Madrid

Monday, after our overnight flight from JFK, we arrived in Madrid. We checked into the Hotel Europa with a room on the 5th floor overlooking the Puerta del Sol plaza, the heart of Madrid's old town. We ate a meal at the hotel's restaurant, sitting outside people watching. We walked following the guide book's recommended path through the old town to the Plaza Mayor, the plaza every Spanish and Latin American city has outside the main governmental buildings. From their we headed to the Royal Palace. The palace is like a museum of what it meant to "live like a king". Each royal family tried to outdo the others in opulence to show that they were a real dynasty and claim their place among the royal families of Europe. We continued our walk through Madrid's old town returning to our hotel for a restful afternoon. In the evening we wanted to try real Spanish tapas (small dishes) so we asked around and ended up at Lizarran. We had pinchos which are small pieces of bread topped with a variety of ingredients. We tried a number of different flavors but our favorite was cream cheese with strawberries and mushrooms.

The view of Puerta del Sol from our balcony

Kathy at the very center of Spain

Cute couple at the royal palace

The view from the royal palace over the valley below

The main staircase in the palace

A sample of the decor in the royal palace

Kathy consulting Rick Steves for guidance

Pinchos (a kind of tapa) at Lizarran

Yum!

Kurt in the Puerta del Sol with our hotel in the background

Tuesday we were up early and headed to Toledo, the former medieval capital of Spain. Toledo was originally chosen as the capital because it is centrally located and defensible as it is surrounded on three sides by the Rio Tojo. We took a Cercanias train to Madrid's main train station, Atocha, where we had reservations on a high-speed Ave train for the 30 minute ride to Toledo. We got tickets on the hop-on, hop-off bus and first circumvented the city for the views from all around before ascending up the hill to the Plaza Zocodover. The map of Toledo was hard to read so we had fun wandering around the maze of medieval streets, some wide enough to accommodate a car with others so narrow we had to walk single file. We found the Tuesday market where today's Toledoanos shop for everyday purchases like clothes, purses and food. We wandered around until we found the cathedral with its impressive altars and chapels. In the Sacristy, where the priests prepare for Mass, were a number of impressive paintings including a dozen by El Greco, the Greek immigrant who started the practice of adding emotions to the portraits he painted. We ate tapas (venison stuffed peppers) for lunch in a little square lost somewhere in the middle of Toledo and used our GPS to find our way back to the bus stop. A quick trip down the hill and we were back at the train station and headed back to Madrid. For dinner we tried more traditional tapas at Cerveceria Cervantes and discovered we preferred the pinchos at Lizarran!

The train station at Toledo (Tow-lay-doe)

The high speed train

A view of the medieval city

At the Zocodover square

Charming Spanish town

Market day in Toledo

Always on the lookout for a bargain!

The cathedral featured a number of portraits by El Greco

Inside the cathedral

Inside the train station

Wednesday the jet lag and busy day in Toledo caught up with us and we slept in. After a quick bite of egg on toast at the hotel we took the subway to the Reina Sofia museum, home to modern art and specifically Picasso's Guernica. It was interesting to see the large mural in person as reproductions miss many of the details and the display included photos of the work in process so we could see the transition from initial idea to final product. This image galvanized public opinion against Franco (it depicts the pre-WWII Nazi bombing of a town which was the stronghold of the democratically elected republican government of Spain) but the fascists won the Spanish Civil War anyways. The museum featured many works by Picasso, Miro and other Spanish artists and even some photographs by Man Ray. We had lunch in the plaza by the museum then walked by the botanical gardens to the Prado museum. Feeling "museumed out" we instead took the subway to the suburbs and walked arround the Madrid Temple. We headed back to the hotel and after a restful late afternoon at 9 PM we headed to Casa Patas. We had dinner then watched a Flamenco dancing show. The music was good and the dancers enthusiastic. At midnight, after the show, we walked back to our hotel and saw many Madrilenos just starting their evening.

