April 8th & 9th & 10th
Robyn's friend and co-worker, Maria Lee, arrived in Spain a week earlier and we finally got a chance to meet up with her and our friends Eva and Ruben. Eva is Maria's niece who lives in Madrid. Maria is from southern Spain but has been living in America for 37 years. Maria's other niece, Christina, who lives in Valencia also came to spend the weekend with Maria. It was good to see Eva and Ruben again since we did not see them since last year. It was also good to see Maria back in her home country although she is not a big city girl. We went to a small pub by Maria's apartment for dinner to catch up on things. I had heard about Christina and it was nice to finally meet her. We had a great time eating, drinking, and laughing. We made plams to come back to this pub the next night because they were having a live band.
Saturday was another beautiful day and we were invited by Ruth and Ruben (a different Ruben) to join them for a ride north of Madrid to the country for lunch and a walk in the woods. We gladly accepted and they picked us up in Ruben's car. We first stopped for lunch at this wonderful restaurant and had a delicious meal of Goat, potatoes, soup, and other things including sangria. The waiter brought out the goat and we noticed that we had been served the back half of the goat including the tail. The picture of me is with the tail as I looked like I was putting it in my mouth. I didn't actually eat it because it was all bone. However, the rest of the goat was really good. The platter was supposed to be for 2 people but it was more than the 4 of us could eat. After stuffing our bellies, it was time to walk it off. We first went to a trail by the river and walked along the trail for a while before Ruben decided we should go somewhere else. Ruben took us to a protected forest that was unlike any forest I have seen before. There was a lot of open area between the trees unlike what we have at home. The pine trees here are much prettier than the ones at home. They only have limbs at the top which make a beautiful canopy. We walked past a restaurant and in the parking lot was a vintage Nazi BMW motorcycle with side car. It was incredible and in great condition. We spoke to a man who knows the owner and he told us all about it. It was getting late in the afternoon so we headed back to town. It had been a wonderful and fun afternoon with wonderful and fun friends.
Once back at the apartment, we rested for a bit before heading to the pub. We ate and drank again much like the night before and the band finally started playing but it was very late. We stayed for a few songs and then went home because we were tired.
On Sunday we were invited to lunch at Maria's apartment with her nieces and Ruben with Ruben cooking Chilean food for us. Ruben served salmon, shrimp, potatoes, a type of pico de gallo that I loved, salad, and a mushroom sauce. It was a incredible and very healthy meal. We drank wine and had a great time being together. They are all so much fun. We finally had to say our goodbyes and head home. We had a truly wonderful weekend with our friends that we would always remember.
Adios amigos
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