Spain 2018 – Arrival

Our trip this spring was to Spain! Prior to traveling, Keller and I watched a 3 hour documentary produced by the BBC to catch up on our Spanish history. I am very interested to learn more about the country and see how 700+ years of Islamic rule has influenced the culture and cuisine of Spain. We’d always heard about Ferdinand and Isabella (and thus Christopher Columbus), the Spanish Inquisition, and the Spanish Armada in school, but I knew very little else about Spain’s history.

Our travels to Madrid were the smoothest international transfers to date. Hooray for learning some things and getting better! We drove to DFW Thursday afternoon and spent the night at Min’s house. Keller dropped the truck off at Granpop’s house, who is graciously allowing us to park it in his driveway while we’re gone. Thanks Granpops!

Min took us to the airport in the morning and we were off! First flight was from DFW to JFK in New York City, followed by a three hour layover, and then the long haul overnight flight to Barcelona.

Both kids were troopers on the plane. Poor Kamy felt nauseous for most of the flight, but it was much better than last time and the medication we had on hand certainly eased her symptoms. New rule — no food for Kamy on the plane! She was fine until the food showed up. She did manage to sleep for about 2 hours. Not a lot, but a lot more than zero!

Caden did great on the flight — no nausea and he managed to sleep on the floor between the seats for about four hours total. He was the best rested out of all of us!

Keller powered through with some medication prescribed by his doctor and had a smooth flight as well. I managed to sleep for about 2 hours crossways on the seat, despite the arm rests not lifting up.

Once we landed in Barcelona, we caught a train to the Sants station for the last part of our trip. Daddy and Caden always like to be at the front of the train, and this time we were the only ones up there. The driver let the kids watch from the front of the train! Both kids got to push buttons to close doors and blow the horn too! What a neat first experience in Spain.

Once we arrived at Barcelona Sants station, we walked to Contratapas for lunch. We ordered the lunch daily special — all of which was very tasty!

Then it was back to the station to wait for our high speed AVE train to Madrid. We were all a bit bleary eyed, so once we settled in our first class seats, the kids and I took naps while flying along at 300 kmh! The ride was uneventful and smooth and brought us right into the center of Madrid.

It took a bit to figure out which metro tickets we needed in Madrid, but once Keller stood in line for the third time we were ready to catch the subway and then walk to the apartment. We’re pretty close to the center of Madrid and we’ll be doing a lot of walking and won’t need to use public transportation very often.

I think our apartment will work out pretty well. The location is great and is right in the middle of a bustling district with many restaurants, plazas, and people milling about. The kitchen equipment is a bit sad and lacking, but they brought me a few new items and I can make do with the rest.

Otherwise I went to the produce vendor and the grocery store around the corner for some basics, cooked dinner, and called it a night. We are all a bit loopy and over tired. The neighbors by the kids’ bedroom are pretty loud, so they had a hard time falling asleep, but eventually we did all get some rest.