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/  JUNE 13–17, 2017  /

St. Louis to Madrid was the cheapest flight we could find to Europe, so that's where we went first. Here we are, after a hectic time wrapping up work and moving all of our things to storage, so excited to finally take off! One perk of flying to Spain: lots of wine with the in-flight meal.

  1. So excited about plane food!

  2. Ready to get off the plane

  3. Madrid

  4. We quickly figured out that carrying our packs all zipped together (that is, daypack attached to the back) caused us (Becca) to tip over backwards. This system worked much better.

  5. Baggage claim at the Madrid airport

  6. Eating a chocolate croissant in the park while trying to find an Airbnb the first day

  7. The view from our Airbnb on the fifth floor — no AC!

  8. Our first dinner out at a tapas place, El Sur, where we had Spanish tortilla and sangria

  9. After dinner, we stopped by Cat Hostel for a beer

  11. We got pulled into a pub crawl

  12. We left the pub crawl soon after this because we were exhausted

  13. 3 a.m. churro stop at San Ginés Chocolateria

  15. Brandon by the door to our Airbnb

  16. Local flora

  18. Late lunch at Más Corazón, where Brandon discovered café con hielo (espresso with ice) and salmorejo.

  20. We stopped by the train station to take a look — there's a huge indoor garden — and wound up with frozen yogurt from Smöoy.

  21. Calder at the Reina Sofia

  22. We also got to see Picasso's Guernica — very cool.

  25. Watching the sunset from a hill

  26. There was a big dust storm

  30. Dinner of cured meat and cheese

  31. Our walking tour group

  32. The oldest currently operating restaurant in the world, apparently a favorite of Ernest Hemingway.

  33. Their specialty is cochinillo, or tiny roast pig.

  34. Sitting at Hemingway's table (just on the tour; we didn't make it back to try the pig)

  35. Mercado San Miguel

  36. Lucky butt statue

  37. The Royal Palace

  39. Annie filmed some of our walking tour for her YouTube channel

  40. Mercado San Miguel

  41. Choosing snacks at the mercado for lunch

  42. We took our snacks to Madrid's shortest street, which is really a staircase.

  43. Churros, obviamente.

  47. The sign says "kiss me in this corner."

  48. Lots of park walking to counteract the heat of a concrete city

  53. Taken by Yulen, who got frustrated with my camera and later emailed us this photo he took with his.

  56. Sad fountains in the botanical garden

  59. Dinner at La Venecia, where Becca accidentally ordered sherry instead of wine. Turns out they only had sherry.

  60. Brandon's cooling system: wet towel turban + ice pack we stole from the freezer

  61. Brunch on our last day in town. Brandon's meal came with a tiny bottle of cava, Spanish sparkling wine.

  65. This vertical garden is part of Madrid's efforts to keep temperatures down. You can read about it on NPR:

  66. Brandon testing out the spritzer we bought at Ale Hop.

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