Eventhough I am finally in a country where I can understand some of the language, it makes me realize just how much of this language I have lost. I can get by with a very basic vocabulary, but am nowhere near fluent.
I took a couple of different walks through parts of the city. Knowing I am only here for a couple of days, I stuck to the touristy center of the city. The hotel was a cute little family run place. The mom spoke almost no English, but the son and daughter did. I am glad I read about the neighborhood I was staying in before I got here, and was prepared for it. It wasn't really that bad, Mom. In Madrid prostitution is legal, provided you are over 18. Each night, and even during the day, the street would be practically lined with women dressed very provacativley. At least as a female traveler, they weren't coming after me.
The guys at the gold for cash places were another matter. They were very pushy and in your face trying to get you to come into the store. And what is with the lotto ticket craze here? I don't know what that is about. Each morning the stands that sell tickets would have lines at least 20 people deep, and there would be at least 6 of these stands in one plaza. And the women with their own lotto ticket kiosks were constantly yelling things out to the crowd of people to get them to buy tickets. And I thought Americans were bad about their lotto ticket habits. They are nothing compared to Madrid.
That evening at dinner, I was sitting next to a couple from Vegas that were out here for work. They work for some kind of show, I never got the name of which one. Their box office manager just up and quit, so these 2 were flown out to clean up the mess that was left and pull together the show. We had a Great time at dinner that night! The wine was flowing and so was the conversation. Lots of laughter and random topics, one of which centered around speaking mostly in adverbs. You had to be there, I know. One of the waiters who spoke a little English was laughing at us. It was a good thing the restaurant was just down the street from the hotel.
The next day was spent at the Royal Palace. While the "royal family" of Spain no longer lives there, the palace is still used for many events and functions. The rooms were pretty impressive I must say. No pictures were allowed and the guards were very strict on that one. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking through the park, that is until it started raining.
My last day in Madrid was also rainy, so I hit the Prado Museum. It houses some of the most important and famous paintings in Spain. The English handout actually listed them all, so I decided my mission was to find them all. What else was I going to do on a rainy day in Spain? It took about 4 hours, but I did it.
My next stop is my beach time in San Sebastian!! Can't wait.
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