The Spanglish Adventures of Casey & Utkarsh

Frijole Esta Aqui!

BEANS IS HERE!!!!  She has left the Marta and Mercedes Benz family home and moved in to Club Hermosilla for the summer.  She is happy to be out of her coffin and hopefully happy with her new roomies - even the fat one.  She will be interning at Euro Vibe magazine and tutoring some very lucky little children over the course of the next 10 weeks.  Now that we have secured the Beanorita, we are now just waiting for the arrival of the permanent visitor...bambino.  5 weeks to go.

Visit from the Ropers

John and Erin left this morning after they "came and knocked on our door" for the weekend.  After their whirlwind tour of London, Pairs, Bordeaux (plus a bunch of French castles) and Barcelona, we weren't sure we could entertain them with plain old Madrid.  But luckily the weather cooperated here for the most part and we were able to enchant them with the good life - Madrileno style.  Tapas, sangria, cervezas, a little Prado, topped off with some Spanish guitar in a little Reagle Beagle bar carved out under Plaza Mayor.  

It was great to see them and catch up on all the NYC stories.  We were sad to see them go but happy to have survived our four-month visitor parade.  Thanks to everyone who made the trip this year to see us, we hope you enjoyed it!

Hot and Sneezy Madrid

We have been experiencing our first spring in Madrid.  Let's just say that the weather that has been so nice through the colder parts of the year is now showing its alternate side.  Its been up into the 80s over the past week and is due to hit the low 90s for a few days this week.  Yes, it is May and there is no access to water for hours from here.  This Chicago gal is not quite ready for the heat and is missing Lake Michigan like crazy.  I broke down and turned on the AC in our bedroom last night.

On top of the heat, the warm spring has introduced us to the Madrid allergy season.  I've never experienced such a long and painful pollen season.  The air is very dry and it actually hurts your nose to be outside for too long.  Casey is doing OK with the pollen, Ut is a wreck.

So we are suffering through our hot and sneezy spring with buckets of kleenex and fearing the real heat of July and August.  This summer, when you get to the beach at home or feel a nice cool breeze in the afternoon, pray for us here in Madrid that we have not melted away!   

Missing the Plackes Already

Tom and Robin just left this morning after visiting for a long weekend as part of their European vacation.  Yes, there were lots of references to Rusty and Audrey.

We all survived a pollen storm, Tom and Ut attended a bullfight, Casey and Robin went bargain (and olive) hunting at El Rastro, we consumed LOTS of tapas, and even got some home cooking from these two master chefs.  It was a wonderful weekend and we only wish they could have stayed for longer. 

Whirlwind Week in Andalucia

We are coming off a whirlwind visit from the Patels and Coxs that took us from Madrid to Malaga, Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar, Seville, Cordoba and back to Madrid (see all new uploaded photo albums). 

The Coxs also took on Toledo and their rental van was no match for the centuries-old, tiny streets of Toledo.  A few scratches, a free tank of gas and a new rental van later though, they were back on the prowl and headed to Malaga.  No idea how many miles we put on the rental cars but we came home with many stories - including a monkey in our car at the top of the rock of Gibraltar, a holiday in Seville complete with streets of flamenco dresses and caballero horse-drawn carriages, dinner with a handful of Patel relatives who made the trip to Madrid and down to Malaga on their own whirlwind euro-tour, an afternoon visit to the Alhambra in Granada, an mountain drive to Ronda, toes dipped in the Mediterranean and a beautiful stop in Cordoba. 

Catching up on sleep now...