Touring Spain with Papa & Popo

During the first week of May my parents, Brad & Lisa Palmer, came to visit us in Madrid. They were our first family to visit us here! We're pretty sure they mainly came to see their grandbaby but we enjoyed our time with them as well.

The weather was unseasonably cool which I think we all enjoyed. We picked them up from the airport and brought them back to our flat on the Metro. We had a relaxed first day, but they were able to attend church with us. The following day we had a nice afternoon in Retiro Park.

The first few days of their visit we just hung out around the flat and our neighborhood. They got to visit our mercados (grocery stores) and our park (Parque Berlin). I locked us out of the flat :) so we took a stroll down to Brendan's office to get his keys. Thankfully his office is only about 15 minutes away. That day was actually pretty chilly & windy so we stopped in Starbucks where Dad said he got the best coffee of the trip...good ol' Starbucks!

In the middle of the week we took a trip down to Toledo. We took a high-speed train out of Atocha train station in Madrid. The trip was only 30 minutes. We planned on taking a morning train but by the time we arrived at the train station and figured out what we were doing we missed the train we had hoped to take. It worked out well though...we had time to walk around the station and have lunch at Burger King. :)

{Charlotte LOVED Papa's glasses}

{Charlotte's first train ride}

Toledo was beautiful! We stayed overnight at a great hotel I found online (those online finds are hit or miss)...but this one was a hit! Two days gave us plenty of time to roam around the narrow, cobblestoned streets soaking in the hundreds of years of history that surrounded us. The Toledo cathedral is one of the greatest Medieval cathedrals in Europe. I am always awed at the ability of builders to build such amazing structures without modern equipment. I spent the whole time in the cathedral staring at the ceiling...my neck hurt so bad! Charlotte enjoyed the cathedral too....actually I think she slept pretty much the whole time. :)

{In front of the cathedral}

In Toledo, I also overcame my fear of heights to climb to the top of a church's towers for some amazing views of the city. My dad had offered to stay below with Charlotte while Brendan, Mom, and I climbed up. When I saw the stairs I realized why he had offered to stay below! He's about as fond of heights as I am. Brendan and Mom continued encouraging me to keep going to the top and I'm glad I did. The city was beautiful from that viewpoint. As a side note, Brendan doesn't quite understand why I'll fly planes if I'm afraid of heights...it's hard to explain but its just not the same in my mind.

For Dad and Mom's last two days in Madrid, we set out to tour the city. While Brendan finished up the work week on Friday, we took a double-decker bus tour of historic Madrid. We caught all the major sites...the Palace, Gran Via, Plaza Major, and the Prado Museum. On Saturday, we went back down to Puerte del Sol and Gran Via for some shopping and sight-seeing. Charlotte finally got her own sunglasses....

We stopped in for breakfast at the McDonald's on Gran Via. This location was once a jewelry store and McDonald's was not allowed to alter the interior when they put up shop there, so needless to say it is a very nice McDonald's. Lisa even had tiramisu...can't get that at McDonald's in the U.S! We walked around the rest of the day and ended at Hard Rock Cafe for a nice American dinner. We had to wait for a hour but the burgers were great!

We were sad taking them to the airport. Charlotte loved having her Papa & Popo around. And we loved the games of Five Crowns and laughs while watching Brendan play Super Mario Bros! We were so blessed by their time with us. I can't thank God enough for the incredible parents He blessed me with!

*Check out more pictures from their visit by clicking the "Kinne Photos" on the right.