Anyway, the past two weekends has been a return to touristy Madrid, but this time I got to be the tour guide. First up, Aki! She posted on my facebook that she wanted to come visit and I was like, cool, but that's really all of a sudden. But she actually came! And it was fantastic! We walked around the city based out of her apartment, which was literally in Sol, the city center. We spent a fairly ridiculous time at El Mercado de San Miguel, an indoor market with different stations with different food, from pimientos de padrón to sushi to French macaroons. Aki's dreamland, to say the least. We were there eating dinner on the night that Passover ended, but interestingly enough, it wasn't really special. Yes, Aki too is gluten free so we continued to scrape cheese off of pieces of bread and avoid anything fried in batter. So much for a chametz feast. We also participated in a jóvenes judíos en Madrid event-a night out at a bar to celebrate the end of Pesach. We observed the crowd of 18-young 30s, chatted, and enjoyed the ridiculously fancy cocktails. After we were worn out by exploring the city, we relaxed and watched Being Elmo. Sweetest movie ever. Overall, a super unexpected and incredibly fun visit! And I kinda managed to show her around...except when I got lost. Don't accuse me of not getting to know Madrid. I can't get myself around LA either. Then, Tuesday rolled around and the much anticipated visit of my parents finally arrived! Unfortunately I had this annoying thing known as "class" getting in the way. It was okay though. We met up for dinner on Tuesday night and ate a touristy-we have an English menu restaurant in Plaza Mayor. When I asked the waiter if they have anything with meat or shellfish, he legitimately started laughing. We managed to find something. The next day, my parents ventured off to Toledo while I sat in class. That night I actually had a goodbye dinner organized by my program, eap, at a restaurant overlooking the Real Madrid stadium. It was really nice, and I discovered that I was heavily featured in the eap promotional video. What? Rebecca volunteered to be in a video? She likes to talk on camera? You're shocked, I know.
On Thursday, mis padres y yo took a tour of El Palacio Real and walked around the Botanical Gardens next to the Prado. That night, we went to Botín, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world despite the fact that it is not located in Sub-Saharan Africa, with my friend Jessie and her parents. It was so nice to finally meet everyone! It was an East Coast-West Coast Jewish dinner party.
The next day, my parents came to my temporary home and took the grand tour (that takes about 30 seconds) and met my host mom. The conversation was slightly comical. My parents made a valiant effort to communicate in the Spanish that every Southern Californian native inherently knows. My host mom just doesn't know any English. Both glanced over at me with a "huh?" look every couple of exchanges. All in all, I think the notion of "thank you for taking care of our daughter" and "it's been so nice having your daughter here" got across. Next up, a walk through el Parque Retiro. That place is so big. Getting into it is easy, but getting out... Hey, if you wander long enough, you'll find your way. My tried-and-trusted strategy. We had lunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant with a menu full of options for everyone! That night, I took my parents to Shabbat services and dinner at the Comunidad Judía aka Jabad aka Chabad. Guess what? No interrogation! I was recognized by the guy who asks the security questions! Success! At dinner, we sat across from a French family with 3 boys. We were constantly cracking up at the fact that the 11 year old could simply be a tzofim camper at Alonim. Seriously nothing different about him. Some things are just the same in every country.
On Saturday, my parents went to the Prado while I wrote an essay (2 pages). Then, we lunched at everyone's new favorite restaurant. I actually stumbled upon it with Aki the weekend before, and decided to take my parents back. Major success. We did some souvenir shopping (aka presents for grandchildren) and then went to a Chagall exhibit that's temporarily in Madrid. Finally, the answer to celebrated art that doesn't involve crucifixions. It did involve a fiddler on the roof. Score. That night, we went to a "dinner and flamenco show" event. Do you remember how much I loved flamenco the first time I saw it? It's possible I loved it even more this time. We were seated next to another table of Californians with totally different lives. They're dairy farmers and live near Fresno. We all enjoyed the food and show immensely.
Finally, on Sunday, we left Madrid and visited El Escorial, a monastery (still in use) and palace (once upon a time). Still don't understand how they built these monstrosities. This one was made of granite and aimed to show the reformation folk that the Catholic church was still all-powerful. Every once in a while, we could hear the soprano voices of the nuns singing mass. There was a beautiful library with the liberal arts represented in a fresco on the ceiling. Clearly my favorite part. Back in Madrid, we found a tapas restaurant in Plaza de Santa Ana, the place to be for tapas, and enjoyed the atmosphere filled with some tourists and lots of Madrileños. It was a perfect conclusion to a perfect weekend with my parents. Did I mention that I also got to be a "fancy" tourist and take cabs home from their hotel? Things you all the sudden let yourself do when your parents are around. You also try to stop making decisions. It's fantastic.
And now, I've arrived at my last weekend of Madrid. More traveling coming up and then home. But I can't reflect on that now--it seems to weird.
Catch up on Jewish life in Madrid! http://www.globaljewishvoice.com/author/rebeccapowell/
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