When I read in my guidebook about Real Madrid's soccer stadium, I knew we needed to stop by and get some pictures for the boys. We weren't planning on it costing 16 Euros to even step foot inside, and I was going to just get some shots of the outside until my dad convinced me that you can't come that far and not see the whole thing. And I am so glad he did. It was awesome.
The stadium is truly massive.
Trophy rooms.
Following the World Cup last summer, there were a few players that we were a little obsessed with. The little boys adored Kaka and Pepe. (Um, yeah. Have I mentioned that they are still very much into potty humor?) And we all loved Ronaldo. Because... hello? Have you seen that guy?!
So here's Kaka and Ronaldo's MVP trophies.
A wall of all the players who have ever played for Madrid.
And there's Grace and Ronaldo,
and us with the team.
There were two guys and a little boy about Declan's age in front of us. His dad would point to a player and he named them - every guy on the whole team!
We even got to go down on the pitch.
And into the locker rooms.
Grace did a quick press conference before we left.
Back to downtown.
The Prado Museum, probably the number one attraction in Madrid. Very beautiful place. I think next time I'll give myself more than an hour and a half to fully absorb all the beautiful paintings and learn about them. And maybe next time I won't take an 11 year old who walked all day long and had twisted her ankle and really just needed to sit down.
To cap off our epically long, full day in Madrid (yes, both of these Madrid posts happened in just one day, folks), we went to a flamenco show. This was definitely in my top three things about our trip. I'm not sure there are even words to describe how amazing it was. We were in the front row and were just blown away by the whole thing. We went to the 9:00 show and I was worried that Grace would fall asleep, but I soon figured out that sleeping would be impossible. It was one of the most entertaining shows I've ever seen - costume changes, a live Spanish band, the most intense, high-energy dancers - and people in the audience actually yelled "Bravo" just like in the movies! I even heard a few "Ole's," too!
Sitting there in that theater was just surreal. I kept thinking "I'm watching a flamenco show. In Madrid, Spain." Pinch me.
And this is how we looked on the subway back to the hotel. Exhausted and totally happy about all the amazing things we saw.
And speaking of amazing things, I loved this subway map. The stops all have Spanish names... except...
O'Donnell?!?! How the heck did that get in there? I almost wanted to ride to that stop: #1) to see how the conductor pronounced it in Spanish, and #2) to see what exactly was there to prompt someone to give that neighborhood an Irish name?
The last thing we did in Madrid (the next morning) was to go out to the Madrid Temple. We didn't get to go in because it was closed for cleaning, but we did meet two missionaries from Bountiful, Utah!
