Going Gently

Say goodbye and Graduation

Both of us are sad leaving. Coffee and plain churros for me, chocolate and fat churros for Ruth.The city is preparing itself for Pride and the parade will bisect Atocha where we were staying and where we now feel we know.

We said goodbye to the house Martin chicks on our balcony

And had a short wander

Before sadly turning for home

What’s app has been busy

My graduation was yesterday and my name was read out

My Uni Group sent me this photo as a way of including me

Food and Choir

At dawn Ruth went foraging in the relative cool ( 32 degrees), she found The San Miguel Market, where we ventured out for breakfast at 10 am. The food was glorious

The lisping choir Talia Grupo were in fine voice. Their selection of hits from Eurovision were inspired and sometimes incredibly moving. I will post a few pieces when they arrive on line but will leave you with this rehearsal piece of Fairytale a Eurovision winner for Norway in 2009.

The auditorium gave the orchestra and choir a standing ovation which held three encores

One of which I videoed ( you can video an encore btw)

After the concert we had garlic prawns at the market followed by beers in the square as the rain pelted down as it has down every evening at ten pm

Lovely

Culture and Heat

The Reina Sofia Museum was a cool haven , as was our 2 hour breakfast at a little cafe just beyond Plaza Major. Ruth and I are lucky as we love people watching, cafe sitting and not overdoing things in bloody hot weather. Guernica by Picasso was bigger than I thought, and was suitably drab compared with his contempories’ works.

Dali’s Girl at the Window ( an early work and rather haunting)

The Adorable Joseph de Togores’ Paraja en la playa

Guernica

Tonight we ate seafood paella, croquetas de jamón Serrano and drank beer on the square and watched diners in the next outdoor restaurant get soaked as a wonderful thunderstorm overwhelmed their rickety umbrellas

I’ve had a lovely time so far…I’ve really needed to be away ….ive needed to feel more than a mere student or an old nurse or a 63 year old singleton …travel lightens you, it nurtures you….and tomorrow we go for a mooch around the food market nearby then the highlight lisping choir concert in the evening

How lucky am I ?

A Fat Spider-Man in The Sun

It’s been a nice day so far.

The apartment is very dynasty chic circa 1989 with Queen sized beds and door knocker Charles Dickens would be proud of.

The plaza Major is a 16th Century Plaza, filled to the gunnels with the cries of nesting house martins

We sat outside last night and the umbrellas of the cafes misted their patrons with a cooling water mist which was as blissful as you could ever think possible and this morning we watched the birds for an age before going out for a long breakfast

Even the Spaniards are saying it too hot so we shopped for essentials ( gin, Diet Coke , aeoli, ) and are cooling in the air co before the Regina Sofia and a walk at dusk around the great Pond in Retiro before dinner.

I’ve seen it all when we ambled back in the heat

A tubby Spider-Man braving the soaring temps just outside the apartment

Hey ho

A Glorious Fuck Up

We are here

But only after a traumatic saga with non forthcoming boarding passes, wrong information , a stressful time with security which allowed me to leave my passport with a staff member who later denied having it, we missed our flight but the passport was eventually found by a German hero called Kathryn who got Iberia to get us on a later flight for nothing

Our driver didn’t turn up at Madrid airport too, but we were beyond caring at that junction

But here we are laughing hysterically as we chugged beers at midnight

The apartment is luxurious with three balconies overlooking a lovely square

Madrid Tomorrow

Delhy Tejero self portrait at the Regina Sofia

I adore this painting

It’s Monday and I’ve washed my best smalls for Madrid tomorrow( the ones without holes)

Two pairs of linen trousers two nice shirts and my best walking Dead T Shirt all packed.

It’s bloody 39 degrees

Don’t worry I’ve just paid my travel insurance

My brother in law is convalescing after his illness in Portugal and is doing well, so I’m well covered if disaster happens.

I’ve bought tickets to the Regina Sofia Museum of Art and have the tickets to the lisping Choir concert on Thursday all printed out.

The museum is opened till 9 pm so we can go when it’s cooler.

Yesterday I started my exercises the physio prescribed for my weakened arm, he states it should recover

I needed a small dumbbell but didn’t want to buy one (I am somewhat skint due to my recent sick time) so I put a post on the village what’s app group asking to loan one

Not four hours later this appeared on the kitchen wall…..

I love my village