Madrid, Spain…Day 1

Survival.  That's what we refer to day 1 in Spain as.  After an 8 hour long flight, which was overnight, in which we couldn't get any sleep due to a crying baby for FIVE hours (oh that poor mom…she looked worse than me!), and getting to Spain and not being able to check in to our hotel for three MORE hours…that's right, survival.  We were SO tired.  I mean, even to type that feels like an understatement.  But we made the best of what we had…so we meandered to the Puerto Del Sol (Gateway of the Sun) Sqaure and just hung out…until we really thought we may not find our way back to the hotel for being in a sleep coma stupor…so we headed back and just hung out in the lobby until they got our room ready :)  We did enjoy some "spanish toast" and cafe' before heading back..

Sitting in the Plaza Santa Ana wondering what to do for the next three hours…can you tell we've had no sleep?? :)

Deciding to go get some breakfast at a nearby cafe'..

The cafe' really looked like a bar...

Then, heading out to Puerto Del Sol (Gateway of the Sun) to stroll around while we continued to wait…we were approached by a man who asked, "Do you want a picture with a REAL bullfighter??"

We were both too tired to argue…so we agreed :)  It costed 1 Euro for the both of us.  No prob!

 We saw this statue of a black bear eating a tree…later we found out that Madrid was known for its many black bears that used to roam the region many years ago.  Perfect for Matt who LOVES all things bears…Chicago Bears, Baylor Bears, etc...

In the square at Puerto Del Sol...

This is a Museum of Ham…"Museo de Jamon'"… Madrid (or Spain, rather) is known for its Ham.  It's everywhere!

After getting to the hotel and getting a three hour nap, we were very refreshed and headed back out for the day!  Time for lunch!

We were able to go to two of Madrid's famous museums…the first being Reina Sofia. 

And the second being the Prado Museum (which I kept calling Prada) and admired it's BEAUTIFUL art!  

By the end of the day, and I mean 8:00PM…(see how light it still is outside??)…we were exhausted, and settled in for a few tapas and drinks at the below "Dolores" tapas bar, then headed back to the hotel. 

Yeah, it doesn't get dark here until after 10:00PM.  CRAZY. Looking forward to a good nights sleep and a full day tomorrow!!  

By the way, we're EIGHT hours ahead of you guys in the central time zone!