Ready for anything now that we have our luggage

Most important meal of the day

Making sure they order in Spanish

Visiting our old friend, Garcia Lorca

He either can't believe how long getting a phone takes or that I would take this picture

Symbol of Madrid

El Brillante and it's famous calamari sandwich

Enjoying the tapas, even the blood sausage morcilla