The Apartment

I'm loving Madrid more and more each day and although it's been a tough month settling in, I'm finally feeling the progress. Above you can see our new apartment (the cream yellow building) which I absolutely love. Within two blocks you can find 2 butcher shops, four bakeries, 3 fruit and vegetable stores, 3 supermarkets, a video store, a stationers, a pharmacy, an electric supplies shop, a key maker/shoe repairman, a Chinese variety store, a Pizza Hut, an indoor play space for kids, an ice cream parlor, a post office, two hair salons, and several cafes and restaurants.

Those are the useful stores. We also have a store that sells only suction cup bathroom fixtures, a store that sells only lamps, a store that sells ceramic angels, a store that sells mysterious herbs… Plus, we're only 3 blocks from the Retiro Park which is sort of like Madrid's equivalent to Central Park. It's filled with foresty paths, playgrounds, a lake with boats, outdoor cafes, and even a maze! We're also within 3 blocks of 2 different metro stations and I can honestly say that I've never lived anywhere that's so conveniently located.

We definitely won't be getting a car!

The only drawback to the new apartment is that we had to buy a washing machine, an oven and a fridge. The silver lining is that for the first time in 5 years I have a fridge that is taller than I am and a freezer that hold more than a tray of ice cubes and a bag of frozen peas. For whatever reason, the Japanese and the Swiss don't appear to freeze things much and their freezers reflect this. A life without freezers is a life without casseroles and a life without casseroles is no life at all as far as I'm concerned. Finally I can get back to the cooking habits of my Mormon ancestors. There must have been something passed down in my blood that says that by the age of 32 I should have at least 6 children because no matter what I try to cook, I always wind up preparing food for at least that many.

Here is the paseo that runs down the middle of our street.

This is a photo of Nico's nursery school. It's located in a beautiful little neighborhood which is full of charming individual houses (very rare in Madrid) and leafy green streets. If I had money coming out of my ears and knew that we were staying here forever, this is where I'd want to buy a house.

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