Family

Normally airline strikes are unfortunate events for all those involved and affected, but for me it worked out great because my family got to come to visit me a day early :D Although it was a more than a bit stressful for my mom (and Julia didn't have time to decorate her nails) it was an interesting start to a wonderful yet cold week.

Mom, Dad, and Julia got to see all of the important tourist destinations in Madrid: the Prado, Gran Via, Mercado San Miguel, try black paella in Chueca and chocolate and churros in a few places, Plaza del Sol, Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, Plaza de España, lots of old churches, the Sorolla museum, Principe Pio, Retiro Park, and everywhere we walked through too!

In front of the Royal Palace

Trying Black Paella

We also took a day trip to Toledo on Wednesday which was gorgeous and had a tour of the cathedral and got some amazing views.

In Toledo

On Thursday night we were invited to dinner at my host family's apartment so Mom, Dad, and Julia got to meet my family, see where I'm staying, and have a really nice meal.

I believe Mom has a quite successful list of about 10 birds she saw (maybe more), Julia took pictures of them and us for her, and Dad has now added the words for 'cookie' (galleta) and 'beer' (cerveza) to his vocabulary of 'tacos' so it was a very successful week ;)