Mi Piace, Mi Gusta – Day 23: Non ho le parole! (I don’t have the words!)

I don’t have the words to describe today, so instead I will just list what happened.

1. On our way to find breakfast, we saw Kermit the Frog walking through the Plaza del Mayor. I should have known right then that it was going to be a strange day.

2. We had breakfast. I ordered in Spanish: “Numero quattro. Cafe con leche.” (Breakfast #4. Coffee with milk.)

Numero quattro with cafe con leche

3. As we walked through Puerta del Sol, we saw Homer Simpson. (Maybe he should go hang out with Kermit.) A few minutes later, a bird po0ped on me. We went back to  the hostel for me to clean my clothes and to wash my hair. Again.

4. We went to the Prado Museum. I didn’t know we couldn’t take photos until after I took this one of Fra Angelico’s depiction of the Annunciation. Interestingly, no one stopped me from taking this photo, but a few minutes later, when I was reading about a different painting from the Rick Steves’s book on my iPhone, a woman who worked for the museum came up to me and said in Spanish (Thank goodness for Katie’s translation) that I should hold my phone down near my waist while reading so that it doesn’t look like I’m taking a picture and then the guards watching on the video walkie-talkie her to stop me.

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico

5. After miles of art, we stopped at a bar for more coffee (we needed itto refuel for the next museum) plus some cake (I ordered the “pudding cake” recommended by a local. Note to self: always get what the locals recommend.)

6. Then we got to the Reina Sofia museum of modern art, where I was stumped once again as to why Picasso and Dali are so famous.

7. Then we followed one of Rick Steves’s recommended tapas routes. We went to three of his spots, but only one was good!

Calamari and sangria

8. Then for some unknown reason, we went to an Argentinian ice cream place he recommended. It was a twenty-minute walk away. We passed several other ice cream shops along the way only to discover the one Rick Steves recommended was closed, even though the sign said it was open. Third fail of the night, Rick Steves!

This store doesn’t look open. The sign lies.

9. We headed back to our hotel and stopped at a frozen  yogurt spot along the way. It was actual yogurt, not the sweet stuff we think of as frozen yogurt.

Ugh!