high school reunion madrid

I don't get a lot of visitors here in Madrid...shocking, I know, since it's so close to everything. So, when a friend from high school told me he and a group of his friends from college would be in Madrid as part of a "European tour," I got pretty excited. Never mind that we hadn't seen each other for two years, or that I didn't know any of his friends. They're in my new home, and I feel responsible to show them around. Responsible isn't the right word. I'm proud of where I live, and I want to show it off. Especially the food. Also, I have an ego, and I like to show people that I can speak the spanish. No one's completely selfless. But anyway. Initially, I was a little nervous, because I didn't know any of these people, and they're all engineers. Chemical engineers. What do I know about chemical engineering? Nothing. Not one thing. But you give people alcohol and olives, and everyone gets along. Tapas bring people together. I really enjoyed Dave's friend's explanation of tapas: "So, you just kinda snack until your full? And you stop whenever you want? And that's dinner?" Basically, yes. Somethings are fried, some are hot, some are cold, but most things are really good. And tapas was just the start of making friends. If I say so myself, I was a pretty awesome tourguide. So my dates and historical figures might be a little suspect (who says you can't just make stuff up? Who's going to know?) In addition to fabricating history, I did things that I had never done in Madrid. Such as ride in the boats in El Retiro, the Central Park of Madrid. After more than a year in Madrid, there's no excuse for that kind of inexperience. It's one of the more touristy things to do. But when you're with a group of tourists, it needs to happen. Overall, my "tour" of Madrid was pretty good, inclusive. I covered all bases- tapas to gin tonic to jamón. Wait, seeing stuff? Decidedly not important. It's Madrid. Eat, drink, and take two aspirin in the morning.

scholz tour de france

Our "tour de france" is about three weeks shorter, minimal bike activity, and a lot more bread, in all of its many forms. Also, there was a significant amount of cheese. But let's start at the beginning...(also, apologies for not writing anything for a month...sorry?). So, my brother came to visit me in Madrid, and, seeing as he has already seen Madrid, I decided that we needed to go to France...because why not? Under my brilliant plan, we went to Toulouse and Nice. Why not Paris, or Lyon, or Bordeaux? Because I was paying, and I'm working as a teacher. You have to be realistic. So, off we went, on the smallest plane ever. Toulouse, sometimes known as the Pink City, because the buildings are made of pink bricks, is a sleepy, very nice town. A small city, although Spencer would say "medium-sized" ("Burlington is a small city!"). They are very nice there, especially patient if your French is really basic, and sometime you don't understand at all. But hey, no worries. Our first meal in Toulouse was memorable, mostly because I ordered little tiny squids. Calamari is usually unrecognizeble, since it comes in the shape of rings...these were definitely tiny little squids. And then there were these strange looking mushrooms on my side salad...I popped one in my mouth, and CRUNCH!!!! What seemed to be mushrooms were actually frogs' legs. I know it seems hard to confuse the two, but it happens. They didn't really taste like anything, and it was really a pain to try to eat them and avoid all the little bones. But whatever. Toulouse, we did a lot of nothing. Very relaxing. Saw some churches, the Natural Science Museum (which was in French...shocking). Then we got on a train, and headed to Nice. I'll spare you the puns. Nice is definitely not Toulouse. Toulouse is a university town, sleepy, calm, homey. Nice is a tourist mecca. A really elaborate, expensive trap, but beautiful all the same. And that's not to say that there aren't little undiscovered pockets of places to eat, zones that are more residential, etc. Like everywhere, you just have to look, and walk. A lot. Also, I want to apologize to all visitors/fellow travellers. I go on vacation, and I just walk. And walk. And then I sit down for a little bit. But then I walk some more. Witnesses to this are both my parents and my brother, and several friends. But my brother held up fairly well. He's a trooper. Even when I insisted we walk around the harbour to the other side, only to immediately have to walk back. But we did get sno-cones!! And they were delicious. For me, well worth the blisters. But other than Mediterranean death marches, we beached it, we saw some museums, we climbed a fort. Normally southern France things. Then we went back to sweltering Madrid. And pretty much just sweat. Gross, but such is life without A/C. But overall, I think we had a good time. No epic fighting, no swearing, no pushing. Sigh, we're so grown-up!