The other main attractions are the original painting of the last supper and the shops with all of the fashion shops. Unbeknownst to us, there is a waiting list three weeks long to get into the museum containing the last super. So that was no longer on our to do list. After a day in Milan of walking and a little sightseeing, I took my first Ryanair flight to Madrid to see the wonderful Lauren Held. She, despite her best efforts, was late to fetch us from the airport. Here we are in front of the mayors house (this may or may not be what this building actually is).
The move from Italy to Madrid came with slightly colder weather. I am not sure if it was just getting colder ( it was late October so it is possible) or the city was just more cold. Either way, I was completely incapible of dressing properly for the weather. On Sunday we started our day at the market. The market is filled with all sorts of goods including clothes, leather products, crafts and jewelry. I did get myself a cute little clay pig that will hold change. He is so adorable. Afterward we went on a hunt for food. And this time was one of those times when you can not for the life of you find what you are looking for. The restaurant is either to expensive or doesn't have food that everyone will like or it is closed or something. So after about an hour long hunt we ended up right were we started at a restaurant for the menu del dia. It is one of those meal where you pay a set price for your choice of 2 plates, a drink and a dessert. The food was fantastic. I choice a pealla ( pronounced pie-YAY-a) and a ham omelet with a custard for dessert. Just like the locals do, we sat eating for almost two hours simply enjoying ourselves. After such a large meal we walked to see the royal palace, which looks surprising like the English one. 
On Monday our tour guide had class so we were released into city on our own. But first there was a breakfast worth mentioning. I am incapable of choosing just one item on a menu. As a solution I split two breakfasts with Lauren. This was probably good since the one was not by any means healthy. The first was a to die for french toast croissant covered in bananas and strawberries. So good. And gone so fast. The second was an American Breakfast Plate including eggs, pancakes and bacon. Back to the day. We were directed to two museums one of which was closed and the other which was an adventure. The Riena Sofia Museum is where Pablo Picasso paintings are housed. However we started our way from top to bottom. The art was contemporary and very much not my style. To make it more interesting we would add stories to pieces trying to make it more interesting and well this works.
This was by far my favorite piece. The is a person with a pencil and all of these colors and ideas come out of the tip interconnected and interweaving. By the time we made our way back down to the second floor and the famous works we simply were ready to leave. We met back up with our tour guide and the rainy day turn gorgeous for a walk through one of the many parks in Madrid. It was so nice to be in fall weather and trees again. There are no trees in Florence and the trees in the park were such an array of colors. It was a little bit of home in Europe.
While in Spain one must do all of the traditional things like visit land marks and try the local cuisine. This includes churros and chocolate. Sounds amazing right? Epic let down. They were not as good as I had hoped. Never the less I continued to eat my whole batch of 7. For the sake of culture, I tell you. Tuesday we really didn't do much other than hang out. While this isn't what visiting a foreign city is all about, it was nice to be with friends enjoying the city with no pressures to rush here or see that. Tuesday was also the sad day of good-bye to both Lauren and Madrid. That evening we flew to Paris.
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