¡Viva España!

Ha Ha, yep, I got upside down quotes and the tilde to work in my title. I'm awesome. Also check out the sweet back-dating. It totally looks like we've been writing during our trip rather than waiting I'm not going to tell you how long after we got back. Oh and It says I was in Madrid when I wrote this. Having computer hacking skills rocks! This has been a paid advertisement for the Matt Cox Computer Skills course, we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.

Today we arrived in Spain! Getting here included a day of firsts for Will. We neglected to prepare with bus and train rides before embarking on the adventure. Will was very apprehensive about the “EL” in Chicago, but we taught him how to mimic the train’s sounds by moving his hands up-and-down with the clickety-clack. By the third stop he loved the train and giggled as he made the train go.

Ah, Security Theatre!

The airport was a breeze for me, but Megan got flagged for the full pat-down. Seems something in her carry-on looked suspicious. I'm guessing it was the squat round tube she was holding...it was either a secret canister of shaving cream, or our extra camera lens. At any rate they had to unpack her bag, then some chemical residue (damn you lip balm!) meant everything had to come out and be swabbed. Meanwhile, Megan got the full treatment, I think she may have gotten the TSA agent's number so they can hook up when we get back.

After getting through security and suiting will up in his comfy jammies (I'm using the O'Connell term here as we are 4183.70 miles from home, give or take a few inches), we read our book, and took our airplane juice (ah Benadryl), then it was off to slumber land for the entire flight. YAY for Will.

On the way from the airport we took two trains. Getting off the circular and out of the subway at our stop was a trek worthy of Odysseus. We had to wend our way through at least ½ mile of tunnels and go up about a dozen elevators. Then, we got to the street and realized we had failed to properly write down directions. After less than 2 hours in the country we were integrating with the locals. We asked a clerk at a motor-scooter shop where Calle de Gallelo was. It turned out we had made it, there just wasn’t a street sign. After thanking the clerk we turned the corner and headed to the apartment. However we thought an alley was a street and buzzed the wrong Patio Izquierda. DOH! We pressed on and found the right apartment and our family! We dropped our stuff and had a quick snack before venturing out to explore the city.

In the park near the apartment a great dane was wandering around and Will lurched toward him. Both Megan and I lurched toward him with great haste. We need not have worried. The owner was very nice and informed us that she (the dog) was great with kids and proceeded to call the dog over. Much like our Zoe, the dog completely ignored the calls. We wished the woman “buenas tardes” and were about to leave when she rushed back, dog in tow and instructed will to “toca la”. Will got to pet a dog he could ride like a pony and we got our first instance of the Will factor. He definitely inherited his mother’s (and Mommo’s) charm and people skills. Everywhere we go he seems to make friends and charm people.

Will and Morgan at the Park

After siesta we wandered toward El Parque Oeste. Marcia had to head back to the apartment and found out they changed the locks on us. Luckily a neighbor let her in and she also borrowed an extra key until we could get the new copies from the management company. Meanwhile Will loved playing in the playground (especially the little houses) with Morgan and Ceridwen. After the play session and a quick walk around the park it was time to head to dinner. We decided to dive right into the Spanish lifestyle, so dinner was at 10:00pm (also the start of the “El Copa del Rey” Soccer game. We found a bar and had tapas. Will continued to charm the locals by his love of soccer. We took several trips in from the sidewalk cafe to check on the soccer game. Will also loved running up and down the block being chased or chasing the O’Connell Girls. After a lovely dinner we returned to the apartment and everybody turned in at about midnight.