Madrid...Again!

We’ve started having get-togethers on our roof. See the pics and the roof. My favorite part of them are Keith’s 90s music playlist.

Coop and I have started our way to Paris. So I have learned my lesson hard. I thought we would save money by bussing it to Madrid and flying from a major airport. But after paying for a hotel and going out last night in Madrid, I think the plan was a bust. Oh well. We had a great time in Madrid last night.  So far, probably my favorite city in Spain.

So we head out on a 6 hour bus ride from Seville to Madrid. What I would like to consider some quality bonding time. Before the trip I see a Brady Bunchesque family and am praying they’re not sitting near us. They’re not but instead we have two Jamaican guys who are drunk sitting right behind us and who occasionally sit up and just hover over us. They were sharing some philosophical thoughts however. Such as, “Moneh mon. It jus papa, ya know.” We had the lunches our senoras packed for us and I brought the American 100 calorie pack snacks my mom brought me. I feel like such a soccer mom bringing snacks with me. That or a fat kid.

Anyhow, after eternity, we arrive in Madrid and make it to the hostel. I borrowed a rolly bag from my senora but because its canvas and it’s full, it drags on the ground. Coop has had the pleasure of lugging it around. Drop our stuff off and beeline to the calamari sandwich shop. Love the place—we get the same seats at the bar, the same bartender, same sandwiches, same beers. I’ve always wanted to be a regular at a place and walk in and say the regular. If I lived in Madrid, this could’ve been my place. So after that, we pretty much hit up all the good places we went to before in Madrid. The Bar Andaluz that has all the pictures of bullfighting and the Sevilla soccer teams (I struck up conversation with the bartender about how Real Betis is the better of the two) and then we went to get the amazing mushrooms at Meson Championes or Mushroom Bar with some red wine. If you go to Madrid, you should definitely go to the place. Whenever I’ve had a few drinks, I like to pretend I know the bartender and we talked about the signs on the wall that said “A pretty woman is dangerous. A ugly woman is dangerous but also disgraceful,” and “A good mother-in-law keeps her mouth shut and her purse open.” Personally, I don’t know why I laughed at these as they’re vaguely condescending to women. After we paid and were heading out the door, we kept looking back to say goodbye and Debbie Downer Coop suggested that probably after we’ve paid, they just don’t care about us. I think they were just busy.

We headed towards home but not before stopping at a Mexican bar to pay 3.75 euros for a Corona. But it’s okay because….they had swings for seats at the bar. To me, this was the coolest thing ever. Needless to say, Coop was embarrassed but either way, it was a good experience. I suggest the innovation to all restaurant entrepreneurs.
Decided to sleep in this morning. Prob a bad idea. I’m yelling at Coop because I’m freaking out that Ryanair, the cheapest airline that’s notorious for charging exorbitant amounts of money to people who bring bags weighing too much and he’s freaking out that we’re not going to leave the hotel on time. On top of this, the line to the two bathroom is 6 people long and we have to leave in 40 minutes. Everything works out fine after a) we repacked the bags to more evenly distribute the weight b) I washed my hair in the sink.

My favorite moment of the morning is Coop telling me I don’t even know what I’ve packed and pulling out a Burger King happy meal toy out of the backpack. No comment.
Off to Paris….CAN NOT WAIT.