Thursday, June 12, 2008

Madrid


I arrived in Madrid on Sunday after a long and fairly uneventful flight, except for the thunder storm in Newark which delayed our flight over an hour after we were already on the plane.
When I left Virginia on Saturday the temperature was in the upper 90's. The temperature in Madrid: the mid 50's with a chilly drizzle. The rain continued off and on until yesterday, Wednesday. The seasoned traveler that I am only packed for a hot summer in Madrid, not a damp, windy, cold totally out of character Madrid. Monday I bought a sweater.
I have a tiny, but cute apartment three blocks from Puerta de Sol. It has been a comfortable refuge from the rain.
The truckers in Spain have been picketing and threatening to strike on Monday. There has been a run on the supermercados (supermarkets) and food is getting a little scarce. It's just part of the experience.
Tomorrow I will hopefully post some pictures I have taken to far.
But right now I'm going to head to the supermercado.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Packing

On Saturday, that's two days from now, I leave for Madrid. I should be packing, I should be doing laundry, vacuuming and running around crying "I have so much to do, I have so much to do." Instead I sit here at the computer posting a comment on my blog.
I will be in Madrid for three weeks, all by myself. Okay, there are 4.5 million other people in the city but I will be there without husband, friend or family. I'm going to improve my Spanish, to get beyond the grammar and book Spanish and really learn to speak and understand it. Besides, Ilove Spain. This will be my third visit.
Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of the city and its yarn shops.