Beat it, Jet Lag!

I'm back! I am really stinkin' tired, but I am back! I thought all day about how to start the blog, and my mind is mush so I'll just post pictures, and try to explain what they are-
We had the BEST TIME. If you ever need a cool travel partner, Lisa is your chick. She's the best. We had some really great conversation, a LOT of laughs (til it hurt in the gut), and we really enjoyed Madrid and all it had to offer.

We enjoyed a nice stroll in the Botanical Gardens.... and met Don the Squirrel. Isn't he cute??

He really liked having his picture taken. Lisa and I spent a lot of time watching him- there wasn't much blooming in the gardens.

 We enjoyed a trip to the Prado Museum of Art, the permanent collection was great, but my favorite was the Renoir exhibit. I also picked up a really cool book (all in Spanish ;)  unfortunately)  The Birds of the Prado- Lots of paintings feature birds and owls- lots of inspiration!

Plaza Mayor was a cool place to hang out with lots of shops and restaurants. The weather was beautiful the whole week!
Everything went well with work as well. Nice and smooth with no issues except for a bit of a language barrier but I got through it!

We got a bit of shopping in- a few bead and button shops there. These cool wooden spools spun and were FILLED with buttons of every shape size and color.

Had a bit more of this jamon than I was expecting and was quite sick of it by weeks end.  They served it on the plane as well. and in every restaurant. I did enjoy this French Fry, Jamon, with fried egg on top- nothing beat it the whole week.

The Paella however- delish!! I shared this with Lisa, but probably could have conquered it myself.

 And the Chocolate and Churros- best thing on the planet. Seriously! Was like going to heaven,
in a cup full of chocolate.

Got a little Face Down Tuesday fun in while we were there. Took this pic in front of some palace, and got another at Rialto park but the pic is on Lisa's camera.

I was lucky enough to get together with blog reader Bea, for some bead shopping. She showed us the town and was the best hostess. A real sweetie, and a beading fanatic as much as I am- if that is EVEN possible!!

I found a few treasures on this trek- mostly the bead shops offered strands of stones- I was able to find a few unique things!

The look on my face in this pic says it all. We accidentally stumbled on the best button shop in Madrid- La Nueva Parisien.  I was LOVING it!! Here are the buttons I brought home.

Tried not to go nuts, but it was so hard. I was tempted to get so many more than this- but kept it under control. Didn't want Lisa to know what kind of NUT I am when it comes to shopping for this kind of thing.

 We had a nice stroll through Retiro park and enjoyed some beautiful scenery. There was this man playing these really cool drums- I have a flip video of it but until I can figure out how to make the 47 day download turn into a quicker download, I will have to wait on sharing it. Damn thing- I'll figure it out eventually. 
Took these pics with my iphone! The hipstamatic app is the best.

okay that's it for now.  i am so tired.  But I promise- More videos later, and if you want to see more of my pics, you can hop on over to my picasa web album.