Official Announcement Declaring Madrid is Stephanie's Favorite City in the World

Take me to the docks,
there is a ship there with no name
sailing to the middle of the sea
water there is deeper than anything you've ever seen
Jump right in and swim until you're free
I will remember your face
because I am still in love with that place
when the stars are the only things we share, 
I've got a plan
I've got an atlas in my hands
I'm going to turn when I listen to the listens that I've learned.
-Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Atlas Hands

I am not wandering in this city. I belong here. I know these streets. I know the route. I know the tricks. Madrid is an old glove that I am just now sliding over my fingers, because last winter never got quite cold enough. It feels like the cozy blanket you crave when you're watching a movie on the couch. It is filling a space in my heart that I didn't even realize needed filling.

I forgot how in Madrid, you say "vale" at least 100 times per day. (It means "okay" mas o menos). I forgot just how good croquettas really are. I somehow had let the true taste of tinto de verano in the sun fade from my tongue. I return as if I just left last week. I forgot the Madrileño inability to wait on the pedestrian signal to walk, but rather, to intently watch the cars and to dart across the street at the first available second. I watch pairs of people walking along the street throwing their hands up in the air as they speak, talking over each other, laughing and taunting the other like they are stars of a comedy show.

It has indeed been too long.
I am not just still in love with this place.
Oh no, perhaps I am more enchanted and in love than ever before.
I simply cannot grasp how I left. And to think- I only crafted this scheme to come here in February! Perhaps I realized- my wanderlust, the atlas in my hands, was always directing me back here.  At least for this taste, for this moment.
I love this city. It's people. It's expressions. It's splendor. The buildings, the concrete squares that line the sidewalks, the little metal tables sitting outside restaurants lining the streets. The trees and how the sun shines through the clouds only on one side of the street. There are so many dear friends here and although we have 2014 technology blessing our friendship, the distance is meaningless and we sit at our old watering holes like we met there yesterday.
I have jumped back in, and oh how free I feel.
I am a happy, happy girl.

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date

Determined to catch up on blogging, expect several long posts to come. First of all, about my weekend. I took off Thursday from work and went with Melania to Budapest, Hungary to help with a conference for Biolase. We were running super late on the way to the airport and totally relieved when we got there and checked in with no problems. So relieved actually, that we overestimated how long we had to grab something to eat and again ended up running toward the gate as the plane was already boarding. Running late was a theme of the entire weekend as you are about to read. Melania blames it on being Italian, I blame it on my mother who was never on time anywhere. We ended up getting on one of those moving sidewalks and having to run in the opposite direction to catch the flight. It was quite a sight.

On the plane, I was fortunate enough to sit dead center in a group of about 30 Spainards going to Hungary for a ballroom dancing competition. It was like a scene out of Home Alone. They wanted to be my best friends and share their life story and I was dying to catch some ZzZ’s. Obviously, that didn’t happen at all. They switched seats, talked, told stories, laughed, made fun of each other and screamed while I journaled with my ipod on loud yet still learning Spanish. What a flight.

            Thursday night, we checked into the hotel and Melania took me to one of her favorite restaurants with traditional Hungarian food. Wow, it was delicious. The red wine we had was very distinct and really great. We met up with some of Melania’s friends from when she studied in Budapest for two years. There was a blur of Italian, Hungarian, English and Spanish, which was really incredible. The girls were awesome and we had a really good time. We were the last people to leave the bar and by the time we said goodbye, I thought they were my long-lost friends too. It was a really nice night and the first time since I have been here I really relaxed and enjoyed myself.

            Going off very little sleep, it was time to get up and get to the University where the congress was being held. At breakfast, I found friends from Biolase and we headed off to get everything set up. Once the banner, lasers, registration table etc organized, people started appearing to register. Registration went pretty smoothly, mostly because Melania speaks Hungarian and also because the four hands doing it really helped quite a bit. The first speaker was a good family friend from Rome, so we sat in on his presentation and the next course also.

Next thing we knew, it was time to break for dinner. There was a gala that night and my boots had broken earlier in the day. Deciding that we had just enough time to run to the mall to buy me new boots and to get a necklace for Melania’s dress, we sprinted to the mall. Because I cannot read my watch, we ended up thinking that we were a complete hour ahead. As we are about to pull up to the hotel thinking we have 15 minutes to change and get to the gala at the hotel, Pedro calls wondering where we are. We were a complete hour late!!! HORRIBLE. We made up for it though by being the last people to leave. As we finally decided to go to bed around 4 am, they were setting the room up for breakfast.

Again, the next morning came way too soon. Weary and exhausted, we had another full day of laser courses ahead. The day flew by though. Interesting courses, wonderful speakers, awesome snacks and coffee for survival on breaks. With our break after the certification presentation and cleaning up, we went to get a suitcase and some other things that Melania left with a friend two years ago. Opening that thing up was like finding some hidden treasure! Again, barely making it in time to the hotel in time to change and head to dinner, we were rushed and running late. But we did it. All the speakers, several of the attendees and all the staff headed to another recommendation by Melania to have a traditional Hungarian meal. The food was wonderful and the company even better. We had a great time and weren’t yet willing to say goodbye. More drinks at the attendee’s hotel and a nice night stroll across the river to see the infamous bridges and city skyline. Walking through the city watching our breath in front of our faces, we were reflecting on what a greet weekend it had been. Melania said she’s like the rabbit from Alice And Wonderland. Exactly how rushed the whole weekend was! Just 6 hours after getting back to the hotel, we headed back to Madrid.