Stay Curious, Stay Playful

Our flight began late in the night from our place of departure. With a slight layover in Hanover, where, it might be good to know another time, there is a very cool little Harry Potter Shop for all those tourists passing through. A short time later we were back in the air and on our way to our actual destination.  Due to lack of sleep, it occurred to me only on this second part of our flight that some above the clouds photos would be cool- especially since they looked like they might be cumulonimbus clouds (?). I know the grade 5 class has been doing work with clouds, so they probably know more than I do. I tried to catch O's attention to check on my cloud identification but the seats had these cool consoles for occupying your time with movies or video games. Sigh.

This was definitely getting closer to Spain. I hoped the sunshine would follow us into Madrid.

Passenger conduit at Madrid airport. 

 Enter Madrid: 

The interesting architecture begins here, in the passenger conduit. I really liked the ripple effect of the rafters, the wide open spaces and the organic flow of the space. True, I might not speak the technical terms well, but this really made an impression on me- it was really well done (and I have experienced several less interesting passageways in airports).

  

Not far from where we stayed in Madrid we could walk along El Rio, also known as the Manzanares, the river that flows through Madrid. It was a really nice pathway system with interesting parks along the way. Our friend, Michelle, gave us the idea to look for los tobogones (the slides) and I am so glad she did! Our first walk around it was pretty quiet and the slides were very hot in the sun. When we visited another day, the slides were so busy, but that meant that O. had an encounter with another child in line in which he was able to try his Spanish. He returned to me all excited that someone had asked him a question and he understood most of it and was able to reply to some of it (very proud of himself!). Yes, and here am I trying out a zip line. These days I have to push myself a little more to just go for it and have fun! It's an idea I want the kids to maintain as they get older, that you really are never too old to just enjoy the moment!

N. is looking all serious here- I think there are similar expressions in photos of me at this age. In all seriousness though, he is taking in so much! He did a great write up of several things we saw at El Retiro and often points out interesting things to encourage me to take a second look. I really appreciate that!

My hope for you all is that you will stay curious!