Madrid...Day 2

Well today we spent the day touring Madrid on a double decker bus…vale!! First we had breakfast…churros con chocolate….the traditional!!We stopped at the Royal Palace and some of the many plazas. We drove by many museums!! We then spent the better part of the afternoon searching for the convent of Corpus Cristi. This convent is home to Las Carboneras, a small group of nuns who, in accordance with their maxim of “pray and work”, make and sell sweet biscuits and cakes. It is really cool because the sisters are members of a closed order that has lived and worked in the convent for four hundred years. The nuns are not allowed contact with the outside world, so customers wishing to buy their sweet must ring a door bell. You are not allowed to see them. We had a hard time finding this place. We rang the bell and a buzzer rings and they let you in through a nondescript door. Once inside you place your order through a small revolving window. You never see anyone. There were other people there that have been there a couple of times and no one has ever opened the door. I guess we lucked out, and the cookies are delicious too!! This was the highlight of my day. Here is the address if ever you are in Madrid…. Plaza Conde de Miranda 3, Metro Opera. After a couple of canitas (beer) we headed to our room for a nap. The boys are having withdrawals from American foods so they had to stop and eat at a McDonalds. You won’t catch me eating there with all these tapas and churros!! Now we are heading out to go shopping at El Cortes Ingles…like Macy’s back home. Tomorrow the Perez family arrives and we head out to Ribera del Duero…wine country!!!