Friday in Madrid!

Hola todos!

Upon arriving in Madrid, we unpacked our bags into our hotel and left straight from there to meet our tour guide for the morning, Nani. Naniwalked us through the city center to the Centro Sefarad Israel where we listened to Ester talk to us about the current Jewish community in Madrid. She spoke briefly about the number of synagogues in Madrid and schools (only 1!) compared to other countries. We also learned that as a recompense to the Sephardic people, if you can prove your lineage, you can apply to obtain a Spanish passport! 

After leaving the Centro Sefarad, we passed through the Mercado de San Miguel close to the Plaza Mayor. This mercado is famous for gourmet tapas and was built in 1916. We grabbed some quick snacks and went on our way! We continued our walking tour through the center of the city, passed by several street performers in the Plaza Mayor and were awed by the major shopping district, Sol. We ended our tour with Naniin the hip/young neighborhood of Malasaña. Known for it's interesting restaurants and vintage thrift stores, we split into groups for some free time to eat lunch and do some shopping before heading back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbat services. 

We left on foot to the synagogue, which was about 40 minutes away. The weather in Madrid is great for un paseo. No rain or snow here! We arrived at the Comunidad Judia de Madrid and entered through security.   A recent Weber gradudate, Rachel Colonomos, joined us for services:  Rachel graduated in 2015 and is in Madrid for a semester, visiting from the University of Maryland.  She joined us for dinner as well.  A few minutes after we sat down, our students made quick friends with kids from Beth Tfiloh Dahan High School, a K-12 community day school in Baltimore.  They had 18 students there as part of a six-day trip they had taken through the South of Spain.   Small world! They chatted it up about learning Spanish and meeting Spaniards. 

From the Shabbat services, we walked to a great fusion (Mexican/Spanish/Korean) restaurant. The array of foods they had was awesome! From mini mushroom quesadillas to a potato, egg, and corn nuts dish, this place was one-of-a-kind.  We strolled back the hotel, "Roomate Mario," arriving after 11 and enjoyed a comfortable night in a modern hotel. 

We have certainly seen a good cross section of Spanish life - from the very rural Gallicia, to the small towns of Castile y Leon, and now on to the big city of Madrid!  We are all having a great time, and we'll be home soon.  

Caroline finally found churros!