Koenig's in Madrid!

hey all! So, sorry I havent written the past few weeks, but I have been sick and then got better and then got sick again. I got really sick on retreat, so I don't have fond memories from that, so I put up some pictures from it, in a nutshell of retreat we visited where St. Ignatius lived and had his conversion experience and went to see St. Francis Xavier's home/castle. It was a full out Jesuit experience.

Okay onto happier topics...my parents came this last week! It was just what the doctor ordered! I went and picked them up at the airport and then they had their first Madrid experience by riding the metro. We finally got to their apartment where they were staying which was really nice and then did some sightseeing in Madrid, they saw the Royal Palace which was just 2 streets away from where they were staying! Puerta del Sol (the city centre), Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Espana, Gran Via and Parque de Retiro. We walked everywhere so they got a pretty good workout while they were here :) Then on Monday we went to Segovia, which is 30 minutes on high speed train from Madrid. Dad was super excited about this trip. We went to the train station and this is where dad fell in love with cola-cocao (spanish hot chocolate) and mom fell in love with cafe con leche (spanish coffee with milk). From there we were off to Segovia, we saw the acqueduct, castle and cathedral and of course did some shopping. From there we went on a search for the special pork that is native to segovia. Dad insisted that he had to try that--only problem is that we didnt know what exactly it was called. After searching and searching we found a restraunt with an english menu so dad ordered what we thought it was "boar" and mom and i went with the safe choice of fried sausage. Waiting for the boar to arrive was interesting, especially since there was pictures of baby pigs with apples on the wall. But everything turned out all right. We all had the native beer of Estrella Damm. Overall it was really good. From there we set off back to Madrid.

I introduced Mom and Dad to the spanish McFlurry which is soooo much better! Here there are 4 flurries: Magnum (dark chocolate with dark choc fudge mixed in), Kit Kat (kit kat with carmel syrup mixed in), M&M's (hot fudge mixed in with m&ms) and oreo (oreo with hot fudge mixed in). Needless to say it was love dad with magnum and mom and I with kit kat. Dad also experienced his first viewing of las chicas malas(spanish prostitute) while dining in a McD. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I had school so I made an intinerary for them that took them to the major sights of the city. On Wed they met me at school for the 3 builiding tour and got pictures with the st. louis sign. On Thursday, my senora had them over for appetizers with sangria and they got to see where I lived and meet my senora/roommates. They did very well with the spanish greeting of a kiss on both cheeks.

On Friday, the last day, we went on a tour of the Stadium of Real Madrid, shopping and dad bought is Christmas Lotto Ticket ("The Golden Ticket"). It was sad to see them go, but I'll be home in 5 weeks! Now I just need to get better and get everything done! I leave for Dublin on Thursday Night!

The slideshow below should have some of my pictures from their trip, mom has the most tho!

p.s. Some funny moments:

Mom: "I dont want to go home guapo"
Me: "What are you trying to say?"
Mom: "I dont want to go home fat."
Me: "You just said I dont want to go home beautiful, gordo is fat."
^She was able to get those two straightened out by the end of the trip :)

Dad: "Why is every street called salida?"
Mom: "Dan, that means exit."