Manic Madrid (9-12 August 2002).

What a weekend! Thank God for last minute internet special airfares. After booking my flights and hotel on Wednesday, I headed to Geneva Airport on Friday evening for the short two flight to Madrid, the Capital of Spain with eight of my fellow expatriate friends.

A one hour delay meant there was little option but for some of the group to start drinking, an activity that would be repeated many times over the course of the weekend. The delay in our flight also meant that we arrived in Madrid at around 10 PM. Several members of the group were greated by friends at the airport, whereafter we headed to our hotel.

Now in a lot of cities this might seem too late to head out and explore but not in Madrid. Ten O'clock (p.m.) is when the locals start to come out to play. The group split into two with some of us searching for food while the rest decided to search for a more liquid diet. No prizes for guessing which group I joined.

After a brief strole we located a suitable restaurant and proceeded to have a very traditional Spanish meal of Tapas accopanied by some Sangria. Feeling very content at this point I decided to retire for the night.

Saturday morning and off to do some shopping. Again the group was split in two as those that went drinking the night before were left in bed after having arrived back at the hotel at various times in the earliy hours of the morning.

There is plenty of good shopping in Madrid and conveniently our hotel was located a short walk from the shopping district so we were quickly into action. Now those of you who now me will now that I generally wear blues and blacks. I am not quite sure what possessed by to buy a pink shirt but some encouragement from my friends Monique and Paul soon had me at the cash register parting with some Euro$.

Next it was off to get some lunch. Along the way a we visited a magnificent square called the Plaza Mayor. The architecture and artwork of the Plaza Mayor are something to behold. It was here where we had a very special 'reunion' with the other half of the touring party. Half an hour of 'tall' stories and some group photos followed before we settled for a fried calamari roll and some cider, alcoholic of course.

After lunch we took an open-air bus tour around the city, which gave us a great sample of Madrid's architecture and popular sites. Coming from a Southern Hemisphere country that is just over two hundred year's old, the site of buildings that have stood for for twice that time is amazing. This applies not just to Madrid, but many cities throughout Europe. One example of this is the Madrid Post Office which you can see to the left.

Next stop was Parque de El Retiro, which was originally the garden of the Buen Retiro Palace, which belonged to Phillip IV and was completed in 1635. There are plenty of things going throughout the park but it is also possible to find a quite spot to rest or read a book.

At this point we concluded our tourist activities and took a short walk back to our hotel for a small rest in order to recharge the batteries for Saturday night's marathon. After another meal of tapas we hit the disco's. At this point I will go silent on the rest of the night's events so as to protect the 'not so innocent', however, I can reveal that a small group of hardcore party-goers (me included surprise, surprise) returned to the hotel at around 8 a.m. Sunday morning.

Sunday was a fairly low key affair until mid-afternoon. We caught a train to "I don't where", on the edge of a large park. We found a terrific restaurant where we had a great lunch of suckling pig  and prawns. The food was almost as good as the conversation, much of which cannot repeated.

The highlight of the afternoon lunch was the wedding reception for Vera and Tim, with Adrian playing the vicar, Yola and Nick the witnesses, Elizabeth the Grandma, Helene the drunken mother-in-law and I was the 'father of the bride'. The only sour point of the afternoon was the loss of the bride's Christian Dior sunglasses.

That concludes the my trip to Madrid. Great food, great drink, great shopping, great people, in summary a Great city. If you ever get the chance to travel to Europe, Madrid is one city I would definately recommend that you see.

Until the next unexpected adventure.....

Adios

Marc