A postcard from Madrid and a new mellow playlist for the weekend.

A quick hello until next week.

A postcard from Madrid

When you move abroad, especially with kids, you constantly find yourself trying to catch up with a new timeline. New holidays, new weeks off of school, new ways of vacationing, and new ways of celebrating. And, as we started the new year and got back to school, we quickly realized we had made no plans for the week-long vacation in mid-February, known as ski week. It's a time when many (almost every family we know) head to the mountains to ski (much more skiing than snowboarding here). When we started to look into options, everything was already booked or obscenely expensive at this point, and to be honest, I was dreading having to manage Bruno in the snow while Andre and the older boys were off snowboarding. So, we decided it would be a perfect time to check out Madrid, a place we've both wanted to visit for a long time. The weather right now is similar to Rome; it’s cool and crisp, and flights and Airbnbs were still reasonable. So, we made our reservations and set out on Monday for Madrid.

From the moment we stepped out our front door, we were off to a rough start. Running late to the airport, the stress of trying to figure out long-term parking in an Italian airport, a complete Bruno meltdown in the final stretch of the flight, a suitcase from an overhead bin being pulled directly down onto Paolo's head, a horrible Airbnb with no hot water and a death trap staircase I fell down... and this was all on the first day. Luckily, we were able to move to a hotel and things have started to look up. We've seen some beautiful art, discovered some very cool coffee shops and wine bars, and spent time discovering and exploring the city. We still have a few days left before we return to Italy. And, we'll be sharing all of our Madrid favorites in next week's newsletter. Sending love from Madrid! xoxo

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Tunes for the weekend

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