Downtown

Yesterday it was nice enough weather that we finally went downtown.  Our first stop was El Sol, a large plaza in the center of Madrid.  It is mile post zero for all roads leading from the city, and a major gathering point.








Here we are at the back of the Royal Opera.  The banners are advertizing Mozart's "Cosi Van Tutti," some modern work I didn't know, and Mozart's "Don Giovanni."  We guess it is a year for Mozart opera in Madrid.











The front of the Royal Opera actually looks out on a spacious formal garden, a large fountain and statue, and a wide paved parade area in front of the Royal Palace.















Greg is standing on the walkway between the opera house and the palace, of which you only see the north wing.  The formal garden with its hedge maze, shown below, is a detail of the one you see in front of the opera house.

 Actually, we went downtown to find a battery for my watch and one for Hna Smalley's, and used that as an excuse to wander.  In the background of the picture on the left you can see a large department building named El Corte Ingles.  In the left forground is a large convent.  People have formed a line to buy candied nuts made by the nuns, who have taken a vow to live cloistered barefoot and in silence.  They sell the nuts via a turntable.  You put your money on a plate placed in a recess in the wall and turn it, and then it turns back again with the bag of nuts on it.  The photo on the right shows the line of customers.















If we had been hungry we could have eaten at Subway, or at a stand selling roasted corn, chestnuts, and other goodies, but we opted to cook at home.




The weather has been cold for Madrid, with the highs in the 40s or low 50s, and blustery.  Even in cold weather, people go to the park, walk their dogs, and take their children to one of the many children's playgrounds.  We have bundled up and done a fair amount  of walking, most of it in our neighborhood, or to and from one of the several supermarkets and shopping centers we enjoy exploring ranging from 1/4 mile away to a little over 2 miles.  These children were dressed to the nines!








For a few weeks one of the shopping centers we visited has been featuring children's amusement park rides on its main floor.  When we were here last they had one of Stan Checkett's trampoline centers set up for awhile, and later an ice skating rink.  Sometimes the area is open.







Two more weeks in the temple have passed, both on the morning shift.  That means we have arrived at 7 a.m., or sometimes up to an hour earlier depending on our assignment, and are finished at 2 p.m., or sometimes much later depending on our assignment.  Next week we will be at the temple in the afternoon, generally beginning at 2 and going until 9 at night.

Our group has been changed, so we are no longer with our friends the Eastmans or Zimmermans.  At the moment we are the only American couple in it, but we do have two single American sisters (hermanas) in our group: Hna de Sweinitz, a talented woman who speaks Spanish, French and German; and our dear Hna Smalley, who was with us in the MTC in Provo.  She fell just before she entered the MTC, injuring her hip, and she wore holes in her feet with her new missionary shoes, so she has been having a rough time.  At age 78 she is learning her first foreign language, and it is slow going, but she is game for anything. We even took her to the big park, El Retiro, a few days ago.

 

This is a small modern church across the street from El Retiro that we had wondered about during our first mission.  It is very plain inside, with brilliantly colored modern stained glass windows .  On the left you can see a building under restoration that has a small very typical cafe where we ate a lunch of "bocadillos," or sandwiches on french bread.  Hna Smalley's was of Spanish omlette--potato and onion cooked in olive oil, Greg's was of fried finely ground and sliced sausage, mine was of a delicious hard cheese.  We shared around to get a taste of each.  We passed on the tapas which we will tell you about later.

We only got far enough into the park to see this man sitting on a park bench, reading his book, with his dogs patiently waiting in the cold.  The temperature was in the high 40s.








Speaking of food, during this somewhat unpleasant weather Greg has taken to baking bread.  The first time  he was very frustrated that the dough stuck to his fingers, but he is getting more expert.  He's baked twice now, and the results are delicious.

We are working hard, and all is well.