The travelling astro-mom lands in Madrid
Well, here we are. It has been a week since we safely landed in Madrid. And we are here to stay for quite some time. In Spain, that is.
We will take you quite a lot of places with us, as we will be nothing short of touring Spain in the upcoming months.
Astro-mom came here for business and business is the name of the game.
First stop, Madrid, for 2 weeks.
Astro-baby is now 6 months old and she has already travelled by plane 3 times and has already seen 6 countries. So, as with anything, planning ahead is key. As is positive thinking. Actually, that is what I would tell all moms getting ready for their first trip with their newborn: expect the best, ladies and plan accordingly.
Speaking of planning and positive thinking, here is how things were managed by yours truly.
So, first things first. Accommodation.
What Astro-mom did was rent a cozy place in Guindalera, one of the residential neighbourhoods of Madrid, located a stone’s throw from Salamanca, the posh area of the Spanish capital. So far (i.e. one week into the trip) we are very pleased with everything we arranged. We thoroughly enjoy the beauty and liveliness of Madrid and more.
Second – Transport.
We rented a car as we always do when we travel abroad. Again, if you are not looking to spend a fortune, you can always find a good deal . We did so and do not forget that we flew to Spain with suitcases full to the brim, plus a baby carriage and car seat and plenty of other baby-related stuff. And it all fit in the tiny Opel Corsa or similar, to quote our car hire contract.
What I would suggest is that you consider an option where you can take with you a car seat that you can also fit as carry cot or push-chair, depending on how old your baby is. We bought a Cybex car seat that can be very easily fit on the chassis of our stroller and thus be turned into a very comfy ergonomic and even chic push-chair.
Third – Meals
All you foodies out there, stay reassured. Spain is famous for its delicious Mediterranean cuisine and astro-mom can vouch that you will find anything and everything to your taste. How could you not?
As with accommodation and transport, you can enjoy a lovely stay anywhere in Spain without disbursing your precious savings.
If you rent a place as astro-mom did you can prepare your own meals using the very tasty ingredients that so many of the conveniently located and affordable supermarkets have to offer. You can also savour (pun intended) both your vacation and the Spanish cuisine by using the many shops providing what they call comida casera para llevar (i.e. home made food to go). Prices are affordable and food tastes great, plus it caters (pun intended again! I am a linguist after all) for a wide variety of sortiments and tastes, you will not be disappointed.
Fourth – Hanging out
Madrid is such a fabulous place that just a couple of paragraphs would not do it justice. So there will be a full article on Madrid and what we particularly enjoyed about it. There is one thing I would like to point out, though. Here goes:
If in Madrid for say longer than a week, be sure to set aside a couple of days to explore the surroundings. Consider, for example, a trip to Toledo, the amazing city where Domenikos Theotokopulos, none other than El Greco, lived and created so many of his breathtaking masterpieces. Or at least, this is what we did. We, that is astro-mom, astro-baby and astro-sweetheart.
And we had a wonderful time walking around Toledo while lovely astro-baby enjoyed the day as she slept through the whole day unfazed by the whole buzz around her. We will enclose some great photos from our lovely trip to Toledo. What we can not enclose ( but you can experience for yourselves, and you should) is the delicious taste of mazapan toledano ( i.e Toledo marzipan).
Well, it’s pretty much a wrap for now. For our first week in Spain, anyway. Considering that we will be here until mid-December, do feel free to send us your suggestions and tips on what we should do and see, taste or…avoid.
Have a great equinox everyone and a fabulous Full Moon in Aries, everyone! So I guess, this is my cue to tell you all that our ASTROLOGY section of the blog will be launched soon. Sooner than you think, for sure. But not before all planets are properly aligned. Be well.
Yours astrologically,
The travelling astro-mom.
