Hello friends! I am back from my Thanksgiving adventure. Hip-hip-horay for four day weekends.

[caption id="attachment_3884" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Me in Madrid"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3884" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/11/28/back-from-madrid/img_6614/"><img class="size-large wp-image-3884 " title="Me in Madrid" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6614-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

The great news is that I had a wonderful weekend in Madrid! The weather was cold but sunny so I bought a new hat. It's light gray. You'll get to see it in a few pictures over the next couple of days.

The city was bustling both day and night. People on the streets, in restaurants and bars and even late night in museums.<!--more-->

[caption id="attachment_3878" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Park Fountain "]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3878" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/11/28/back-from-madrid/img_6541/"><img class="size-large wp-image-3878 " title="Park Fountain " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6541-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Here's a selection of my favorite photos. The city is really beautiful in a stately but rather unsuspecting way. Around every corner there's always another interesting street, beautiful old building or eye catching window display.

[caption id="attachment_3879" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="On the Street"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3879" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/11/28/back-from-madrid/img_6551/"><img class="size-large wp-image-3879 " title="On the Street" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6551-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't have visions of bull fights or tapas dancing in my head before the trip. I wasn't holding my breath for flamenco dancers or smoked ham.  I just wanted to go and see what the city was all about.  And I wasn't disappointed.

[caption id="attachment_3880" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Royal Palace"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3880" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/11/28/back-from-madrid/img_6642/"><img class="size-large wp-image-3880 " title="Royal Palace" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6642-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Once I got to Madrid, I was struck by how very little I knew about Madrid. I couldn't even really up with a stereotype of Spanish people when I tried to think of one. That's when I realized that everything I know about Madrid comes from the children's book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670674249/ref=s9_simh_co_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_s=left-3&amp;pf_rd_r=1EZT24N3JYM626SZSDSG&amp;pf_rd_t=3201&amp;pf_rd_p=1280661842&amp;pf_rd_i=typ01" target="_blank">The Story of Ferdinand</a>. Ferdinand is a bull but he likes clovers more than he likes fighting.  He gets picked to participate in a bull fight but then he sits in the arena and chooses not to fight. Oh, Ferdinand.

[caption id="attachment_3883" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Old man on a walk "]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3883" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/11/28/back-from-madrid/img_6671/"><img class="size-large wp-image-3883 " title="Old man on a walk " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6671-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Needless to say, the Madrid of a children's book written in the 1930's doesn't exactly shine a lot of light into the Madrid of this past weekend. So I'll try do that for you instead.