Hola Amigos

 It's great being back in Spain!

We are just here for a few short days before we head to San Francisco. 

We are staying in Tres Cantos which is a small satellite city of Madrid, population of approx 48,000, and interestingly it's a purpose built new city started in the 1970's with ongoing urban development.

We walked through Tres Cantos as part of Camino de Madrid a few weeks back and this visit as we see little yellow Camino arrows we recalled how hot it was as we walked to Colmenar Viejo during the heatwave....this time we are not melting thank goodness.

It's so easy to access Madrid via the train, 30 mins to the centre and easy bus link to the airport - we like it! It has  a lovely, quiet neighborhood atmosphere and you can nip into the city for action if you like - perfecto!

It's great to see the cycle lanes and green parks integrated into the design and it's so clean and the parks and gardens are well cared for and respected by the community.

The town looks to have  a number of large  businesses located here. I spotted Siemens HQ, a large Spanish telco and what looks like tech companies. 

We wandered into the culture centre and enjoyed exploring the town.

We were in a little cafe/bar looking at the menu del dia and a lovely local man asked us if we needed help understanding the menu.  Meet Jean and Christina Triquet😊. Jean and Christina's daughter had travelled around New Zealand in a minivan so we got chatting and we had the loveliest lunch together. It was so interesting to hear  from Jean and Christina about Spanish traditions, festivals, places to visit - all shared with laughter and understanding, a perfect lunch.