I often jokingly (yet, seriously) invite people to join me on trips because my sharing an upcoming adventure is typically met with, “oh, wow’s,” and, “I wish I could go’s.” Pues, venga! Life is short and usually more fun with company.
So, guess who visited me abroad?! I planted a seed of interest when I gushed over my Spanish vacation in the spring, and it wasn’t long before my sister and her hubby were shopping for airline deals for a fall getaway. (Convinced my other sister to travel to The Netherlands with me last year.)
They weren’t able to get the time off until my last ten days abroad, but it filled my final week with activities and adventure when I was at a point of, this is almost over and I don’t know what the fuck to do now.
We spent one day walking all around the palace grounds, various plazas and the temple, finishing the afternoon at Casa Mingo with a bottle of cider.
We spent another in Toledo that didn’t give us the sunny skies we had hoped for, but we still walked all over and ticked off the things we wanted to do there like the mirador view and a visit to Mariano Zamorano.
We had a failed wine tour attempt in Navalcarnero, however, the trip was salvaged by the amazing hospitality at Bodegas Andrés Díaz and the cool tunnel system at Las Cuevas del Carnero.
We ate and drank like we had two stomachs and livers and spent afternoons walking off the calories around La Latina, Sol, Malasaña and Chueca. (We were in Chueca visiting my favorite ice cream shop, Labonata, and doing oddball things the day Greta Thunberg had a rally at Atocha.)
I showed them some of my favorite places and discoveries and gave them space to find their own. The week went by incredibly fast. The day their flight took them back to Texas was my last full one in the city.
Bailando en Tabacalera 
Caganeres 
Toledo 
Plaza Mayor en Navidad 
Espectáculo Flamenco 
Vino Azul
I plan on wrapping up my Madrid chapter on Practically Foreign with one more post. These days I’m on the hunt for the next adventure (which primarily consists of looking for a cool-ass job that is coming together in little, synchronistic bits and making me feel pretty excited about 2020).