**So I realized
after I wrote this whole post that a lot of it is in Spanish. Sorry about that!
Google Translate is helpful most of
the time.**
Today was such a
great day! Here's why:
- I left on time for class so I didn't have to book it to the school.
- Our presentation about all the helado we've tried was great; followed by other fantastic themes like The Legend of Zelda, Powwow dances, How to Find a Novio on Study Abroad, and Milka Chocolate (complete with regalitos! I <3 Milka).
- Rastro (flea market) after class where I tasted the best melón (honeydew?) in my life.
- I worked on the blog for the first time in over a week and published two whole posts. This makes 3 in one day!
- I woke myself up from a 10 minute siesta - with no alarm! This is kind of a big deal - momentous, if you will.
- I went into Madrid (surprise, surprise…we typically meet at the train station at 3:30pm to catch the 15:46 train to the Atocha station. It's been our routine for the past week and a half and I love it.) and finally got the zapatillas!!! I even had to talk to the man and ask him to go downstairs and get the sizes in the colors I wanted - I did it all by myself, very proficient-like. I love them so much! I've been geeking out about them all day. Now I can't wait to give Sam and Daddy theirs :)
- I had the best frozen yogurt of my life! It's a little shop called llaollao and let me just tell you, I will never be able to eat Yogurtland or Spoon It Up! the same ever again. Oh, and I want to buy honey when I get back to Utah and just drizzle it over every dessert I eat. Just sayin'.
- I got on my first Madrid city bus and discovered the Biblioteca Nacional de España (kind of like the Library of Congress, I thnik) is closed on Mondays. But it is a beautifully majestic building just off Plaza de Colón (as in Cristobal Colón or Christopher Columbus). I can't wait to go back and walk around inside.
- With the 30ish minutes we had before we needed to head back to Alcalá for la cena, we decided to drop by the stores across the street from the Prado where you can find lots of Toledo-made recuerdos and Lladró (the other souvie I premeditated getting here after my parents brought home their Elena - a beautiful piece of porcelain from Valencia). Here is where I met my new best friend :) I've been looking at Lladró…well, since I got here…but more seriously on the past few trips into Madrid. I was oohing and ahhing at a few of the pieces when the store owner, a nice Spanish man in his 70s, greeted me and asked if I knew what I was looking for. I wasn't in a hurry to buy anything, but I figured I'd let him give me some schpiels and practice my Spanish. So I told him what I like (pastel colors, flowing hair and skirts, and flowers - it must have flowers) and that I want to buy something small because I am a student and don't have a lot of space. He recommended a few pieces and I liked his suggestions; they were ones I had been looking at. One of them was a young toredor that is only sold in Spain - he is precious :) From there, the conversation progressed to stories about the toredor and how the way he tips his hat means different things, more things I didn’t know about La Corrida de Toros, dirty jokes about the costume, how they actually make the figurines, and how he has learned a significant amount of English simply by talking to tourist customers. I think he liked me because he ended up giving me a book about the behind-the-scenes process of making Lladró. Since I wasn't ready to buy today, I told him I'd like to come back later. He offered me his card and said he would also give me a 'good price', whatever that means. I'm still going to shop around before I make my final decision of which piece I want, but I will definitely be going back to that store. I loved that guy! Honestly, that may have been my favorite shopping experience so far.
All in all, a
marvelous day filled with great company, fantastic weather, and lots of
success. Vale.
