Real
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
366
457
Trip End
Ongoing
Madrid,
Spain
Sunday, November 11, 2007
For many years, Lucy and I have day tripped around Europe, but there was one place we had never been to, and for god knows how long, my mate, Maxi, my main man from Madrid has called me a fuckwit, because I have never been to Madrid !!! So we had some words, a few ideas were thrown at me, and in we plunged. Madrid was going to receive a visit from the Uncle.
For once, I was so unprepared. I didn't read anything, and Maxi was still telling/emailing me hours before we left. How fucked am I !!!
A quick train trip into the city, and we were off running. We started at Puerta Del Sol. I was expecting a huge Piazza, but it wasn't to be. In fact, what really stood out were the amount of Central/South American looking people there were. Maybe now, I don't need to go to the Americas, as I'm sure they all live here in Madrid !!! Off we moved, and we tried to have a quick look at a couple of churches, but we were kicked out as mass was being taken. I did try to explain that I have many a mass at the Oktoberfest, but they didn't understand my German. Next up was Plaza Mayor. This was how I thought Puerta Del Sol would be. A huge square which could fit 100000 people, or so the LP states, and that book never lies !!! It was pretty nice but we moved on into the old Arab quarter. Apparently, the city use to be a Moorish one, and we did find a church that had once been a mosque. Snap went the camera, and this time the church was locked up. In fact, so were the next couple we tried to enter. For a Catholic country, the church wasn't doing much business. Eventually, things did full into our laps. The Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena was open. It only dates back to 1993, but the murals inside were pretty cool. Next door was the Palacio Real, but the line was way to long, so we stopped for lunch, hoping that it would go down.
After a couple of Empenadas and Cerveza, the line in fact had gotten longer, so we moved onto a park, and in the middle of it was an Egyptian temple !!! It was also closed. For a capital city, and it not being a Monday, there was not a lot to see inside. Yeah, the outsides were nice, but you want to see more than that. We tried sitting in a few parks, but after a couple of minutes, even that was boring. I ask you, how the fuck do people do it ??? Not long after, we were back at Puerta Del Sol, so we jumped on a metro, grabbed our room, and went back out.
Now Maxi had said one thing to me, when in Madrid, you MUST drink Vermouth, and none of this Martini bullshit. He told me of this bar that was in Chueca. He said that you use to be able to buy drugs from the Americans, but now it was frequented by gay Americans. Also, this place was the only non-gay bar in the area, so it would be easy to find. It was actually, so we dived in and started drinking Vermouth. It was very drinkable, and one turned into two turned into a slur and the rest of the night was a blur, but I do remember ordering a shitload of food which we couldn't finish !!!
Vermouth must be good, as there was no hangover !!! After a quick brekkie of coffee and flautine, we metroed it over to the Palacio Real, and there was no line. There was a Real farmacia, the Real rooms, and the Real armoury. You weren't allowed to take any photos, but it was very impressive inside. In the armoury, there was a lot of armour, especially for short people who rode something that would look like a Shetland pony. Fuck they were short asses back then !!! As we exited, the line to enter was fucking huge, in fact twice the size of yesterdays. Off we went to see the Egyptian temple. It had brought over stone by stone as a thank you by the Egyptian Government for helping them save Abu Simbel from drowning. There were a few engravings on it but it was nothing like we have seen in Egypt. I think they wanted to get rid of a shitty little temple, and the Spanish were happy to take it. Actually, I didn't see many Spanish, mainly Americans, the Latin kind of course !!!
Lunch was calling, and we wanted some Jamon Iberica. We had seen a Jamon bar the night before so we made our way over and ordered some bocadillos. Whilst eating and drinking Cerveza, a huge group of Real Madrid supporters came in. Now maybe this is Spain, where the average soccer supporter has more brains than the English kind, because these guys were drinking Rioja and eating Jamon Iberica !!! They were that friendly, they gave us Rioja as well. Classy guys. I think that the majority of Euro soccer lovers could learn a thing or two from these guys.
Because of the Real Madrid boys, it kind of fucked the rest of the day. We took a walk over to the Prado museum, but there was no hope of getting in. The line was even longer than the Palace one, so we decided to walk some more. There was some interesting statues/sculptures in town, and it got me thinking that this was indeed a very sophisticated place. And then we were back where we started, the Puerta Del Sol. There was a huge demonstration going on. We asked a few people and some told us that it was about a murder, whilst others said fascists, and another said nationalists. I don't think anyone really knew, but then again, this is Spain !!!
And not much later, we were back on the metro, heading to the airport.
And Finally.
I am a fuckwit. I can't believe how long it has taken me to get there, but fuck it's a good city. Easily the equal of Barcelona, but different in its own right, but what really amazed me were the amount of Americans we saw. Were they doing to Spain what Spain had done to them centuries ago. Invading with new diseases !!! This I will never know.
