American Girls in Espania!

It was an Air Iberia 757, the flight took just over 2 hours, I had a window seat in coach and the view was pretty amazing, with the Italian Alps, the Pyrrenese (I'll fix the spelling later!), and the Mediterranian Sea! I had no trouble finding my bag, and there was no customs or immigration. The only problem I ran into was getting a good map of Madrid! The tourist info at the airport was not helpful and had no maps but the Metro rail system. I took the metro map and compared it to my travel guide to find out where the tourist center in the city was. I got there no problem, but my tourist guide was so old that the tourism center listed in my book was closed! So I just started walking with all of my bags towards the area that my old book said there were plenty of cheap places to stay. I was still tired from all the walking I did the night before, and this time I was also laden down with my big backpack, so after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at finding a nice, cheap place to stay, I remembered that Ana had left me the photocopies of a newer travel guide of Madrid. Eureka! I found a nice place within 10 minutes and settled in before starting out on the town. . . .

Something that I noticed here that I also noticed in all of Italy is the difference in pace. I am not a business man, I am fortunate to not be involved in the rat race. When I visit any big city in the US, I nearly get trampled by all the suits, 7am - 7pm. Here in Europe, even in the big cities, I find that my 'slow' pace is enough to find myself stuck behind the crowds! Window shopping is serious business for men and women alike! I get frustrated because many businesses are closed for 2 hours or more while they all go to lunch, which seems to be THE meal of the day for most every European. . . .

I just had the funniest experience. Bear with me, I'm a bit tipsy right now. I just finished walking around the west side of Madrid all morning, and all I had to eat was a small pastry, so I was starving. I was tired of looking for suitably cheap restaurants so I walked into the first tapas place I saw near the Royal Palace, and ordered a glass of red wine so I could eat the free food that comes with it. The food was delicious but not enough, so I first ordered another glass of wine so I could get more food, then I tried asking the waiter for more of the chicken wings, but I haven't mastered Spanish yet, so I guess it came out wrong. The waiters got a kick out of my attempts at Spanish, and proceeded to get me to call the other waiters bad names in Spanish! They had so much fun with me that I paid only 5 Euros (about $4) for 3 full glasses of wine and more food than I had eaten so far yet in Spain!!! So I'm tipsy at 2pm and I have yet to tour the east side of Madrid!

So I was staying at a hotel just north of Puerta del Sol that was charging me €33/night for the last 2 nights, so yesterday I found a place south of del Sol that only charged €21! I made a reservation there and paid in advance. I left my stuff at the first place in the morning so since I wanted to get an early start at touring. After lunch I went back to the hotel and got my stuff and lugged it over to the new place, but nobody answered the door! I was there for about 30 minutes trying to figure out what the deal was and what I was going to do. I was more than a little frustrated since now I had all my stuff with me and nowhere to drop it off! So I started walking and I ran into 3 cute girls speaking American English (hey, guys!). I asked them if it's normal for places like hotels to shut down for lunch. They figured correctly that they would probably be back soon, and invited me to join them to see the Braque exhibit at the Museo Thyssen, so I did! They were really bright and fun to talk to, let's see if I got you guys straight! Nancy was visiting from France where she's lived for 3 years now. Myrna was visiting from the U.S., and was going to stay for another week. Moira is the one they were visiting, she lives here in Madrid now, at least for awhile. They were only doing the Braque exhibit, I was doing the whole Museum, so we got some drinks and chatted, then saw the exhibit where I left them to see the rest. It was a big museum, but I hit just about every room, breezing through the stuff I didn't really enjoy. I picked up all my crap from the back and coat check and went straight for the hotel. On the way, right down the street from the hotel I saw this little laundry self-service joint and stopped in, since I had all my stuff with me anyway, and I needed to wash my clothes, pretty bad! I had a little trouble figuring out how to use the machinery, so I listened to the lady explain it in English to another cute American girl (hi, Toya!). We started talking, and it turns out she lives here too, studying and enjoying being a part of the Spanish lifestyle! We started laundry at about the same time, so we had plenty of time to chat. She enlightened me about the Spanish. She likened them to cats - they don't sleep, they nap. Americans sleep from 11 to 7am. I am glad to be swing shift (so far!), sleeping from 2-10am. The Spanish party all night, nap from 5 to 7am, work 9 to 12, lunch and siesta 12-2, work 3-7, nap 8-11pm, eat dinner and party till 4! Somehow they still manage as many hours of sleep! Toya was having trouble adjusting to this schedule, I don't blame her!

So after laundry, I walked a bit with Toya to look for a place for me to eat, then left her to drop off all my freshly washed clothes. This time the hotel was open, and I got settled into my new room. Before going out for grub and some night photos of Madrid and it's many fountains! I committed the traveler's crime. I ate at Pizza Hut! But it wasn't a complete lapse, their combo includes some chicken wings that are nothing like buffalo wings. They're spiced Spanish-style, so I guess it's ok!

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