Return of the Double Decker Bus!

The weekend, as noted by Alisa earlier, had been off to a pretty terrible start.

Fortunately the boys felt much better the following morning (aside from Joey testing his stomach out with some water and a bite of banana which his stomach promptly ejected onto the living room floor).  He pulled through quickly as they had a restful morning reading.

As the boys and I recuperated through the weekend, Alisa was the last woman standing. On Saturday night she, too, succumbed to General Franco's revenge.

Sunday was a better day and the kids and I were able to get out to enjoy another beautifully sunny day in Retiro Park.  We also had a chance to catch a puppet show!

And so, on Monday morning, they were ready to return TO THE DOUBLE DECKER BUS!

Having a full day under our belt, we were seasoned pros, walking to the stop at the top of our street and jumping on.  

We joined a few crew of ardent double decker bus fans and were relegated to the bottom level for the beginning of the ride.  

We decided to go to the Temple de Debod first.  Egypt had been so grateful for Spain's role in preserving the Egyptian temples in Abu Simbel they had this temple deconstructed, transported, and rebuilt in Madrid.

The boys liked it because it was surrounded by water and had a long pathway you could run on.  When they posed for this picture, they were Egyptian liones, guarding the gates of the temple.

We also had a chance to walk in the shade, watch a model shoot, and enjoy views of the Royal Palace through the trees.

Then we hopped back on the bus, crammed back in the bottom level.  Fortunately literally everyone on the bus wanted to see the Royal Palace and exited.  We ascended to the top and enjoyed the crisp air and great views!

The next planned stop was the Atocha Train Station, Madrid's equivalent to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station (where, as far as we know, no Amish boy witnessed a gruesome murder and had to be protected by Harrison Ford):  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/

We had to walk a bit to get to the Atocha Station.  We did enjoy a Museum (a Museum that I'm sure is the only one on Earth that Alisa's mother would not go to):

And then we had a chance to enjoy the view of Atocha and the Agricultural Center which surround the Rondo de Atocha.

Inside we wandered around looking for trains.  We did eventually see them after going through a gigantic greenhouse wing, filled with verdant plants and turtles.

It's hard to tell if there were more plants than turtles there but it was close.

Turtles without full sunlight:

Turtles with full sunlight:

Sammy really enjoyed seeing so many turtles.

All the kids enjoyed having some palmeras (one chocolate covered) as we rested after exploring the Atocha Station in the balmy greenhouse area.

They were a bit of a mess afterwards but that's to be expected.

Lanna did some walking and the boys did some running and we all were jazzed for a return to the apartment.

After a well deserved rest, we had a plan to catch ROUTE 2 and meet Alisa up north.  

The plan was largely successful and we enjoyed the top again! (Lanna enjoyed the headphones but was stopped before actually swallowing them).

We were reunited with Alisa at ETSI and they eagerly told her about their day.

We enjoyed an early dinner and then Alisa, Joey, and Sammy rode the bus one final time as Lanna and I hoofed it back to the apartment.

I reveled in only having one kid who was firmly strapped to my chest, allowing me to walk at a normal pace.  We enjoyed the view down the main avenue Recoletos and stopped to enjoy some views, like Plaza de Colon.

Despite all the stops to enjoy the walk, knowing this would be the last time I'd see this part of Madrid, we still beat Alisa and the boys back to their bus stop.

And here they are, leaving the DOUBLE DECKER BUS!

Another amazing day on the DOUBLE DECKER BUS.