Today was a thing of beauty. It started with a brisk walk UP (literally) to Caroline´s home to meet for some trail exploration at the base of the Sierra de Guadarrama - the mountains that my town(s) rest against. We went high! The higher we went, the more beautiful the view. We could see all the way to Madrid! Well, you technically could see a little bit of Madrid from the patio of her au pair family´s patio (the house is insanely huge).
The nice thing about the hike was that we only saw one other person the whole time, it was spotless and the trails were wide! We got to a point on the border of the Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen). If you have ever seen a picture of a huge cross memorializing the Spanish Civil War (which was just fought in the 1930´s btw), this is it. I WILL BRING MY CAMERA NEXT TIME! There is a stone fence (as is normal here) bordering it and let me tell you, the climb upwards was so STEEEEP!! Talk about a workout, but we made it. It was so fascinating to be hiking along a historic area. I hope to learn more about it while here!
Four hours later I was home. My hands were very swollen and I don´t know why. They were swollen after yesterday´s run as well. Still trying to figure that out.
Today I got to meet Alberto´s madre! (The father´s Mom) She is a tiiiiiny Spanish woman and she still lives in Madrid. She doesn´t speak any English at all (made me sad that I don´t know Spanish again) but was so sweet. She is such a typical Grandmother - she brought the boys yummy treats and the biggest wheel of cheese I ever seen...and it is tasty! Alberto´s father passed away just last year and so she is looking to buy a flat that is just down the street from us.
This afternoon-evening Mario, Julio and I played tag. Let me just say that wearing flip flops while chasing two very spry Spanish children was not my wisest choice. I taught them "Red Light Green Light" and they LOVED it! Little Julio came up to me as we were walking back home and grabbed my hand to hold and we skipped like school children all the way home. We waited with the Grandmother before her bus came and he picked flowers for her and I. Precious.
Silvia spent the day in Madrid with friends and came home just in time for dinner. She is fantastic. I asked Alberto earlier today if they ever fight and he said never. I can believe it. They are both such fun-loving and energetic happy people. I see it in their children so much. He said it takes too much energy to fight and that really there is never anything that would cause such tension. Silvia jokes that Alberto forgets things (like telling me or her that his Madre was coming today haha) and he jokes that she doesn´t always get away with being perfect. They do so in such a way that is different. It´s lighthearted and sweet. Definitely things I need to remember.
Well, tomorrow morning Caroline and I are going into Madrid for the day to meet Katie. I´m hoping for some more tapas!
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