Mama Lundquist is in town!
She got in last friday, I picked her up at the airport with a coffee (of course) and from there we proceeded to explore Madrid until Monday. So far she has seen: Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Cibeles, (3 biggest plazas in Madrid), Museo Prado, Museo Sorolla, (2 of the best!) the royal Botanical Gardens, Cafe Gijon (old literati cafe) and Cafe Comercial (oldest cafe in Madrid). We also went to the Sunday Rastro aka outdoor flea market, the zoo!! (which i always get really excited about and then proceed to get sad once i see the caged animals), a flamenco show at Casa Patas, and churros w/chocolate. She
drank sangria, ate a variety of tapas, and even saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And she is now an expert on the metro system. I'm so proud.
On to Toledo...
... on Monday, we made a day trip to Toledo aka the medieval capital of Spain. Aaron would've loved it.. I begged mom to buy him a sword or a suit of chain mail or at the very least an old metal chess set. She settled on a letter opener-shaped-like-a-sword. Lame! Anyway, it was cool, very old-worldy and castle-y and Lord of the Rings-y and such. And they even had a doner kebab!
In other news, we also went to Sevilla for a few days. I like to think of Sevilla as the bat cave of Catholicism: like the home base, the place to always return to. I think every Catholic in Spain was there this week. Not being religious myself, it was more interesting for me from a cultural viewpoint, but i know mom liked it. Small cobblestone streets, processions with big floats (floats?) of the virgin or jesus with candles, incense, men/women/children in hooded KKK-esque cloaks, crosses, the whole deal. It was especially beautiful at night when everything was lit up.
We walked along the Guadalquivir River, I translated every item from each menu even though we would just end up ordering randomly anyway, she worried about finding souvenirs for each of my 12 brothers and sisters, we both got exhausted walking hours each day. But it was well worth it and a great time all in all. I've really missed her! And i'm glad to be able to share some of what i've learned and experienced with her. Yay family :)
Aaand tomorrow.. I'm heading to Paris! I don't speak a word of french and it might rain, but i could give a shit. It's going to be me, a bottle of wine, and a good friend in front of the tower/ Versaille/ Moulin Rouge/ the Seine/ Disneyland (just kidding.. no but really)/ Notre Dame / Louvre etc. Life could be worse.
