Day: December 13, 2025

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day #10. “On the Verge of Stardom”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

Today was our last full day in Madrid with our wonderful daughter, Erica.  Every moment with her is a delight because we see her so infrequently.  When we leave tomorrow it will be very difficult for me.  

But let’s focus on today because it appears I’m on the verge of stardom.  It seems as if Erica’s colleagues have not subscribed to the blog yet but another person who I don’t know did.  At this rate of growth I only need to blog for about another 70 years to make this thing profitable.  

I did get an exciting pat on the back yesterday in regards to my blog. I was notified by a neurologist consultant, that one of my favorite patients, Irv, would be having emergency spine surgery last night.  I messaged him to see how he was doing and let him know that I was aware of the problem. Irv confirmed that he was in the hospital about to have surgery and asked me how the Madrid swimming pool fishing was going.  OMG!  Someone about to have emergency surgery is reading my blog?  How could I be more thrilled?

Prior to leaving on our trip, Patrice and I were experimenting with an AI program called Grok.  We asked it if it was familiar with the famous blogger named Robert Reiss.  It said YES!   It proceeded to tell about our recent trip to New York City. That is information it could only have gotten from my blog.  I’M FAMOUS! I’M FAMOUS!   Before I get too excited let me back up and say it got a couple of facts wrong.  It said we went to NYC to celebrate my birthday (we were actually going as a celebration of Patrice’s birthday) and that I was celebrating my 90th.  I’m happy to report although my age is more than I care to admit, 90 is quite a way off.  It reported Patrice’s age as 46. Nothing more will be said about that statement. I asked if it knew if the famous blogger did any other work and it correctly stated I was a doctor for UCLA health.  It said we have one child (off by two) whose name is Lindsay (that is correct).  When I told it that the famous blogger actually has three children it replied that I was correct (thank you for that affirmation) and their names are Amanda and Andrew.   Erica and David, welcome to your new names and Patrice, relax, I don’t have a secret family.  

Breakfast today was at a place recommend by one of Patrice’s friends.   Patrice promised to reimburse me if I didn’t like the meal.  What is wrong with that picture?  Cafe Murillo (Calle de Ruiz de Alarcón, 27, Retiro, 28014 Madrid) is located next to the Murillo entrance for the Prado (a famous museum which we have been to multiple times). The restaurant opens at 12 pm but online we could only get a reservation for 1 pm so we went early hoping to be seated.  We arrived at 12 and told our greeter that we had a reservation for 1.   She smiled at us and asked “Americanos?”

The restaurant was beautiful. Patrice and Erica shared an eggplant parmesan which was small but they liked it very much.  I had the “huevos rotos” (broken eggs) which looked beautiful but was a bit disappointing.  For dessert we had chocolate fondant (also known as chocolate lava cake).  It was served with a scoop of ice cream and this was something I would tell all my patients to avoid.  It was superb.  

Eggplant Parmesan
Broken Eggs
Chocolate Fondant with ice cream. Yes, amazing.

We then toured the Real Jardin Botanico (Royal Botanical Garden).  It was lovely.  I especially liked the bonsai plants. I also liked the free entry, as a professor, even more.

Bonsai that reminds me of the sculpture in Sol.

This is my favorite photo from the garden.

The three of us in the Botanical Garden green house.

After a rest at the hotel we decided our final dinner in Madrid should be a Spanish traditional meal.  So we took a vote between paella, cocido, Jamon Iberica and finally decided on Indian food. 

Tomorrow we head for home.  As usual I will finish our trip with a series of photos that I found interesting and hopefully you will too. 

Adios y hasta luego.

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day #9. “Culture Shock and Lots of Fun”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

We got an early start today (leaving the hotel at about 11:30) to get something to eat.  Breakfast looked much better than it tasted here are two photos for Claudette’s enjoyment. 

Patrice had the omelette.
Jamón, tomato, and toast for me.

Following lunch, (oops I meant breakfast.  I got confused because we ate at noon, the traditional breakfast time for Spaniards) and headed to look at an apartment with Erica.  I was very uncomfortable because some of the jamón from breakfast was stuck between my teeth.  We didn’t have time to go back to the hotel so I made a quick stop at a pharmacy to get some floss.  When I saw they wanted 8 € for a small container of floss my tooth discomfort was almost completely relieved.  We later found some floss at a supermercado (supermarket) for about 2 € and my faith in the Spanish system was renewed.

Erica seemed to like the apartment we saw today so we visited a bank to see if she could get a hipoteca (mortgage).  At the bank we learned she could get a mortgage at a 2.5% annual rate.  I then interrupted the conversation and said “Forget about Erica, can you help ME refinance  my house?”  The banker gave me a rather curious look.  I supposed it was because they don’t do mortgages for properties in the USA.  I asked Erica and she said that was not the case, it was because my Spanish is not very good.  Apparently, instead of asking about a mortgage I asked if the fishing is good in Madrid swimming pools. 

This afternoon we were the honored guests at the Irish Embassy Christmas party.  Actually, we were invited to attend after they finished eating.  Apparently Erica told them if I was invited for the meal they would have to increase the party budget. It was great meeting her coworkers because they all seem to love Erica. I never tire of hearing how wonderful my children are.  I also met some of Erica’s colleagues who were very interested in my blog and promised to become followers.  They seemed like two wonderful people with whom I’m very pleased to share our travels and I say welcome to Patrick and Tamzin.  They each agreed to get 1,000 of their closest friends to sign on as followers so I can make this a second career. 

Next we headed to one of my favorite places to eat in Madrid, El Brillante (Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, 8, Centro, 28012 Madrid).  This place is famous for their calamari sandwiches and the waiters who yell at each other. 

The waiter spotted us as Americans and handed us the menu with pictures. Look at all the yummy choices we had. See below.

This is why you come to Spain, you just can’t get a great fried pig ear in L.A.
Lamb intestines are also a tough item to find.

I also had a choice of pig stomach but even those the above items were temping but I opted for the bocadillo (sandwich) they call, “El Brillante”, the same name as the restaurant. It is fried calamari and absolutely delicious.

After eating we went to the Madrid Comedy Lab for a comedy show.  I hope you are impressed that my Spanish is good enough to enjoy a comedy show in Madrid.  Unfortunately I need to confess that it was all in English.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Madrid.  If you don’t think it will be tough for me since we will soon be leaving our dear baby, then you don’t know me. 

Adios y hasta mañana.