July 9/ Day 10/ last day Madrid

So, after much needed rest I had a day to myself. Susan & Helen were off to a small town called Toledo & I chose to explore Madrid. I had lunch a bit off the beaten path- 10euro got me cured ham with melon, fried fish, sliced tomato, & boiled potatoes. it was pretty oaky. a nice change from the heavy dry meat and hard cheeses we ate all day before. I'm still having a little trouble speaking in a foreign language- I understand tons of spanish & speak enough to function but my tongue and brain seem to disconnect when my mouth opens. all I can do is keep bumbling along.

after lunch I went for a walk through Royal Madrid. I walked through Plaza Mayor, past what claims to be the worlds oldest restaurant, through the marigold garden of San Francisco Grande, onward along a steep drop off overlooking the city, & finally up a hill, through an alley, and onto City Hall. Here there was big ceremony with mounted soldiers in full dress, police in formation, a brass band, and a parade of more mounted soldiers. I watched the hoopla for a while then I carried on to find the pastry selling nuns. It took me a minute as the address given had two doors- one with nothing & one with 3 bells. I rang one bell & a little lady asked me what I wanted. I should have said pan dulces or something, ANYthing spanish but instead I blurted out "biscuits!" what the fuck?! biscuits? am I Alice going for tea in wonderland or something? anyway, she buzzed e in, repeatedlty saying teatro & I wandered through a narrow & winding path in a labrinyth of buildings. I came into a plaza but there was nothing there so i went in further. I tried to take a picture but there were so many tight turns I just kept getting wall. I found the place, through a big door & the presumed nun asked me what I wanted again. now, I can't see this woman, she is talking to me through a lazy susan of sorts that blocks my view of her. I say cookies & she turns the device which now has 2 boxes of cookies on it. I take one box, lay down the cash & spin the box. it turns again & I have change & a shopping bag. so wierd. the cookies are really good though- sugar dusted lemon cookies. yum & it was a fun adventure.

I walked back toward Plaza Mayor & stopped to get an ice cream along the way. Once there I went to the tourism office for more maps & then got a horchata. I love this drink- it's really different here than in mexico but it's still good. I like it with spiced rum in it but the guy who sold it to me insisted I try it with some local anisette. I did & the flavor of the root horchata is made from neutralized the powering licorice taste making it very refreshing. Istill prefer rum though-it's a little less sweet.

back to the hotel for NAP TIME. turned out that Susan got caught up in work & the late train to toledo was sold out anyhow. we caught up, I napped, and then we joined Helen for tapas & drinks. at this point, Susan is feeling the beginning of a sore throat and after a full day of walking around, Helen has a sore throat & is losing her voice.

we went to a place called Stop Madrid which was cute & full of really good looking gay men. This joint was suppossed to have 50 wines by the glass & pride its self on sourcing the best ingredients for tapas. we wanted to taste some regional wines but only saw a few on the list, our waiter was very busy, didn't speak any english, & we were all zonked from days of travel. we got sangria & a few tapas, icluding baby eel. I was again non-plussed by spanish fare & and ready for a huge salad. we half-heartedly ate then hit the road to find lighter fare. we ran into the italian section where we saw a kinda cozy bar & ducked in. more of the same- cold meats in fatty jelly on stale toast & hard cheeses. no greens. we did have a nice wine & a guy who looked like he gets beat up on the regular came in with his little parakeet. he kept putting it on Helen & trying to get her to speak english to it & get her to buy a picture with it. she didn't & a few days prior I had shared some bird knowledge with her- it left her less than thrilled with the harmelss little budgie. That was it, we didn;t really talk much at dinner or after, both girls were tired & sick, I didn't want to pick up a bug, and we called it a night.

I ducked into the bar below our hotel for a solo nightcap & ended up meeting some nice local guys. One of them, Victor, spoke pretty good english & we had an interesting conversation, he's a civil engineer, has worked in the states, traveled a lot, and had a pretty open mind about current events. They bought my wine, shared some food, history, & laughs then I was off to bed. Victor invited me out tonight for Salsa dancing, maybe I'll go if Helen will join in- after all, it could be that little bit of spice we've been missing here in Madrid!

Now that I've relaxed & spent most of my day recalling memories from random notes, I'm off to do some more things I will soon forget! traveling really is great, I love it but I cab tell that when I get home my wanderlust will be in check for a while. Miss you all, & Merriann I promise photos soon. I will continue to post as I have time & computer access.

I'm off the Barcelona for the day tomorrow, taking an overnight train to Milan, then on to Verona where I will meet Tina's friend, Paolo. I will be there until the 15th then I do Venice followed by Florence & Milan (where I will stay at Paolo's)

oh- in case you wanna know, the baby eel tasted like & had the texture of extra large plain ramen noodles. I've consumed eels, blood sausage, cheese with maggots, sweet breads (glands), guts, & possibly cohones so far on this trip. I am tired from all the newness in each day but loving meeting people and seeing the sights. I really like the vibe & timing of Madrid, plus is cheaper than Paris but it's still not cheap- food, wine, & booze are less, but with the dollar being so low it's still just as expensive as NYC. I am looking forward to Barcelona, perhaps more than Madrid, and although I'm trying to get the most out of present moments & each place I go, I'm really looking forward to Italy- I hear they have arugula salad everywhere!