Stop #4: Noviciado. Linea 2

Life in Madrid is not boring.  Since my last post, we have had a 48 hour snowfall, our shipping container was FINALLY delivered, and we have completed several metro stops.  Our Spanish doesn’t seem to be improving much, but we are feeling more comfortable with our surroundings and navigating the city.  The Metro Challenge seems to be accomplishing its intended goal… we are getting off our bums and exploring our new city. 😊

Make no mistake… this is a gut-checking adventure at times.  There are days when the four walls of our apartment seem to hold the only friendliness in the city.  So, last weekend we decided to seek out the other English speakers.  (Side note:  One of the quirks of Spain is that they don’t really eat breakfast.  A coffee and cigarette will get them through until mid-afternoon when they will have their three-hour lunch).  I, however, love breakfast.  It is, by far, my favorite meal of the day.  My marvelous, intuitive husband realized that I needed comfort and found us a Bagel Brunch in a second-hand bookstore that was run by Americans.  It was a lively, popular place that was full of people who also seemed to crave speaking English as much as we did.  The bagels were good, and the mimosas were delicious.  It’s funny how just an hour of familiarity fills the tank.

As we walked around Madrid, we watched Madrilinos enjoying their Saturday.  We watched a father and son play “futbol” in a square.  We took lots of pictures of Madrid’s street art.  Our observation is that Spaniards have figured out how to keep time slow.  They seem to savor life in a much different way than we Americans do.  What we didn’t notice until later was that, in just a month, we have also adopted this pace of life.  Our day was spent walking, talking, taking pictures and just being with each other.  When we returned home, we felt that Noviciado might be our favorite stop.  That was…until Tuesday 😊