In Hoose Entertainment

Went to Madrid this weekend.

Pre-Madrid

Sarah had her exam last week, and afterwards we went out to get drunk. Ended up at some pub on Barlow Moor Lane really close to where her new flat is going to be. We proceeded to be crap in the pub quiz. I had a headache in the morning.

Madrid

And then we were off… We flew on Friday after getting a quick lift to the airport from Sarah’s dad, and landed sometime around 5pm? Madrid time.

I was slightly ill all weekend, but a bevy of pills sorted that out decently.

We found our hostel easily (it turns out to be above McDonalds and in a red light district!) and dropped our stuff off before going for a wander. We ended up walking down much of the Gran Via before heading towards the opera area.

We ate at a nice resturant where I ordered the traditional Madrineño stew.

It arrived in a big pot and the waiter proceeded to poor it out so I had what looked like a large chicken noodle soup.

I checked inside the pot to find that all the ingrediants (meat, veg etc…) were still in there and picked a few out and started to eat.

After 10 mins or so the waiter comes back and pours the rest of the contents out, my plate is so full it’s starting to spill over the sides….

I make headway into it, getting through about half of it, when the waiter appears again and spoons up several large tablespoons worth of cabbage.

I almost finished it, but I was very very full!

nice though!

the wine was also very nice, a rioja called Valoria, or something, it was just the house red, but it was nice.

The next day we trundled around madrid finding this and that and misnaming everything along the way before deciding to pop off and see the santiago bernabeu (Real Madrids Stadium).

I did the tour, well worth €10 that it cost.

On our way back into town we got off at the Tribunal tube stop (all tube journeys, irrespective of length, cost €1 in Madrid, which is a very good system). and looked for somewhere to eat.

On our way towards a café I noticed an Irish bar was showing the Liverpool match, so we snuck in for a look at the score…. upon seeing it was 2-0 to us, we decided to watch the second half and eat there.

Afterwards we headed off to the hostel via a very long walk through the city. A brief rest and we were on our way out for dinner again.

The place we’d spotted in the guide book turned out to be very expensive, so instead we chose a place nearby. We did wander around Madrid a bit before going back to it though, at one point discovering the Plaza Mayor, after following some random people.

the resturant was very nice, and very fishy. I had my first ever bit of lobster.

The service was slooooow however, and it was midnight before we made our way back, naq’d, through tio pepe square and the statue of a bear that Sarah kept missing.

The final day was spent meandering around Madrid again, before finding the parque Retiro, or whatever it’s called. It’s worth pointing out that the weather was very nice, up to 16 on the Saturday, with no rain or wind - very different to England, where we had gales when we left, and snow when we arrived.

We spent ages looking for lunch before having some mini sandwiches and a ben & jerry’s ice cream… and then it was over - we headed back to the airport and got on a plane (fortunately it were the plane next to ours which had taken off without it’s passengers….) and landed sometime around 7pm.

Back in work now, though I’m still run down so not getting much done.