We Laughed, We Cried, We Ran Amok

The 6-hour road from Leon to Cuenca was a superhighway and many interesting towns lay between: Palencia, Valladolid, Avila, etc. But the road looked familiar (adorable haybales, sunflowers, green vineyards) and as much as the walled city of Avila tempted us, we've seen some walls this trip. And the Leon parador didn't have a swimming pool but the Cuenca parador did... If we drove straight through we'd be swimming by 3:30...So Ed drove past all the exits until we came to one that was just too tempting.

Remember my post about El Escorial, when the bus made Ben and me so sick and we couldn't find a taxi to Valle de los Caidos, the ONE place Ed really wanted to see outside Madrid? Where Franco built a weird monument to the dead of the Civil War (purportedly both sides but you can imagine that the winning dictator's side got the most graveyard real estate)? It's all very odd but we'd had recommendations from several people that it wasn't to be missed. So I realized that there was the exit and the monument didn't seem too far away. Exit! Exit! Exit! Alas, the visit wasn't meant to be-- for us at least--it's closed indefinitely for renovations. Poor Ed. All we got was a picture of the gate and then it was back on the road to Cuenca.

As we navigated around Madrid it became clear by the noises from the backseat that we better get the kids some lunch. But we weren't in the mood to wander the outskirts of Madrid looking for a cafe. And then we saw it.

On the far side of Madrid, there was a huge (HUGE) mall, Gavila. With an IKEA. And a food court. And a LOT of "Fashion." All the boys cared about was going to McDonald's--okay, fair enough. But this was a beautiful mall: cool, super-clean, gleaming really. Plus it was filled with places where all those things that we hadn't been able to find easily-- toe-nail polish, FIFA soccer balls, post office (with mailing boxes!) etc. etc. were there for us. We are not a mall people but this mall was nirvana. We ran from store to store buying crap we did not need.

Thank goodness the toy store pulled us up short. Nothing but toys for as far as you could see-no adult sporting goods or other items. Just toys: look at Ben standing next to all that pink packaging. There is Nate holding his new soccer ball and waiting to see the new Magic cards in the case. But when you turn to the left, a whole bank of firearms is showcased for your child's easy shopping pleasure. Granted, I know they're sold at such places like WalMart in the U.S.. But in a toy store? Really?

Time to go. But that mall was 2 unexpected hours of sheer air-conditioned, polished fun.