Change In Plans

This short post is about our first full day in Madrid, which is a remarkably grand city.

We managed to get everyone out the door just before the crack of noon. Travelling with family is very different from travelling on business. Since we had no fixed appointments or anywhere in particular to be, we didn’t feel the need to hurry.

After breakfast (which apparently was not terribly late by Madrid standards) we walked through the old city to the Palacio. The royal armory and the “salones officiales” were (you guessed it) remarkably grand. Consensus favorite was the porcelain room at the palace, where the walls and ceiling are all made of elaborate. interlocking porcelain pieces.

Zola and I started his official home schooling with a “language arts” lesson in the Parquede Retiro. He read the first several Greek myths, which he enjoyed, and answered comprehension questions. He also worked on converting kilograms to pounds, which he also seemed to like. Sitting in the sunshine, talking about Titans and heroes with my son, and watching the visual extravaganza of Madrid is what travel should be about.

Today we are taking the train to Toledo, which sounds remarkably grand as well. I am about halfway through an abridged history of Spain, which has been very helpful. Main takeaway at this point is that the Spanish (or whoever has been controlling Spain) have always been very good at fighting, but not so great at the administration and economics.