The rain in Spain is nowhere to be seen

Madrid, Spain, 19-21st July 2012

Arrival in Madrid was a breath of fresh air, metaphorically. In a more literal sense it was completely the opposite. A nice day in Geneva can be hot and sunny but the weather there is far too unreliable to enjoy ("sure it's nice now, but will it be cold and rainy in 20 minutes ?") and so it was great to step out into the hot Madrid air knowing with relative certainty that the next 10 days, spent in Madrid, Sevilla and Lisbon, would be pleasant in a doing-things-outside kind of sense.

Our host for the three days (who complained about not having a nickname on another blog and so will henceforth be called Fiesta, after his ex-car and one of his favoured activities) proved this point by taking us to a municipal swimming pool where we caught up with Mike, who I haven't seen for seven years, got slightly burnt, and discussed the Madrid municipal pools' relaxed rules on topless sunbathing for ladies. It was here that I also discovered tinto de verano, some sort of red wine cocktail with several icebergs inside, a perfect refresher for a hot summer's day. Thoughts of home evaporated from my mind entirely.

 

Fiesta discreetly pours beers at the municipal pool

Our one entire day in Madrid was dedicated to a walking tour/sitting around hybrid where we saw "most of the south west of the centre" of the city, stopped at a few terraces for tinto de verano or a nice cold beer, and stopped in a few parks to lie around and chat idly and do nothing particularly productive. We started at a terrace just to give us a bit of energy for what was to come next where I picked up a few Spanish hints - Fiesta gave some of them out through pure generosity and some of them out of necessity - for instance after one incident in which I mistakenly asked the waitress for a portion of coca leaves. We wandered around, ticking off the sights - the presidential palace, Plaza Mayor, and so on. Madrid is the kind of city that can surprise the unsuspecting visitor. A guy dressed up as a baby on Plaza Mayor, for instance, entertaining people for a few coins.

A street.

Plaza Mayor. An apt name for this large square. And yes, we were trying to look casually disinterested in the picture

Guy dressed as baby

Around a corner in a park, another surprise. "That looks like an Egyptian temple ! Looks a bit out of place in a Spanish park..." I mused. It turns out that it was an Egyptian temple. Out of gratitude for Spanish help in moving Abu Simbel after the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the Egyptian government gave Spain an entire temple. Motivation to be generous with one's time and efforts if I've ever seen one.

Looks out of place, as I said

A market, where various Spanish things are to be found, mainly fish, meat and cheese. What a lovely place

As day gave way to evening, we sampled a bit of Madrid's nightlife and culinary scene although, being too old for anything these days, this took the form of an Ethiopian restaurant and a bar with loads of board games. We supped on very generously proportioned cocktails and battled it out in an epic game of Scrabble before wandering home, past locals and visitors, partygoers and prostitutes, ready for the train to Sevilla the next day...

Presidential palace

Final note: Spain is going through something of an economic downturn at the moment. It's not so much a crash as a complete wreckage, although barring a couple of protests here and there, it's not really in evidence in the streets of Madrid. One thing that is easy to notice, though, is the ubiquity of the word "MUTANTS", seemingly directed at banks and everyone considered responsible for this state of affairs. Can anyone enlighten me on why this is...?