So many things to tell you!

(shorts, bra, my new pretty shoes)

Hello! Yesterday’s post was a little jumbled with our time in Madrid and I had some time later on to write a more detailed summary while on the train, so here we go!

Shockingly, there wasn’t one tear (including from me!) the whole way to Spain. The kids were thrilled to have unlimited screen time and snacks but none of us slept more than two or three hours. We arrived to Madrid and dropped off our baggage at the Airbnb (much cheaper than hotels and it had 3 rooms) and headed to a restaurant a few blocks from where we were staying.

When I travel, I ask the server to bring me whatever they are known for and this egg, potato, and cheese dish was absolute comfort food.

We then went to the Airbnb and passed out. We really wanted to stay awake until the evening but we were all about to have meltdowns so after a few hours of sleep and we went out to explore. Beck slept longer in the stroller but the rest of us felt pretty good.

We walked 6ish miles that afternoon/evening to see the Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace, fountains, and roamed every street that was calling our name. Brooke was twirling around the whole time.

We went to the mercado de san maguel for dinner which was amazing. We had pizza, empanadas, fruit, and ice cream. This place is a must!

More walking! The weather was a little chilly in the evening but was absolutely perfect. We all felt amazing in sweatshirts and coats (and shorts for the boys).

We got back to the Airbnb and I’m surprised we made it to our beds and didn’t just fall over from exhaustion.

Before I get into all of the highs from my birthday, there was a low. I really missed not having a birthday text from Mer. Nobody was more on top of keeping track of everyone’s birthday than Mer and I really missed having a witty text with plenty of emojis to wake up to that morning from her.

We woke up at 9ish and I went out for a 6-mile run and came home to cards from the family. We jumped into a bolt (uber) to go to a breakfast spot with great reviews. We got there and saw that a Chocalateir was next door and made the executive decision to go there instead. I won’t ever be able to eat a churro again unless I have a cup of warm thick chocolate to dip it into.

I am pretty sure the entire day we were pointing at every building we saw and oohhhhing over the architecture.

We were thrilled that City Sightseeing (ps not sponsored by them but I won their competition for Hungary and then they invited us back to their next marathon in Seville) just started in Madrid so we were able to take the tour around the city. The bus (Beck was in heaven on a double-decker bus) took us around the entire city and we were able to jump off and back on wherever we wanted.

The Retiro Park was a highlight for us all. It was massive and the paddle boats in the lake were so much fun.

We could have spent an entire day in this park.

PS it’s fun to be the one packing the suitcases so I can make them pack as much as possible haha.

Back on the bus to see more! We saw the whole city from here and listened to the tour.

We stopped at El Rey de los Tacos for lunch and a mountain of guacamole that brought so much happiness.

Our next stop was the Royal Palace.

This type of tour was a first for our kids and they were shocked over how large the palace is and that people actually lived there.

We then went to a Flamenco show that was incredible. The dancers, singers, and musicians were beyond talented. Beck slept for most of it but the other three kids didn’t blink and now I want to take a dancing class.

We then had the best meal of my life at My Pasta. I’m afraid another meal will never top what we ate there. When we walked into this restaurant they told us that because we didn’t have a reservation, we would only have an hour to eat. Andrew and I looked at each other and laughed because we weren’t sure we had ever stayed in a restaurant for longer than 45 minutes with all of our kids. Something I admire about the people of Spain is that they know how to live. They take time to really enjoy meals together with their people and experience life to the fullest.

Beck loved it too, we had never seen him eat so much in his life.

The next morning I went for a 32-minute run, packed up as fast as we could and then we were off to the train station. We checked off Beck’s biggest dream. He saw dozens of trains and then took a high-speed train to Seville. The views were breathtaking the entire way.

Thanks for letting me share with you guys. It’s time for me to carb load and get ready for a marathon as much as I can without it affecting our sightseeing and family time ha!

I would love to hear something you admire about the people of a place you have visited!

What is your run today?