Life in Madrid - November 28th - December 17th- Taking it easy!

Madrid, Spain 2015-2016

November 28th - December17th

Taking it easy!

These last few weeks we have decided to take it easy and relax and enjoy Madrid before our big Christmas trip in December.

They lit the Christmas lights on Friday night for the entire city so we went out to admire them!  

There were also Black Friday sales so we did a bit of shopping this weekend. There were no crazy door-buster sales but a small discount on a few essentials!

We enjoyed our usual search for a new cosy place to have a cup or coffee or a cortado. 

This is a famous Sunday market that is only open in the morning until 2pm.  It was extremely crowded even though they run it every Sunday.  They sell many things including some imports from Morocco and India.  We just looked around.  There was also a section that had very impressive antiques.  Stuff that would impress any antique collector including giant old portraits to furniture to little trinkets. 

The best pizza ever!  Truffle sauce with buffalo mozzarella on thin crust! Only one euro during happy hour from 5pm-7pm :)

Christmas lights are up!

Old fashion tea time!

Christmas shopping!

Christmas dinner

On the left - Dani from LA

Conan from Australia

Lindsey from near Chicago

Across - Esther from Spain who is also a neighbour of mine and gym buddy!

Me

Sydney from near Seattle

Adele from Vancouver

More Spanish co-workers!

Most of the staff!

Life in Madrid - November 20th - November 27th - Lisbon, Portugal!

Madrid, Spain 2015-2016

November 20th - November 27th

Lisbon, Portugal!!!

We went on a weekend trip to Lisbon, Portugal.

The arch of Rua Augusta.

Praça do Comércio

This is the Tagus river, which also runs through Spain.

These colorful tiles adorned several homes throughout the city.

Lisbon Cathedral, built between 1147 and the first decades of the 13th century. Severely weathered and battered by nature, much of the structure was damaged during an earthquake and restored since then.

Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos). The Portuguese are decendants of a proud seafaring tradition. Part of that tradition, for better or for worse, includes discovery, conquest, and subjugation of distant lands.

Belém Tower, possibly one of the most unique and fascinating structures I've ever seen. Built in the 16th century on a bank of the Tagus river, the stalwart tower has been involved in battles and has borne witness to countless ships on their paths to discovery.

The Lisbon trams. They have shuffled passengers up and down the hills of the city since 1873. Comprising five lines, the construction of the Lisbon Metro and the expansion of the bus system began the slow decline of the network.

Lisbon comes alive at night.

Our first stop was at the Castle of the Moors (Castelo dos Mouros)

Next was the Pena National Palace. The right side was a former monastery to which the left side was added to form a unified palace.

The giant kitchen inside

A 45-minute bus ride through steep, winding hills took us to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost part of Europe. If you don't lose your footing as the wind and seaspray batter you mercilessly, you stand above a unique place where the land ends and the sea begins.

It was really windy!

On our last day, with only a few hours to spare before our flight back to Madrid, we took a ride on the tram.

And as the last stop, what would a trip be without a taste of the local sweets? We went to Confeitaria Nacional, serving baked goods since 1829, their specialty is "pastel de nata," an egg tart pastry. A sweet sendoff indeed!

Mark returned from his trip to England on Tuesday.  We all went out for a final dinner on Wednesday night and he left for his train to France on Friday morning.