J and G arrived a day later than they planned because of weather problems in Philadelphia. They got in on Saturday and we picked them up at Barajas. There they are (above) coming out of the customs zone. We took a taxi to their hotel, the famous Hostal Armesto, which we recommend wholeheartedly to all our faithful readers.
After dropping off their luggage at Armesto, we all went back to our place for lunch. White bean soup and--you guessed it--our favorite serrano ham. Then we took a walk--again, you guessed it--up to the Parque del Buen Retiro. We wanted J and G to stay awake so they could get over that jet lag more quickly.
There is a game that old men play in the Retiro. There are nine large pins and one smaller pin. Each man throws a half-sphere made of stone, trying to roll it through the large pins in order to knock down the small pin. If any of our readers know what this game is called, please post a comment. This game is not to be confused with the Asturian game that is played with nine pins and a
round wooden ball. These particular players attracted quite a crowd of curious tourists.
Chillin' in the Retiro with G.
Family reunion in the Retiro.
Toby McGuire was spotted near the estanque. He is not in very good shape, but the new Spiderman film promises to be the best ever.
Then we walked out of the Retiro on the northwest side and paused to take a picture at the Puerta de Alcalá. Later we walked up Calle Serrano to look in the fancy shops there. We had a chapatita de jamon, a beer and a pastel at Mallorca.
As it got dark, we started walking south on the Castellana and through the Plaza de Colón, heading back to the Armesto.
The next day (Sunday), we got up early to go to the Rastro. Among other items, we wanted to buy an adaptor for J's blow dryer. You can find anything at the Rastro. If you are tempted to buy an adaptor for your blow dryer at your local travel equipment shop, you should wait and buy it at the Rastro. We paid 90 euro cents for ours.
Scarf shopping.
Antique shopping.
Ceramics shopping.
T-shirt shopping.
A has a tremendous capacity for shopping.
After making our purchases at the Rastro, we walked up to the Plaza Mayor.
Stamp collectors. You may remember from our post of November 21st that interesting Plaza Mayor factoid: On Sundays old man philatelists gather to trade stamps and talk about philatelia. You can find them at the northeast corner of the plaza. Bring your stamps.
Above, the ecclesiastical paraphernalia shop next door to the Chocolatería San Ginés, which is where we had our churros y chocolate after the Rastro. You may also remember from our post of November 21 that we had churros and chocolate, but we must tell you that the churros and chocolate that we had last weekend at the Chocolatería San Ginés was far, far superior in terms of quality and taste. We can no longer endorse that other place we went. Fried dough and molten milk chocolate have never achieved such perfection.
J and G arrived a day later than they planned because of weather problems in Philadelphia. They got in on Saturday and we picked them up at Barajas. There they are (above) coming out of the customs zone. We took a taxi to their hotel, the famous Hostal Armesto, which we recommend wholeheartedly to all our faithful readers.
After dropping off their luggage at Armesto, we all went back to our place for lunch. White bean soup and--you guessed it--our favorite serrano ham. Then we took a walk--again, you guessed it--up to the Parque del Buen Retiro. We wanted J and G to stay awake so they could get over that jet lag more quickly.
There is a game that old men play in the Retiro. There are nine large pins and one smaller pin. Each man throws a half-sphere made of stone, trying to roll it through the large pins in order to knock down the small pin. If any of our readers know what this game is called, please post a comment. This game is not to be confused with the Asturian game that is played with nine pins and a round wooden ball. These particular players attracted quite a crowd of curious tourists.
Chillin' in the Retiro with G.
Family reunion in the Retiro.
Toby McGuire was spotted near the estanque. He is not in very good shape, but the new Spiderman film promises to be the best ever.
Then we walked out of the Retiro on the northwest side and paused to take a picture at the Puerta de Alcalá. Later we walked up Calle Serrano to look in the fancy shops there. We had a chapatita de jamon, a beer and a pastel at Mallorca.
As it got dark, we started walking south on the Castellana and through the Plaza de Colón, heading back to the Armesto.
The next day (Sunday), we got up early to go to the Rastro. Among other items, we wanted to buy an adaptor for J's blow dryer. You can find anything at the Rastro. If you are tempted to buy an adaptor for your blow dryer at your local travel equipment shop, you should wait and buy it at the Rastro. We paid 90 euro cents for ours.
Scarf shopping.
Antique shopping.
Ceramics shopping.
T-shirt shopping.
A has a tremendous capacity for shopping.
After making our purchases at the Rastro, we walked up to the Plaza Mayor.
Stamp collectors. You may remember from our post of November 21st that interesting Plaza Mayor factoid: On Sundays old man philatelists gather to trade stamps and talk about philatelia. You can find them at the northeast corner of the plaza. Bring your stamps.
Above, the ecclesiastical paraphernalia shop next door to the Chocolatería San Ginés, which is where we had our churros y chocolate after the Rastro. You may also remember from our post of November 21 that we had churros and chocolate, but we must tell you that the churros and chocolate that we had last weekend at the Chocolatería San Ginés was far, far superior in terms of quality and taste. We can no longer endorse that other place we went. Fried dough and molten milk chocolate have never achieved such perfection.
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