We’re now in a little town in the Spanish Pyrenees called Aínsa, enjoying a short break from big city excitement. The rest of our time in Madrid was fantastic.  Here’s a quick snapshot of an average day:

• Languish in our hotel until around noon, breakfasting on fresh fruit and lattes/pastry from the coffee shop downstairs.
• Head out for some sightseeing, usually a long walk or a trip on what Claire called the “big red bus,” an open air tourist bus that loops through the city.
• Lunch at a cafe on one of Madrid’s many plazas, featuring ice cold cerveza while Juliet giggled at her sister running around.
• Return to the hotel for naps around 4pm.
• Head out around 8pm for another walk then tapas for dinner.
• Back to the hotel — and bed, finally — by midnight.

Judy joined us for our last day in Madrid and was kind enough — despite her jetlag — to let Katherine and me go out for dinner and a Flamenco show.

We also visited two nearby cities.  The first adventure was a day in Toledo, the beautiful 3000+ year-old city that was a former capital of the Spanish empire and a place where Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities thrived together for a thousand years until the Spanish Inquisition.  The second was a stop at Segovia, notable for its beauty, its well-preserved Roman Aqueduct, and for a castle that helped inspire Disney’s Cinderella Castle.

Click on the picture of Claire and girls in a rowboat on a lake in Madrid’s Parque Buen Retiro for a slideshow, which also includes a shot of our everpresent double-stroller and visiting playgrounds/parks in Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente, Toledo, and Segovia.