Leaving for Madrid in just a couple of hours. I'll be updating this thread from time to time with the things I'm doing and the wonderful food I'm eating. Yum Yum Yum!!! Also, for those in Madrid on Thursday, June 23rd, be sure to read the thread about the next "Party with MadridMan in Madrid" HERE !



Saludos, MadridMan

Have a great trip MM.
Robbieroy

Hola MadridMan, hope you have the best trip ever, enjoy your city and a bocadillo de calamares en el Brillante!

Cariños,
Carmen

Me han gustado mucho las dos banderas en la foto.

Buen viaje MM. ¡Que no pases mucho calor en Madrid!

Hello all! My first entry IN Madrid. And thank goodness I´m under the air conditioning! Whoo!!

Nothing much has happened yet. The flight was fine, no problems, smooth flying the whole way from JFK. LOTS of construction from the airport to Madrid, M-30, and seemingly just everywhere!

My ladyfriend picked me up as usual and we stopped first to pay a visit to her sister and mother. Now, I´m back in "my house" where I´ll be sleeping but not where I´ll be spending most of my time.

Going to take a nap here shortly, already showered, and will have a light lunch here after I wake up. A little later, after another siesta, we´re getting together with other family members of my ladyfriend at a terraza in the Casa de Campo, not far from me here. That should be nice.

I was please to see LOTS of people/Spaniards wearing shorts. Whew! I hope to avoid being outside during the hottest parts of the day. They say it´ll near 100ºF everyday for the next 5-days. Well, but it´s a dry heat. hehehe...

Just finished my first Mahou Beer. Hmmm.... Now time for a nap. Catch you later!

Saludos, MadridMan

Welcome back to Spain MM!

Enjoy your visit!

Fernando

Had a nice evening at a LARGE terraza in the Casa de Campo. My ladyfriend and I were there with her mother, sister, nephew, and a married couple who also have a boy the same age as the nephew. We put 3 tables together and talked for about 4 hours all the while eating tortilla de patatas, croquetas, morcilla, pulpo a la gallega, calamares, and a creamy fish spread which we put on bread. We also got two pitchers; one of regualar beer and one with beer and lemon. Mmm.. Very nice evening but the daytime was hot.

I´d had a nice, long nap this afternoon and, wow, it´s hot. Thank goodness it´s more of a DRY heat.

Tomorrow (Sunday), unfortunately Bar Paco - the place I always get my porras - is closed tomorrow morning. I guess I´ll have to wait until Monday morning to get those delicious delights to dunk in my coffee. Mmmmm.... Also - and more importantly - tomorrow is my laydfriend´s birthday so we´ll have some celebration at the sister´s house with a big lunch. Can´t wait.

Now, it´s almost 3am and I MUST get some sleep. Goodnight! ¡Hasta mañana!

Saludos, MadridMan

Yesterday was a difficult day, there being some "health issues" with some of the family members so we spent the majority of the day attending to them. We did have a nice dinner on the nice, city-skyline-view-terraza at the home of the sister of my ladyfriend where we had a kind of paella but instead of rice it had small macaronis. I can´t even begin to spell it but it's something like "FIDEUA".

Woke up at about 7:30am, put on my shorts/shirt from last night and went down the hill to the local bar which sells very good PORRAS!!!!!! Wow, I chomped down 6 with my coffee - probably overdid it. Mmmmm.... Now, I´m sitting in the A/C in the bedroom writing this, doing some "work", answering emails, and about to shower/dress to do some banking on the Calle de Toledo and maybe check out the building of the "Casa de Granada" on the Plaza de Tirso de Molina where we plan to have the "Party with MadridMan in Madrid this coming Thursday at 8pm. After that I´ll attend to the family member and we´ll pick up today where we left off last night.

By the way, SHORTS are definitely the way to go here. It´s HOT, about 95-98ºF these days, and only about 10% of the men are wearing shorts - the rest wearing long pants. Most of those men are wearing a kind of "capri pants" or pants going down just past the knee to the mid-calf. They´re called, in English, "Pirate Pants", and seem to be the summer fashion for men/boys. Wearing sandals and a nice, lightweight, button-down shirt (not tucked in) improves "the look" of wearing regular shorts. I can´t imagine my wearing jeans in this hot weather as I´ve seen A LOT of men wearing. Wow. I'd just melt into a puddle of sweat. ARGH!

Whew! And what construction!!! The M-30 is just, wow, a mess, including alllll along the river and throughout the city with road works and building renovations. I´m sure I´ll see more today.

That´s all for today. Going to take my first bus ride today. Unfortunately, the (temporary) closure of metro line 3 is going to make getting to MONCLOA much more difficult. Might have to just take a taxi from Calle de Toledo.

Saludos, MadridMan

Wow! MM's world famous travelogs! at last we'll hava a chance to read those yum-yums.
I had missed that a lot. I hope you don't melt too much, MM. I went yesterday to the amusement park. I was wearing jeans. Now i'm sick.

Please don't succumb to the temptation to wear pirate pants! They're everywhere and look awful. I'd walk the plank first....