Madrid, cont.

So, to continue...

Madrid was absolutely lovely and we had a great time, as you can see by this disturbingly close self-portrait. The first day we were there, we decided to get some breakfast once we had scouted out our hotel, which, by the way, was really fantastic and not too expensive (NH Breton). Anyway, so we venture out for breakfast, and Aaron decides he is going to try out his Spanish at the first cafe we find. So he goes in and says, "Quiero desayuno," which means "I want breakfast." But, instead of saying "days-ah-yoo-no," he says what sounds like "dee-ehs-ee-ahn-no," which, to the cafe owner, sounds like what translates as "10 years." Needless to say, the guy thought Aaron was absolutely insane, as he repeated over and over "I want 10 years, I want 10 years." Umm...awkward. We eventually ended up pointed to a croissant and decided that it would have to do since our language skills were so lacking. Here is a picture of Aaron the next day pointing to a sign for breakfast, which ended up working much better:

The rest of the trip was pretty typical. It was nice to only go to Madrid, because we felt like we could relax and see things as we felt like seeing them, rather than rushing around all over the place like crazy people trying to fit everything in. Aaron's favorite part of the trip was a side venture to El Escorial, a monastary about an hour's train trip from Madrid.

My favorite part of the trip was sitting on my rear at a sidewalk cafe drinking a pitcher of sangria, but I guess that's how we're different.

The whole reason we ended up in Madrid was because I was presenting some of my research at the International Psycho-Oncology Society's annual meeting, which was at the Feria Madrid, a very impressive conference center with some really creepy bears.