Woke up at 6 am, showered, made tea and went out onto the
balcony to watch the sun rise and listen to Madrid wakeup. Breakfast of bread,
balsamic vinegar & olivo oil al fresco in my Roots long sleeved shirt and
fleece ( Madrid is cooler than Granada in the morning). Wrote in the journal.
Checked out and walked down to the prado stopping in at a coffee shop to use
the washroom and pick up a couple of croissants. No need to get to the
apartment until 9 as Maureen will be asleep.. walked over to Heurtas street and
up to # 10.
Marc, the manager of the building let me in and took me upstairs
once he realized who I was and who I wanted to see. Maureen was in fact still
asleep at 915 am but was glad to see me anyway.
Chatted and planned and shared our adventures of the past
few days. Moved into action after a lovely breakfast of croissant with
cheese. After going to Marc for
some more TP and towels for both the bath and the kitchen we Talked to Marc
about flamenco dancing and where we might go to see some great flamenco. He
steered us toward the Casa Pata.
We left the
apartment and found our way, just around the corner and across two streets, to
the Casa Pata and made reservations for dinner at 9 and the show at 10 that night.
With dinner all taken care of we went and picked up tickets
for the red bus. Well we traded in mine for a two day and Maureen got one for a
two day. We headed off to the train station. The plan was to take the train to
Oviedo and then take the bus to Luarca. I had printed out the dates and times of
the trains and buses that I thought would get us there in a timely fashion so
that I could just show the ticket agents and they would not have to listen to
my atrocious Spanish.
We got off the red bus at the Plaza Castilla and walked the
three blocks on the C Augustin de Foxa. the Train Station is very large and a
little confusing. we took a number
’341’ and waited our turn. Maureen is not one to sit and wait a turn so we went
shopping in the little stores in the station, just keeping an eye on our number
and when it was getting closer we headed back just in time to miss our number.
I tried to get one of the ticket people to take care of us as our number just
went by but the man was a grump and wouldn’t do it just kept pointing at the number he was going to take care
of which was one number away from the ticket I was holding.
Maureen said she
was not going to get another ticket or wait any longer and tried someone else
and had luck so we got our tickets with out having to get a new number. The time for our train was at 1110 am
on Thursday.
We headed back to the red bus stop. about 10 blocks away but
stopped in at a cafe/supermarket and picked up some groceries and some lunch,
heuvos espanol (potato omelet) and ensalade tomato for me. the eggs were very nice
but the tomato salad was not as good as the one I had in Granada. Maureen had a
salmon salad that she said was too soft.
I said 'It is the water. Atlantic is
warmer than the pacific so the fish will be softer'. We made it back to the red
stop and back to the apartment intact with train tickets and groceries.
We decided to go to the Prado for 6 as that is when you can
get in for free. All you have to do is stand in line for a couple of minutes.
We made it in by 615. Lots of paintings. Raphael , Goya, sculptures. Maureen
had discovered that her favorite painting by Murrillo was there the night
before and so we found it again and she admired it further. Prado is a good
size so we planned to come back the next night.
First we hit the gift shop and
picked up a few souvenirs to give away at home: Coasters, puzzle, post cards, a
lovely horse head document holder and a plastic doc holder. 30 Euros worth.
walked back up the hill and found the Villa Rosa, more
flamenco dancing, and Booked it
for the next night. 730. Back to the apartment to drop off our
souvenirs.
On the way to and right next door to the Casa Pata, there
was a beautiful little church that was having a concert, a mixed choir. We had
some time before dinner so we went in and listened.
The first song they sang
was “Summer is a coming in loudly sing coo coo”. It just seemed funny that the
first live song that I heard in Spain was a lovely old english folk song.
At 9 we went
next door to the Casa Patas for dinner. It was not that busy. which surprised
me. we were told that reservations were needed as it got full very fast. the
Casa Patas is a family owned (40 years) restaurant under a flamenco school. the manager is the son of the owner
who came to talk to us very often during our very good meal .
I had a vegetable
ratatouille and a marvelous sheep cheese of Mancha. “Queso Manchego”. is the
cheese of the province that Madrid is in. like white cheddar but more with a
bite like parmesan. so good. Maureen had a salmon which she said was also very
good (if a little soft). People started coming in about 10 sitting at the bar
having drinks. Everyone in Spain eats late.
At 1025 we went into the back room
for the show. A tour bus of people
came in and filled up the place which was alreaady half full. It was packed but
we had a reservation and a table. The show was great. Two dancers, 3 singer/ clappers and two guitar players. 3 glasses of wine and home by 1230.
I
will probably sleep in.
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