I just had a great week with my parents! Dan and Rita joined me in Madrid for 7 days. I kept them as busy as possible, and they were adventurous tourists. They even learned a few Spanish phrases!
On Friday night we met up with some fellow Elmhurstians for dinner after our long adventure to find their apartment. It was very tasty and a lot of fun. The next day, they were very tired and slept until 11! That is probably the latest that I have ever seen my dad sleep in. We spent the day walking around their neighborhood, La Latina, and eating Spanish food. We also went to the Royal Palace. There are 2,800 rooms in the Royal Palace but only 28 are open for viewing. I think we were all blown away by the amount of wealth in that place.
On Sunday, we travelled to Toledo! We took the high speed train which got us there in 33 minutes. Toledo is well known for its famous El Greco painting and it's enormous cathedral. We saw both, tried some tapas and mazapan, and took a scenic bus tour. Toledo is well known for it's swords and knives, and my dad got some sort of new knife/gadget/wire cutter thing. He was like a little kid on Christmas. And my mom got a snazzy sangria pitcher. My mom has all of the pictures, so I will post some once she gets them to me.
On Monday, I showed them my campus, which really isn't even a campus. It is very small and there are 5 buildings total. They wanted to snap some pics while we were there. Then I went to class while they had some sangria (of course).
I am very proud of their ability to figure out the public transportation on Tuesday! I had class all day, so I told them to go to El Escorial. They rode the bus out to the monastery and toured the building. El Escorial is definitely a must see if you come to Madrid, so I'm glad that they were brave enough to do that! When they got back on Tuesday night, we had a delicious dinner at my apartment with Gabby and Roberto. They were able to experience the gourmet cooking that I get to have every night over here. Gabby made empanadas and my mom told me that I must learn how to make them before I come back from Spain.
On Wednesday, their last day, we went to Mercado de San Miguel for some tapas, then to the Prado, then to Retiro Park. It was the perfect day, except I sat in bird poop. For dinner, we went to La Botin--the oldest restaurant in the world and Hemingway's favorite. After our hearty meal, we went to a Mexican restaurant where my parents had made a friend the night before. It was the perfect ending to their visit! I was so sad to see them leave this morning, and so thankful that they came to see me. If only my sisters were here, it would make my semester complete!
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