Before I left ( sort of blurry as Roger wanted to get moving already)

Saturday afternoon in a coffee shop near our hotel.

Here I am, reporting from the center of the city and sitting happily in a hip coffee shop. I’m jet-lagged but sipping strong coffee as I post this. Most of the people here seem to be very interested in the soccer game on TV.
Our flight to Chicago, JFK, then Madrid was largely uneventful. What a great feeling it was to tote around my light-as-a-feather luggage and not have the zipper threatening to burst from being over-stuffed. This, my friends, may be the only way to travel!
I wore a shirt and sweater that I may be happy to have later on in the trip, and black pants that I will for sure wear again. Photos of departure clothes should appear above.
When we arrived in Madrid, it was 9am and of course (1) there was no room available since check-in is at 1pm, (2) I was so tired from not sleeping on the plane that I may have been seeing double, (3) I really wanted to take a shower.
None of those things were going to change for a while, so we did what needed to be done: had breakfast then set out to shop! We went to the Salamanca district, which has many wonderful stores and was bustling with activity on a Saturday morning. I did well on this first trip. I found a really pretty top that I’ll wear to dinner one night (not tonight though), a couple pairs of pants, a top I’m wearing now, some shoes, and (crucial): undergarments.
Roger is a good sport about shopping, and by that I mean he wanders off and buys himself what he wants (gloves, socks) and then looks for me (this is complicated by not having our phones on to text each other).
Eventually we walked back to the hotel, shopping bags in hand, and got our room. Right now, he’s asleep and I guess I should be, but I ventured out instead (I’m thinking that I may not be back in Madrid for some time, so I won’t waste it napping). There are all sorts of street performers, flamenco dancers, some magic acts, and plenty of people milling around on this sunny Saturday. I ended up getting another pair of shoes and a pair of pants that I didn’t try on (feeling lazy). Then I popped in here and asked a joven to take my picture. As you can see, my outfit today is nothing special: it’s Spanish, though and I am very happy to be off to a good start!
Adios for now,
-Susan