Hola Amigos!

I'm in Madrid. It's great! There really is ham in just about everything. Walking around today, I saw three Museos del Jamon (Ham Museums). These are restaraunts/museums with fuckloads of ham hanging everywhere. If you go in a bar that has tapas, there is a good chance they'll give you something with ham/pork on it by default and 4 out of 5 menu items will contain ham. The beer and food that I have had thus far is excellent. Things are slightly expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as New York.
The flight was a bitch. We did manage to get a few hours sleep in Dublin airport, despite an incessant beeping noise that we could not locate. We're still jet-lagging, but we're hoping to be over that by tomorrow. Our luggage got roughed up and was obviously rummaged through. We packed far too much. Lesson learned: Pack extremely light. The hostal where we're staying is very clean, with a private bath, but a bit expensive. If they give us a good discount, we'll stay, otherwise, we've already found a cheaper place, but with no private bath.
We're about to go try to find an expatriate bar and meet up with a madrileno friend.