The first night that I was in Brussels, there was this huge baptism party with people running around in the streets covered in food. It seems a strange tradition - to follow up a baptism with a pseudo-food fight. So Caroline and I were walking around (after having crêpes) and some girl ran up to us asking if we wanted to pay 50 cents to break an egg on this girls head for her recent baptism. I was sort of shocked and a little concerned that this was another pickpocket ploy, but no sooner had I began to question this girl covered in food when a Belgian couple came over and asked if they could crack the egg on her head. It seemed legitimate enough. So, we paid and began the egg-cracking process, which is more difficult than you may imagine. Since we did not want to cause any bodily damage and give our newly christianized friend an egg-sized lump on her head, proceeded to tap the egg on her head, to no avail. Caroline gave up not wanting to hurt the girl and I took over. A few taps later and the egg had been cracked after a rather forcefully slap of the fist. She smiled bid us adieu and continued off into the night raising money via egg cracking. (Definitely ranks up there as one of the top 10 experiences of my life.)
So here is the update on Madrid.
This past weekend was relatively low-key. I went to Toledo for the day with my art history class and ended up visiting a church, a cathedral, two synagogues both of which were built by Muslims, and a mosque. Mazapan, the local specialty, was incredible.
Another food related note - I've become a huge fan of blood sausage.
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