We made it to Madrid yesterday. The heat is very intense here, but the beer is cold and cheap. Aaron and I are modestly working on our Spanish (he is doing better than I am). We enjoyed our afternoon walking throughout Opera, Sol, Plaza del Prado, and Atocha’s incredible train station complete with turtles. We spent an hour or so in a beautiful botanical garden taking dozens of pictures. We spent our evening in Pinto with our host Max, his daughter Sammy, friends Vanessa and Thomas. He had a barbeque in our honor. We enjoyed great conversation as each of them knew English as well as German and Spanish (that pretty much makes Aaron and I slackers!). Till next time.