I finally made it to Madrid!  As I walked out of the airport I hear someone calling my name.  “Theresa over here!”  My friend Stacey’s sister lives in Madrid and she met me at the airport which was utterly amazing. How lucky am I?  After traveling for 15 hours the last thing I wanted to do was try to figure out how to get from the airport to my hotel.  It was so nice to have someone guiding me through the metro and busy streets.  I dropped my luggage off at the hotel and we went for a quick bite to eat.  I have met Lena (Stacey’s sister) one time before and she is a true gem just like her sister.  She moved to Madrid from CA nearly 35 years ago and never looked back.  She is an incredibly interesting and intuitive person.  She treated me like family while I was in Madrid- emailing me suggestions of what to do, explaining the metro in detail, and having me over to dinner one night.  I can’t possibly repay her and just had to say “thank you!!” over and over.

I spent the next day in Madrid wandering the city and taking it all in.  I love doing that on the first day in any city.  No place to go, no place to be.  I saw a sign while walking around: Celebrate little things.  Collect beautiful moments. I’ll be sure to remember it this year.