Vacation in Madrid- Part 3 - Great Day with Friends

One afternoon during our meeting we had some free time so we hit the town.  It was fun exploring the city with our friends.  We found Taco Bell and TGIFridays!  It is amazing what you miss when you don't have it.  Who would have thought we would miss Taco Bell.

Vacation in Madrid - Part 2 the Meeting & World Cup 2010

Our main purpose in traveling to Madrid was our annual company meeting.  It was a great 3 days of preaching and worship (in English) and a great time of fellowship and encouragement with friends and colleagues from all over.  The kids always love this time because while we were in meetings there was a group from FBC Hendersonville, TN that came to do VBS and love on our kids.  They were completely spoiled.  (Notice that both the boys were in classes with all girls.)

Our first night in Madrid was CRAZY!  For any of you who follow soccer, we were in Spain for the finals of the World Cup and SPAIN WON!  I don't think anyone in the city slept that night.  Everywhere we went there were people crowded around televisions and flags flying.  We would rather it had been Portugal playing for the championship, but it was fun watching Madrid explode when Spain won.

Vacation in Madrid Part 1 - The joy of the journey!

A week after moving into our new apartment in Porto, we headed to Madrid, Spain for a company meeting and a few days of vacation.  We were excited about the trip, but not excited about the 6 hour drive through the interior of Portugal and Spain.  Fortunately our friend Craig traveled with us. 

About 45 minutes outside of Madrid on a stretch of road like this

This happened......

Thankfully we were on a toll road and there were little phone boxes scattered on the side of the highway.  We called and within 15 minutes a road assistance truck showed up, the gentleman changed the tire and we were back on the way.  (As you can see, the extra tire was under the back and everything had to be unloaded. UGH!)

More photos to come..........

Finally!

We have finally made it to Porto and are settled in (almost - after 3 trips to Ikea to try and buy get blinds for our 9 living room windows).  We have even already had our first overnight guest:)  Starting over is never easy, but we are so excited see what lies ahead of us here.  We will be heading to Madrid, Spain next week for a meeting and short family vacation.  We will try to post pictures of our new apartment when we get back.  (We have an extra bedroom, so come see us.)