4th August: Madrid I (aka ‘What was that strange yellow drink’)

We arrived in Madrid to a hot and sticky 35 degree (celcius) heat at night. It was lovely! We jumped in a taxi and went for a trip that put Berlin’s autobahn to shame. It was exhilarating to say the least, but a little strange sitting behind the driver watching his speedo race up to, and then go over 160km/h. Our hotel is lovely, and one we would recommend if coming to Madrid. Just down from the main street, with staff that bend over backwards to help you out with anything you may need.

We were hungry and in need of wine (!) so we went for a little walk. The Gran Via is the main street, and it was vibrant and alive at 8pm. There were people everywhere, and all of a sudden, whistles and yelling and drums beating. There was a big protest march through the main part of the city, and it took almost 20 minutes to pass us by – that’s how many people were involved. It took over 6 lanes of road, the police where there stopping cars and were very supportive of the demonstration (it was obvious it was a peaceful one). People had placards and were chanting – it was all about the financial situation here. They have something like 12% unemployment at the moment in Spain.

The demonstration eventually passed (not without me wanting to join in a few times, it was really only hunger that stopped me) and we made our way down the street and found a cool little restaurant. An old(ish) man was trying to entice us in, and we were going to walk past until we saw all the salmon and prawn dishes on offer. He ushered us downstairs were we established together that he knew less English than we knew Spanish. The Asian cook came out to translate a little for us, but otherwise, we did lots of pointing, and lots of nodding and smiling. Funnily enough, we found it really easy to order red wine, and ‘bottilio’ is my first Spanish word. The meal was fabulous and the wine was even better. After we finished the man brought out a bottle of something very yellow… he poured some shot glasses, and being Aussie, we asked (uhm, gestured) if we should down it in one shot or not. He laughed and shook his head and waved his hands frantically and gestured back to ‘sip, sip, sip’. So sip we did. Oh my! This stuff just knocked our socks off – I have no idea what it was, nor do I really want to know! It tasted like some sort of Drambuie. It also did me in as I sat there having a massive giggle attack. We wandered back to the motel, with me giggling the whole way, and then I proceeded to do the ‘drunk text message’ thing that we are inclined to do, succeeding in waking up both daughter and fairies….