Lunch outside the Reina Sofia Museum

 We took the subway to the Madrid Temple

At Casa Patas for our (late) night flamenco show

This guy really swung his head around as he danced

The view from our room at night

Thursday we got up, had our preferred eggs on toast for breakfast and to a taxi to Atocha for our train ride to Barcalona. The weather in Madrid for our entire stay was sunny, dry, cloudless and warm up to the mid-90s every day. We traveled around Madrid walking or on the subway (except with our luggage from the airport and to the train station we used taxis). We will miss room 428 at the Hotel Europa and opening the door to our little balcony to see and hear life on the Puerta del Sol below our room

New York City

Wednesday we flew from SFO to JFK. We planned on meeting Celina and Addam at JFK then traveling together on the weekend for Issac's graduation from West Point. The car Kurt reserved was a compact SUV and not nearly enough for all our luggage and Celina's electric wheelchair so after a bit of a luck we ended up with a Navigator. We spent Wednesday night at the Marriott Marquis on Times Square.

Thursday morning Kurt took the subway to his meetings in downtown. Kathy was joined by Marinn for a day of touring and met up briefly with Celina and Addam. Marinn and Kathy walked in cool, drizzly weather over to the Highline Park but immediately needed to take a cab to their planned Circle Line boat tour of NYC. They got most of the way in the cab but got stuck in traffic. They jumped out of the cab and walked the remaining blocks (farther than they expected!) to the pier. For dinner they met up with Kurt, Celina and Addam at Tony DiNapoli's then together we went to "An American in Paris" at the Palace Theatre. At the theatre we met Julie Boardman, one of Celina's friends, who is one of the show's producers. We had great seats and enjoyed the production. Afterwards we got some cheesecake from Junior's and ate in the room.

New Freedom Tower 1 World Trade Center

Marinn on the High Line

Kathy as well

On the way to dinner at Tony Di Napoli's

 Celina with her friend Julie Boardman, a producer
of An American in Paris, the musical we saw on Broadway

Dinner family style

The Great White Way after the show

Times Square

Cheesecake from Junior's!

Friday we drove over to Queens and picked up Celina and Addam then drove up to West Point. We arrived in time for the "parade" where all the cadets march in front of their commanding officers for the last time. The parade uses the same formations and commands as their predecessors back to pre-civil war times. After the parade we socialized with Kathy's family that had made it to the graduation: Dean & Yvonne, Tracy & Shelton and Taylar, Carla and Issac (the graduate), Haley (a 3rd year cadet at West Point), Lexi and Cierra plus Pleas (Carla's fiancé), Celina & Addam and K+K. We all then headed to a sushi joint for lunch. We dropped off Celina & Addam at their hotel then headed to our Ramada Inn in Fishkill New York. Issac, Carla, Haley, Lexi and Cierra attended a gala in connection with graduation and the rest of us ate together at the Red Line Diner near our motel.

Saturday we were up at 4:40 AM (the graduation is a military exercise after all!) and headed back to West Point. Graduation was at the football stadium and the commencement speaker was the Chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff. After the presentation of the diplomas the cadets threw up their hats. Afterwards we watched Issac receive his commission in the football team meeting room. Carla and Hayley had the honor of placing the epaulets on his uniform. We then went upstairs to the Heisman room for a quick lunch. Dinner was back at the Red Line Diner where our waitress Jessie helped Plaes present both Issac and Hayley with graduation cakes.

The cadets parade at historic West Point

Issac in ceremonial dress with his mom

Dean, Yvonne, Issac and Carla

Celina and Addam with Issac

Isaac with his favorite aunt!

Kathy trying out for West Point!

Haley, a year behind her brother at the US Military Academy,
with Grandma

Taylar, Cierra, Haley and Lexi

Taylar, Cierra, Issac, Carla and Lexi ready for the
formal graduation gala.

The cadets at Miche Stadium listening to the graduation speech
by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dempsey

Hats off in celebration!!!

Addam, Tracey, Grandma and Papa

Addam, Celina, Kathy and Kurt with the new Second Lieutenant

Isaac receiving his epaulets from his mother and sister

At the West Point football offices

Cousins

Tracey and Shelton

Issac receives his first salute from Haley

Sunday, after a restful morning, we headed back to West Point for lunch at American Burritto. After saying our goodbyes, we drove with Celina and Addam back to JFK. We boarded our Delta flight to Madrid.