An Arabian Night

Last weekend Carlos's mom and brother came to visit. We basically ate delicious food and talked and lounged. Very Spanish! Friday night we rented Paranormal Activity 2 and ordered Chinese food. So we all piled on the *new* couch and stayed there for most of the evening! The new couch is a sofa bed and really comfortable. hint hint. A great place for visitors to spend the night!

Saturday we went out to eat at this great Arabic restaurant. I ate cream of eggplant and chicken tangin. So so delicious.

The atmosphere is really nice.  Found this photo on the internet.

After dinner we went to the Arabic baths. Carlos and I have been there a couple times before. It's really close to our house.

The atmosphere of the baths makes you feel like you could have traveled back through time. There are Arabic designs on the walls and floors. The lighting is dim and there are candles in little nooks in the walls. There is a temperate water pool, a hot water pool, and then a little pool with extremely cold water. There's also a steam room and tea room.

Here's a photo from the internet. The pools are divided by these walls with arches. It's really beautiful. The best part for me is going from the really hot pool into the freezing water. It seems insane at first, by immediately after immersing your body in the cold water you feel so good. Something about your blood movement. You feel very alive. In the tea room there is this nice sweet mint tea. 

Here is the cold pool. Judging from the curved brick ceilings I think this place used to be a bodega. There are lots of old bodegas in Madrid that are now bars or clubs. 

The baths are one of my favorite places to go. After we were done we all felt like jello- loose. And ready to collapse on the sofa. I always sleep deeply after going to the baths. I feel it's well worth 24 euros. You have something like an hour and half to be there. If any of you decide to visit me I'll definitely take you here!!