MADRID, SPAIN (MAY 2021)

The last video of our recent travels to the Iberian Peninsula. The city of Madrid is very special to me and I can say Madrid is my second home. Born and raised in Puerto Rico I started spending summers in Madrid as young as 6 months old. I have had a strong bond with my grandparents (Maria Pedraza & Arturo Franco) and great aunt (Toni Pedraza) since early childhood. My parents met while my father was doing his medical school education at Universidad Complutense in Madrid back in the 1960's and got married in Sept 1965 while my father was still living there. I have so many beautiful memories from my childhood/pre teen years including my first rides in a subway with my grandfather (I would memorize subway stations names on different subway lines), the amazing aromas of bakeries in the Salamanca neighborhood (where my grandparents lived), and meeting my great Aunt Toni (the artist in our family) after she finished her work shifts to get to have a sleepover at her apartment close to Gran Via Street. My parents during those summers would rent a car and all of us would travel to different parts of the country, for which I think I developed a passion for travel. I took Peter to Spain for the first time back in 2014 and he loved it, including our strong connection with the Balearic Islands. We went back with Peter's parents (Janet & Vito Sciscioli) in 2016 and had the opportunity to travel in the Basque Region (Cantabria) with them in addition to going back to Menorca which has become our favorite! This time with all the conflicts regarding the pandemic we were lucky enough to get to spend 3 days in Madrid and get to spend some quality time with close family. I wanted to document a slice of the places in the city we were able to walk by. For those of you who've visited Madrid, I hope these images will bring some good memories of this beautiful city. CHEERS