¡Madrid!

¡¡Hello everyone!!

Hopefully everyone is doing well and enjoying the end of winter!  We've heard the weather has been getting better so that's very exciting.  Madrid is very warm, unseasonably warm in fact and we have been trying to get outside as often as possible as we have had about 3 full weeks of hot sunny days!

We have been busy working on a few different projects, the wedding has been the focus of most of our off time.  Finally setting a date!!  On August 4, 2012 we will be getting married in Detroit.  We have been working hard on getting all the things needed to secure our date with the different places and we have finally finished with the help of our parents!!  Believe it or not, paying a company from Europe with a Canadian or American account is quite a challenging process. We finally figured out the plans and should have more information soon!

Yesterday was a day off, so we started off the day the way we usually do...  We went walking.  Every Monday we start walking and end up somewhere random and cool.  Yesterday was no exception.  We started our walk in a direction we hadn't been in and immediately found a huge lookout over the park that the Cirque tent is in.  It was a pretty view and even better when we got on the Teleferico, a gondola that takes you from the lookout into the center of the park.  The park is called Casa del Campo and it is huge!!  We've walked it on two different weekends and still haven't seen a quarter of the park!

On the far side of the park is an amusement park and the zoo!  We spent about 6 hours in the zoo of course!!  We got to see a birds of prey show, which I usually hate to watch (they typically have the hawks and eagles we see daily at home...) but this one was a European birds of prey show.  They had eagles and kites, vultures, condors and a few african species as well.  Very cool!!

We also saw the baby panda and baby gorilla that this zoo advertises so much for.  The baby gorilla was very cute, and was right against the viewing window so we could see him very close.  The baby panda put on a little climbing "show" for us too.  He was attempting to climb up a tree in the habitat, but was doing it rather slowly which made it even funnier!

After the babies, we went and saw the dolphin show.  It was very good for a zoo!  They had explanations during the show of their habitat, diets, behaviours, etc, and it was more of an educational lesson rather than a full on show...  But of course they had some cool tricks too!  One dolphin did a double-front flip, on corkscrewed out of the water and twisted about 6 times!!  Their trainer did a couple dives off them as well.  It's fun to watch performances, especially ones that are different that the one we see and do every day!! Alex wants to be  dolphin trainer now... Can we get a work visa for that??

We are getting very excited now!!!  In only 2 days (Aaron's) Dad and Deb  will will be on their way here!  They are coming for the Easter weekend and staying until Tuesday.  They are going to see the show, experience backstage and tour Madrid a bit too!  There's so much to see in this city so I doubt we'll see it all, but we'll certainly have lots to show them.  They are even able to stay for the Monday, which is a day off!   It's amazing how much we miss home, and it's evident when home comes to see us.  So excited!!


We are looking into getting a personal internet connection (USB or Modem) because our internet at the hotel is very slow and we are barely able to skype home.  Currently we are at Starbucks typing this, as the maids clean our room... Hopefully we can get a better connection soon and post more often!

Miss you all!!
'Til next time.. 
Aa and Alex

Please also keep our grandparents in your prayers.  Especially Grandpa Stan, Papa Jack and Papa.

Madrid

Hello everyone!  (Our internet has been sub-par so bear with us here for a bit... we can't add photos yet)

 

We've had an interesting and beautiful first week here in Spain.  We arrived in Madrid on the 23rd and when we got here we immediately booked a vacation.  It was not that we hated Madrid but rather the opportunity was there to take a week and go somewhere.  We booked our hotel and flight through booking.com and it was great.

On Mar. 25 we flew 50 minutes to Palma de Mallorca island, in the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast of Spain, part of the Balertics. We took a cab to our hotel, the Nixe Palace, a place with a huge balcony overlooking the ocean and a small Marina.  It had a public beach right below with a walkway right to it.  The best part of our view was that we were on the 7th floor so we were above the palm trees and could easily look out over the water!  We had a great 4 days on the island and really didn't do too much.  Just relaxed and enjoyed the sun!  Both of us ended up tanned and very happy!

We got back from our vacation and found out Madrid had been rainy the whole time!  Even better news.  The next day the sun came out, and has been out since.  We've explored a bit of the city and what a vibrant place this is.  There are people outside at all times of the day and night.  People leave the bars around 5-6 am...  Yeah, its a pretty crazy night life.  There are patios and terraces everywhere which all serve sangria... So we have sampled a few of those too!!  

We had a huge “welcome to Madrid” party here last night in a nightclub that was originally a theater.  Very interesting building and if we hadn’t been invited guests with cirque it would also have been too expensive.  We had free drinks all night, but it could have been 11Euros (15$) per drink!!! It was a long night but we had a great time. 

The Cirque tent is located in the middle of a huge park, right beside a metro station and best of all there a lake and a river right beside so there are lots of places to get away and take walks.  We have had 3 shows this week and the show tomorrow is the Premiere!  It should be huge.  The crowds here have been amazing!  The applause during and after the show is unbelievable!  It is so loud we can’t hear each other on stage! For the last two shows the tent has been filled to 99% capacity.  That’s just under 2600 people!  It is quite an amazing experience.

Hopefully everyone is doing well! We miss you all.  More posts from Madrid to come!

‘Til next time,

Aa and Alex