Missionaries and Madrid

I'm stranded in the Denver airport right now. I'm headed to my cousin Kate's wedding in Chicago, but the Illinois skies are threatening dangerously high winds.  My departure got delayed 5 1/2 hours until 10:40 tonight, but I'm flying Frontier so who knows if that will actually happen. While I certainly don't want to fly in a tornado, my 2:30am arrival doesn't sound like much fun either. Blech.

On the positive side, I now have a large chunk of time that I can dedicate to blogging if I muster enough willpower. It's gonna take a lot because all I really want to do is hole up and cry. I'm really missing my family right now, especially our beautiful Talia Lily. Tomorrow morning, our Hermana Talia Wheeler leaves for the Mexico City Missionary Training Center. We said goodbye two days early since I was driving Annika to Round Up River Ranch in Colorado. While the drive was fine, the early farewell kind of sucked. 0/10 Do Not Recommend.

It's only been two days, and already it feels so long. My head knows that I will get used to her being away and that she will be having marvelous experiences and learning so much in Argentina.  We'll get to talk every week and we will write letters and e-mails. Intellectually, I know it will be fine. But right now my heart aches and I miss this sweet gal so much already.

As I left, Talia gave me the most beautiful card. In it she suggested listening to Taylor Swift and mentioning Scotland when we miss her. Today I did both while hiking a trail called the Argentine Central in her honor.

Talia, I so admire your faith and courage as you step into the unknown to serve people you've never met. Your love overflows, Hermana! Keep trusting Him in moments that are both wonderful and that are hard. My experience is that God is able to light the path just enough to find our way if we keep moving forward. We love you immensely and always!

***

And now,  let the Spain travel saga begin!

Aboard our first flight. This is where I breathe a big sigh of relief--all the planning and packing are over and the adventure can begin. Per usual, our family traveled fairly light (three carry-ons and six backpacks). While less luggage certainly makes fitting in a vehicle and moving from place to place easier, it also requires much more thought in deciding what items are essential to bring.

Our budget flights included two layovers, one of which was in Montreal. Nothing like immersing yourself in French Canadian to get your mind ready for Castilian Spanish, eh.

It's a little thing, but my heart felt grateful every time we passed through security and Annika didn't have to undergo a separate screening process because of her ICD. In so many ways, her transplant is allowing her to live life with more normalcy. Less than eighteen months post-transplant and traveling overseas! Not too shabby.

Arriving in the Madrid airport, Brooklyn showed us the spot where she helped all the brand new missionaries file claims for their missing luggage on her first day in the field. Her Spanish was strong from the beginning, but only got better. She said that she could tell her Spanish had improved when she came home and discovered that Jason and I sounded like gringos.

Navigating new places is so much easier with today's technology.

Our Peugeot rental.

Six Wheelers and luggage! The car was a bit bigger than the last time we road tripped through Europe, which was probably a good thing since we all grew too. 

(Hearkening back to 2021)

Back to 2026. Jason Wayne Wheeler, you're timeless!

We arrived in Madrid pretty early in the morning, making it through customs before 8am. Fortunately, Brooklyn had the day all planned. We parked our car by the Madrid Temple, then set out for a walking tour of Madrid. Not only had Brooklyn been on a similar tour as a brand-new missionary, she accompanied multiple other groups as a Sister Training Leader, making her an expert guide.

Our first stop? La Plaza de Toros de las Ventas. As Spain's largest bull-fighting arena, it is featured in the film Ferdinand. While we didn't go inside, we did take a tour of the free bull-fighting museum.

While bull fighting is till not my thing, I definitely left with more respect for the matadors.

Next stop: El Retiro. This beautiful park is a gem in the heart of Madrid. We only explored a small corner, so it would be fun to go back and spend more time there.

Annika was dragging by this point, so I suggested we hit up the children's playground. In truth, I think the biggest kids enjoyed it most.

Meanwhile, Annika made friends with pigeons and a cat.

La Plaza de Cibeles

The Madrid City Hall is muy impresionante! We even splurged on a tickets to go up to the observation deck.

I think our tired crew was as excited about the comfy couches as the architecture.

A bird's eye view of the city.

Our beautiful Brooklyn smiled this big the entire time we were in Spain. While I likely would have loved the country no matter what, experiencing it with her was pure joy.

I know it's a glass roof, but gosh it looks so tempting to try and bounce on it!

A Spaniard at heart. We are already plotting how to go back and hike the Camino de Santiago.

No tour of Madrid would be complete without a visit to the Puerta del Sol to see the statue of the bear and the strawberry tree--official symbols of Madrid

Of course, we were even more interested in the San Gines Chocolateria. But alas, with reserved tickets for the palace in hand, our churros would have to wait.

As a girl, I used to think that being a princess would be awesome. As an adult, the prospect now strikes me as completely overwhelming.

Once inside, the palace was just as impressive as one might envision.

Royal dinner, anyone? Plenty of seats at the table.

Of course, by this point we were absolutely exhausted. I don't know that anyone fully appreciated the palace tour in our sleepy state. Once again, a great reason to go back!

Afterward, we finally made it to San Gines to experience Churros and Chocolate. What a decadent treat! Our exhausted Jason literally almost passed out on the way there. Fortunately a kind waitress gave him a seat and brought him a bottle of water before he hit toppled.

Here's Talia, conked out on the train after. Did I mention we were tired?

After a quick stop at at our AirBnB to check-in and change clothes, we headed back to the Madrid Temple to do baptisms. No better way to perk up after an exhausting couple days of travel and sight-seeing!

No matter where you are in the world, standing on temple grounds feels like a holy experience.

Brooklyn, thank you so much for bringing us all together in this amazing place! Your missionary service blessed us even while you were gone and continues to bless us in so many ways after. Talia, I know that we and many others will be blessed through you as well. Argentina 2028? Tell you what--we'll let you pick between there and Scotland. :)

To all my favorite Wheelers, I love you!