Vino We Are Dinomite: Meandering Through Madrid

Experiment: Testing for the Existence of Jet Lag

Procedure:

1. Have three subjects fly halfway across the planet and spend the day walking around the city.

2. Tempt them with food late at night.

3. Watch them lay awake for awhile and giggle together because, while it's 2AM where they are, they still think it's 6PM.

4. Set an alarm for 8:30 the next morning.

Conclusion: While 8:30AM alarm seemed like a reasonable time, the subjects seemed to disagree as the begrudgingly got out to bed around 10:45AM. They really started moving around 11:15AM after having to skip breakfast and second breakfast and go straight to elevensies. Thus, for travelers similar to the subjects tested in this experiment, it can be concluded that jet lag is real and should be taken as a serious issue in our world today.

Sorry, I had to let the Mines student inside out for a bit.

Despite our slow start this morning, my beloved adventure buddies and I spent the day exploring even more of Madrid. We started off by walking around four miles in one direction away from our apartment towards the Crystal Palace (*ooh*). The street we took was one of the biggest in the city, and at one point it looked like a little Times Square set in Spanish historical times. The buildings were all beautiful, huge with arched windows, detailed molding, and domed spires. No two looked the same, but they all looked similar enough to fit together. Then, there were huge screens for advertising, which made for a sharp contrast with the old architecture. There were shops, cars, and people everywhere. Somehow Addy, despite having the shortest legs of the three of us, was moving at a near-supersonic speed, so we made pretty good time to make up for our late start. We eventually came to a huge palace-looking building, which we thought might be the Crystal Palace. Turns out it was the cultural center, complete with a reading section that was hopping with older-aged people (even older than you, Dad). It was quite the surprise, but fun to see anyway.

That one palace thing I told you about.

We continued on to the Parque de Madrid (Park of Madrid, I hope these words make you as excited as you know they make me), which turned out to be the Central Park of Madrid. I know I raved about the parks yesterday, but this one takes the cake. It was enormous, complete with a pond of rowboats, rose gardens, several memorials/monuments, a restaurant, and finally, the Crystal Palace! It looked rather similar to the building in The Sound of Music where Leisl iconically prepares to be 17. It was all glass and metal, surrounded by the park on every side. There was a pond just outside, too, which was filled with little ducks and turtles. Mesmerizing.

We took a break on one of the shady benches for a little while, taking it all in as much as we could and also dreading the long walk back we had unintentionally made for ourselves. Once we built up the courage, we headed for the edge of the park (thank goodness Addy knew where that was) and back towards home. We just so happened to pass another museo de jamon (there are multiple apparently, which is really a gift from above) and enjoyed some more ham sandwiches for lunch. We parked ourselves right in front of the air cooling unit in the shop, which blew our hair back from our faces much like the ears of a dog whose head is hanging out the window. It felt amazing. After we finished, we continued on in search of a chocolate and churro place Meghan told us about yesterday, called San Gines (sounds like He-nez). Well, it just so happens that yesterday when I thought I was taking a picture of a bookstore in an alley, I caught it in the background! It was very cute and we all thoroughly enjoyed the churros. The girls said the hot chocolate was delicious, but it was so thick it was more for dipping than for drinking.

Our beloved museo de jamon.

This picture, Round 2. It's the yellow building in the back!

After we finished eating (at least for the next hour), we made the trek home and took a much-needed nap during the siesta. Side note - siestas may be our new favorite thing and we're bringing them home with us. Anyway, for dinner we walked back to the same area we had been earlier and ate some tapas at another little spot Meghan suggested for us (she really guided us through today) and later stopped for some diary-free dinner for myself and some ice cream for Addy and Vic. By the end, it was about 10:30, and decided we had worn ourselves out and headed home. We walked a little over 11 miles today and are actually ready for bed (thank goodness).

Take that, jet lag.

Quote of the Day: “Addy, did you pee upwards?” -Victoria (See picture below)

Status of Addy’s watch tan: even darker than before, can’t wait to see it when it reaches its full potential. (see same picture below)

Number of fountains we dipped our toes in: Just one, but hopefully there will be more.

Other pictures from today: