Saul, Josh and my dad are out car hunting for Josh at the moment. It's true, goldilocks will be no more. It's been awhile since we last blogged so I'm playing catch up while the husband is out being a good brother-in-law.
We ended classes two weeks before we were due to depart Spain so that we would have time to say our final goodbyes to Madrid. We spent our time going to museums, eating Spanish desserts, stressing about our Airbnb landlord being a nut (different story for a different time), going to doctor's appointments for our little nugget, checking out the Christmas lights around the city, and somewhere in there we found time for some rest and relaxation. However, my favorite thing we did was going to Parque Retiro and renting a row boat to take out on the lake. The weather had been dreary and cold but somehow we managed to have a day that was sunny and just beautiful! It was the perfect way to wrap up our time in Spain.
Christmas decorations around Madrid
Sophia Reina Museum
The best part about this exhibit is my handsome husband :)
Lots of Salvador Dali
Rodilla was our favorite place for coffee until my ulcer started acting up. Saul continued the tradition and I started getting pastries.
Writing postcards to our Grandma's right before we left.
Saul had much better rowing form than I did.
After the final two weeks in Madrid were finished, we hopped on the high speed train to Barcelona. The train was clean, gorgeous with lots of leg room, and just super awesome. I actually think it beats the Ferrari high speed train in Italy which I didn't think possible. Even though we have both been to Barcelona, we wanted to spend some more time there before heading back to the States. We ate our final Domino's Pizza which just so happens to be 1000x better in Spain than in the US, saw more Christmas lights, rode the Subway to the Sagrada Famila, and just spent time enjoying our hotel that had an unlimited supply of hot water (something that was majorly lacking in our Madrid apartment). As great as Spain was, and as amazing as it was to learn a new language in its' birthplace, we were ready to get back to the good ol' USA.
Barcelona
Sagrada Familia
Saul with some nom worthy taffy from a Spanish Christmas market
Churros -- Barcelona style. Yessss!
They love their x's in Catalunya
Which brings me to my next topic... overstaying your visa is simply not worth the stress. When Saul and I booked our plane tickets we knew that we wanted to arrive Stateside right before Christmas. All Americans are automatically granted a 90 day visa in the European Union. We may or may not have been very close to that 90 day maximum (plus or minus some odd weeks). What we failed to consider was our inherent stress-case [ness] would make it near impossible to just go with the flow and forget that we were doing something that was definitely may or may not have been illegal. The day finally came in Barcelona that it was time to go to the airport. Off to the airport in Barcelona we went and...
Check-in was pretty amazing! The gentleman at the counter offered us two free checked bags each (they are typically 80 euros a piece if you want to check more than one) which was amazing because we had huge carry-ons. We assumed it was because he saw my growing pregnant belly and wanted to be nice. Next was the terrifying part: customs. We gathered all of our nerve, walked up to the empty customs check point, and handed the gentleman our passports (Saul's on top because his Spanish entry stamp was on a page with lots of other stamps). We held our breath and the guy literally goes "buenos dias!" stamps our passports without a second glance and sends us on or way. Yep, we stressed for nothing and were in the clear. I have read however, that this is all very case-by-case and punishment can range from a small fine to deportation for up to five years so we were pretty happy with a simple "Buenos Dias!"
Check-in was pretty amazing! The gentleman at the counter offered us two free checked bags each (they are typically 80 euros a piece if you want to check more than one) which was amazing because we had huge carry-ons. We assumed it was because he saw my growing pregnant belly and wanted to be nice. Next was the terrifying part: customs. We gathered all of our nerve, walked up to the empty customs check point, and handed the gentleman our passports (Saul's on top because his Spanish entry stamp was on a page with lots of other stamps). We held our breath and the guy literally goes "buenos dias!" stamps our passports without a second glance and sends us on or way. Yep, we stressed for nothing and were in the clear. I have read however, that this is all very case-by-case and punishment can range from a small fine to deportation for up to five years so we were pretty happy with a simple "Buenos Dias!"
A typical Spanish meal (we had it for dinner) at a cafeteria near the airport.
We had the "Paris Room" at our hotel which was pretty ironic.
My messy bag.
Saul's immaculate packing job :). Next time he's agreed to pack for me.
Pretty morning at the airport.
Saul and our plane. Tiny jet for Spain --> NYC
Little nugget looked extra big and helped us get perks from the airline! :)
We made it to JFK!
So we learned Spanish, experienced the Spanish medical system, found out that Airbnb is just not for us, and escaped deportation. All-in-all it was a fabulous final hoo-rah before our little one gets here in April.
-C
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