Hola Madrid!

I arrived at The Ritz at 8am, and they let me check in early (they were so nice of course). I wouldn't realize this until later, but the Ritz Madrid is one of only three original hotels designed and built by César Ritz, who was an architect, in collaboration with King Alfonso XIII, who needed a place to have good parties.  The other two original hotels are in London and Paris; after those three originals were built, the Carlton family purchased the Ritz name and went on to build many hotels. This one was built in 1910 and is absolutely beautiful; it’s considered a baroque palace! 

 Here's the outside of the hotel.  Look at the decorations!! The whole hotel is really magnificent. 

 

 Here's my room from the entrance

And here, from the bathroom

I love my bar!! It was literally a little door in the wall.  I love Europe. 

 

Inside the bar

 Bathroom

 

View from my window

 

After a short nap, I decided to freshen up and walk around Madrid.  I hadn't eaten since I left Philly and was pretty hungry.  I found an adorable little café, and ordered my first (very Spanish) meal:
Café con leche, a side of olives (I never realized how well they go with coffee!), and a huge hot sandwich of Chorizo paste with melted cheese. Brian Mangual would have been proud.  It was delicious!!

The waitress at the cafe was very friendly and, it turned out, spoke excellent English.  I do have to say, that during this trip my old feelings of frustration with Papa came up again.  Why didn’t he teach us Spanish? It is my biggest childhood regret.  I have a Mexican colleague, whose husband is German, and they live in Shelburne and are raising their kids tri-lingual (she doesn’t speak German, and he doesn’t speak Spanish, but they only speak their mother language to the children). It would have been so easy Papa! You can only speak Spanish to my kids from now on.  Anyway, at first, I tried to speak Spanish.  When I'm traveling, I always feel it is really important to respect the fact that I am in another country, and it is (in my opinion) disrespectful not to appreciate their language and acknowledge that they might not speak English.  Here's how it went:

Waitress: "Hola, buenos dias."
Me: "buenos dias.  Café con leche por favor."
Waitress: Caliente?
Me: "Oui."

Oops! She laughed and started speaking English. 

After I enjoyed my amazing lunch, I asked her where I could go to get some gifts (this was my only free afternoon so I need to get that done ASAP.  She told me where to go, gave me a map, then said if I come back she'll wrap up some olive oil for me (they sold some at the restaurant).  She explained all the different types of olive oil that they sell, and I told her I would come back later so I wouldn't have to carry them all over Madrid. 

She sent me to an area called Plaza Mayor, which is near the old part of the city.  It was a wonderful walk and absolutely beautiful.  I walked all over, got some presents, and after a few hours made my way back (it was 3pm and I was exhausted from the jetlag).  I stopped at the café, got my olive oil, and headed back to the hotel. It was a wonderful, warm, and friendly first day in Madrid.