Travel Memory: Magical Bubbles in Madrid

E, my toddler, has suddenly gotten much more verbal. The biggest change is that he tells a lot more stories, usually about what has happened within the past couple of days. Last night, though, we were talking about how much he likes blowing bubbles, and he started telling me, in detail, about an experience we had in Madrid back in October.

E woke up in tears from his nap on our first day in Madrid, devastated because (we think) waking up had disrupted a wonderful dream about blowing bubbles. All we know is that he was crying "I want my bubbles back." It took forever to soothe him, and he kept returning to the issue even once he had calmed down. He'd never really told us about his dreams before, so we were pretty surprised.

Later in the day, we went to explore the park and playground outside Madrid's Royal Palace. As we stood by the fountain, a young woman walked up and began blowing bubbles. E was delighted and ran to her yelling "bubbles, bubbles." She blew a few more bubbles for him, and then, seeing how overjoyed he was, handed him the container and walked away with her friends. E carried that bubble container with him everywhere for the remainder of the trip, and I had to get a little more crafty than usual, refilling it with a mixture of hotel shampoo, water, and restaurant sugar every couple of days.

The whole experience felt like one of those poetic travel experiences you see on cheesy TV shows (think Brady Bunch in Hawaii) but I've held onto it because it was so magical for my little boy. It was neat to hear that he has held onto his memory of those magical bubbles too.

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0 comments | Posted on February 18, 2008 | Save to del.icio.us

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