"The Spanish Police are Beautiful" and other tales from a Madrileno weekend

Thursday night, I arrived into Madrid and quickly found my host and one of my best friends, Scott Berger, there at the airport waiting for my arrival! I’ve been so lucky lately to be sharing my travel with my some of my closest friends.



Scott very kindly made me a late dinner that night and we spent some time catching up. I went to bed shortly thereafter - Estaba muy cansada!

The next morning, Scott and I journeyed out for a café con leche and a croissant – and a stroll around el Parque del Oeste before he headed to class and I explored La Gran Via. After window shopping a bit – The biggest and nicest H&M I’ve ever seen – I went into a little restaurant for some tortilla espanola. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s similar to a cheese and potato quiche. While enjoying my desayuno #2, someone came up to me asking for directions on how to get to el Prado, Madrid’s famous national art museum. So with my 15 hours of being in Madrid, my tourist map and his, and my rusty Spanish, I was able to point him in the right direction!

Later on Scott and I enjoyed lunch – patatas bravas and a huge bocadillo (sandwich) – near his apartment. After requesting a coke and getting the check (una coca and la cheque are easily confused?), we headed off to check out el Prado. We arrived at el Prado about ½ an hour later when I realized: I do NOT have my wristlet on me! Keep in mind, it had my credit card, debit card, driver’s license, cash, everything in it! I had it just 10 minutes before when taking a photo, so we backtracked twice looking for it. Nowhere to be found. You can imagine how distressed I was.

After discussing the problem with a tourism staff member, who pointed us in the direction of the central police station, we headed back to el Prado once again. Then I asked Scott, “Should I ask them if there is a lost and found?” After agreeing it was a good idea, I went up to a nearby cop car and saw my wristlet in their front mirror! I freaked!!! In my broken Spanish, I said “Habla usted ingles? No tengo mi bolsa rojo!” When they discovered it was mine and how happy I was, they kept repeating, “The Spanish police are beautiful, yes?” I wholeheartedly agreed!!! I went from an emotional low to an emotional high within about 30 seconds.



Since going to el Prado was deemed to be bad karma, we headed to Reina Sofia – Spain’s Modern art museum, before going back to Scott’s to get ready for…an authentic flamenco show! His roommate, Audric (from France, but living in Spain) knew someplace to go that wasn’t one of the tourist spots, so it was great to see true flamenco in a nice intimate setting. It was a deeply emotional and intoxicating show – their voices filled the small, but crowed, bar. (And on a side note, I found it much easier to converse with Audric in Spanish rather than French during the evening. O well!)



The next morning Scott and I rose early to explore el Palacio Real. However, there was a line about a mile long and since I don’t like lines or big, crowded tourist spots for that matter, Scott gave me a personal tour – filled with interesting facts about the city – around Old Madrid. I saw the city’s ancient wall, the world’s oldest restaurant, the beautiful parks around the palace etc. We also visited La Ermina, a beautiful church whose walls and ceiling are covered by Goya’s frescos and also the site of the artist’s tomb. I really liked his work in comparison to others: I found it much softer and potentially a precursor to early impressionists like Degas? After that we hopped into a restaurant for my last paella dish (absolutely delightful) and then we were off to find churros!



Our quest didn’t fail us, because within 15 minutes, we were in an awesome indoor Mercado (market) where we got a set a 4 churros and hot chocolate to dip them in. Delightful! They were gone within 3 minutes. Shortly thereafter, we head back to Scott’s so I could participate in a phone interview. After that, we successful made it to el Prado, where I saw the famous 2nd and 3rd of May(s), as well as Las Meninas. The day ended with Scott and I (but mostly Scott) making delicious sandwiches at his apartment, which we complemented with potato chips and a cana of Spanish beer. With a viewing of The Office, my last night in Madrid couldn’t have been better!

Today, I woke up early and we made our way to the first metro at 6 am – when everyone else was just coming back from a night out! Despite how tired I was, I think I had my act together better than many of my fellow metro-ers. I made it through the airport without a hitch, although I did have to shove my backpack into a cage-like contraption to prove it would fit on the plane.

I grabbed a big lunch at a place called the Indiana Café upon my arrival in Paris. Serving tex-mex, it did not remind me at all like food from home, but I did enjoy my vegetarian enchiladas. The highlight of the meal was the company I found: Sitting next to me were two Austrailians who had been friends since university (one works in Zurich, the other London). We had a nice time discussing Americans’ acceptance abroad, freedom fries, the French educational system, and trying to find their way back to Gare du Nord. I was pretty proud of my direction-giving ability, although my attempt to demonstrate my French proficiency left the waitress giving me a blank stare in front of Steve and Steve. Whoops!

Got back into Rouen at about 6 pm after a 3 hour (when it should have been 1.15 hour) train ride. Welcome to the French public transportation sytem. But now, I’m headed to bed: Bonne nuit!