Day 9 - We cooked!

 

Day 9

We started our last day on the trip with a relaxing breakfast in the hotel. It was a good spread with all of the traditional European options. Kids seemed to fill up after a good night's sleep. We met at 9:15 to head out for the day. It was actually 9:17 because we had our usual late crew. Can you guess which kids (there are 4) have kind of been late to every meet-up time? Now we are just giving them a little buffer.

We jumped on the metro in the city center of Madrid to Ventas, a few stops away, to begin our first adventure of the day. One thing I will no longer take for granted in the US… space. Space between buildings, open space to walk through and enjoy, and personal space. I mean on the metro its a bunch of strangers standing butt to butt and when you think there is no room, here jumps in another. Space…enjoy it.

The metro stop popped us right out at Las Ventas Bullring. It's a beautiful building from the outside. Did you know that its architecture is inspired by the Arabs who lived in Spain for nearly 800 years? Did you know that it is the oldest working bullring in Europe and the 3rd largest in the world? Our guided tour of the bullring was really interesting. Bullfighting is so different than anything we have in America, it just oozes with Spanish tradition. We learned that bulls can be right-horned or left-horned, there are 3 types of bullfighters: the matador, the picadors and banderillos, and that of the 400 bullfighters in Madrid, only 2 are female. Did you know that only one bull has ever been saved from death in Madrid? Balador, the world’s greatest bull! Move over, both Michael Jordan and Ferdinand. Did you know that there is a statue of Dr Fleming (the guy who invented penicillin) near every bullring in the world? I was honestly blown away by all of the interesting facts we learned. They were actually preparing for the real bullfight tonight! (Don’t worry, we didn’t go) In many ways, bullfighting is awful. The bulls get killed, and it seems brutal, but in a lot of other ways, it's a fascinating snapshot into Spanish culture and history.

After spending about an hour and a half at Las Ventas, we rode the metro and then walked to Plaza de España. Daniele explained to us that there is one in every city in Spain. We saw the statue of Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote. A short walk away was the Royal Palace and Cathedral of Madrid. We took some pictures and admired the view for a short while near the palace. We were able to walk through the cathedral, the pipe organ and stained glass were beautiful.

For lunch, we took everyone to the San Miguel Market. It is one of the coolest places in Madrid. Dozens of food vendors selling everything from empanadas to fresh fruit to sushi to pintxos. The kids did a few laps around the market, and then several dove right in. They used their Spanish and crushed it! Lots of happy faces. Kids had some free time to eat more or shop around.

We met Daniele again after an hour and went to the nearby Plaza Mayor. This is one of the bigger plazas in the area. Cool to see as it is enclosed with apartments and restaurants on all four sides. Daniele had us all share our favorite part of the trip, and what was the most fun thing we did. It was a great way to end of time together, everyone reflecting and sharing. Can you guess the most common highlight from the trip? Family dinners! Who knew you had to come 5,000 miles to make the kids talk to each other, laugh, and just enjoy the company? That was my favorite part, too.

The kids had some time to go back to their rooms and pack, and even rest a little. Though I’m not sure many did, they have been seriously hyped up on gelato for the last several days. Can’t blame them, I had it twice today myself. Wait…can you get addicted? Because if so, we’re all in trouble.

In the evening, we met for our last activity on the trip. We took the metro again. It was another wild adventure in… “Wait, whose hand is that?” I kept standing on other people’s feet and hoping not ot lock eyes with anyone as I remembered how thankful I am for deodorant. We spilled out onto the platform after several stops and walked to our Spanish cooking class. "Cocina Española" cooking in a "Spanish Style" where the students prepared tortilla española, paella, gazpacho, y cinnamon cake with powdered sugar. This activity is always very fun, but your kids made it extra special. In the cooking process, the kiddos actually prepared their dinner. Everyone had a station, and they all contributed. Not only was the cooking fun, but very delicious. A few of us even snagged seconds. This is my absolute favorite part of the trip. The kids are comfortable with each other; they share, laugh, smile, and are truly immersed in the experience.

We arrived back at the hotel fairly late, so we did quick bed checks as tomorrow we begin the journey home. We leave for the airport at 8:15 in the morning. Crazy to think it’s already time. I know everyone is ready to be home. I’m just hoping they remember the experience and have an itch to explore on their own someday. More final thoughts to come.

See you all soon.