Madrid day 1

We are in Madrid, we arrived this morning on an overnight 10 hour train from Lisbon...not very comfortable. We went to our hotel and then spent the day walking around (our feet are very sore.) We visited a really cool, huge Museum with a variety of art called Thyssen-Bornemisza, a private collection ranging from about the 14th century through the late 20th century. They had an exhibition on Modigliani--an early 20th century painter and sculptor.
Foodwise, we went to this place called Museo de jamon, a chain specializing in all types on ham. They had 90.00 euro per kg jamon iberico that is supposed to be the best ham in the world...we couldn´t afford a 9 euro slice of it, but we did try the chorizo. We also ate a snack of bocadillo de calemare (calimari sandwich) as well as some fried sardines at a little restaurant cafe place. So far the food here is pretty good, and tonight I think we are going to get a late dinner at tapas and cava bars. We here you order a glass of cava (spanish sparkling wine) and they give you little snacks. Places don´t even open here for dinner until about 8:30, after siesta, so we have some time to kill until then.
It is nice to be able to communicate here with Spanish because Portuguese is super hard to understand, but in Spain we can talk to people much more easily. Also, sidenote, the weather here is perfect. Nice and warm, but not hot...we couldn´t have gotten better weather so far.
We love receiving your comments, so please keep reading and posting, it keeps us connected to home!
Jenny and Ethan

Lisbon

So far we are in Lisbon. We arrived here Tuesday morning after a long flight through Frankfurt, and are heading to Madrid tonight on a train. This city is beautiful (as you will see) and very green with a lot of nature. If I could sum it up in one word I would say "castles." Yes, we have visited a variety of castles and palaces dating back to Portuguese royals who one occupied them. Today we went to Sintra--a town about 30 minutes outside of Lisbon--and hiked up to some beautiful monuments.
Food wise, this city isn't really anything to brag about. Our first meal was re-hydrated salt cod served with different ingredients, such as chips, olives, onions, etc. It was good, but nothing amazing. They do have some really good pastries here, like custard tarts. We did have some tasty roasted chicken for lunch yesterday (very similar to pollo a la brasa) with fries...juicy and yummy crispy skin.
The neighborhoods here are quite beautiful and remind us of what we've seen of Morocco in movies, a lot of stoney streets and very colorful buildings. We even saw this old Portuguese woman send down a basket attached to a rope from a 2nd story building to receive her mail, which was pretty cool and old fashioned.
Our hostel was awesome--really clean and accommodating with friendly staff and a variety of travelers. It was right in the middle of the city and close to all kinds of transportation.
Ok, so that should be a brief summary, hopefully not too long or boring. We will do our best to add to this blog in each city, depending on the internet situation. We hit Madrid in the morning, followed by Barcelona and then Rome. We miss you guys, but are having a great time so far! Please add comments so we can communicate with you. We will be sending various post cards when we can.
Love, Jenny and Ethan

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