Well, in a couple of days I will be off to Madrid for just over a week. I went there during Easter 2005 to attend some Spanish classes. You can find my "blog" of these experiences in another topic in this thread. Click here if you are interested.

My classes begin on Thursday 13th October and last from 10.00am to 1.00 pm. I will again be studying at Inhispania , right in the heart of Madrid.
I will try and maintain a blog of my time there.

The other reason for the visit is to meet up with some friends who are coming up from Málaga, with the intention of going to see the Madrid Masters ATP Tennis Tournament which runs in Madrid for a week, starting on 17th October.
Stay tuned...
Regards
Robbieroy

Well I arrived last night about 8.30 pm and took the Metro from Barajas to Opera which is the closest station to where I am staying.
Mongo - I tried your suggestion Barajas to Coulumbia to Principe de Vergara and then on to Opera. Thanks, it was pretty smooth and it worked well, only taking 40 minutes.

I found the apartment where I am staying without too much problem. After alighting at the Metro station Opera, you are immediately confronted by Plaza Isabel II:


The apartment is in Calle Milaneses, just off Calle Mayor, opposite Plaza San Miguel and the Mercado de San Miguel. This area is known as the "Barrio del Palacio" and it is very nice. The Plaza de Oriente and Palacio Real are only a 4 minute walk away. Sol, Plaza Mayor and Inhispania (the school I am studying at) are all within very confortable walking distance. I will post some pics on my return.
Fernando, the owner of the apartment is very sympatico and made me very welcome with the words "mi casa es tu casa". He is very sociable and helpful.
Here is a view of Plaza San Miguel from the apartment window:


and here is a view down Calle Santiago towards the Palacio Real:


It is an enchanting neighbourhood, with lots of traditional streets. Here is a pic of Calle Escalinata which is situated between the Opera Meto and Calle Milaneses:


After breakfast this morning I walked to Sol, picking up a copy of the free daily newspaper 20 Minutos, my favourite of all the free ones, and then walked up Calle Montera to the cafe Dulcinea the same one that I frequented when I was in Madrid at Easter. It was nice to be back there, the staff are very frindly and the place is well-maintained.

After the coffee, it was onward to classes. The remembered me from Easter and I got a nice welcome from the reception staff and the teachers.
Most of the students are young and appear to be just learning Spanish now, so the highest level class is Intermedio Alto. I don´t mind this as the 60 hour superior class during summer in Benalmadena was very tough.
There are 6 of us in the class: 1 Bulgarian woman, one Englishman, a younger guy from Yugoslavia, an Italian girl, a CHineese girl and myself.
Today we were doing revision of past tenses (P Imperfecto. P Perfecto, P Indefinido amd P Pluscuamperfecto). We did some written exercises and some oral exercises from 10.00 till 11.30 and then after the break we worked in pairs to recreate fairy stories but with different characters and emdings. It was interesting.

After classes I look the Metro to Casa de Campo and the Pabellón de Cristal to buy tickets for the upcoming Madrid Masters ATP Tennis Tournament. Although it starts next Monday, I was told that they were selling fast and since this was a main reason for coming to madrid I though I should get a certain part of my anatomy in gear and get the tickets as soon as possible.

I bought tickets for the qualifying competition which is on Saturday and Sunday as well as ticked for the day session of Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. All this cost me 40 Euros.
I am not going to go to the night session because it will be too much - classes in the morning, tennis all afternoon until about 7.00pm. By the time I get something to eat, I will be pretty bushed.

Following the purchase of the tickets, I went for a walk round the Mercado de San Miguel, and bought some queso Manchego and some chorrizo for lunch mmmmm!


Also was tempted by a bottle of Manzanilla, something just for a nightcap!
Off to the shops again for some cigarettes and water. It was raining when I arrived yesterday and also this morning, but now the sun is out and it is quite warm.
It GREAT to be back in Madrid!
To be continued.....
Robbieroy

I had an enjoyable evening yesterday. I went about finding Nuñiz (where the OCT 15 MM gathering will be tonight) at the corner of Calle Leon and Calle de las Huertas. I took the oppotunity to go in and have a coke and a picho de tortilla and spoke briefly with Antonio the owner and then I made my way back to the apartment via FNAC where I bought a couple of Spanish books for my Spanish teacher in Aberdeen, Scotland.

On arriving at the apartment, Fernando the owner, said that a friend was coming around and would I like to go for a beer in the bar across the road. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity to make a fool of myself speaking Spanish. Had a great time and a few beers and tapas later, we left and went back to the apartment to watch Cuentamecomopaso - a VERY popular TV series here in Spain. Those of you who are lucky enough to be able to see TVEi will alread know the series. It is my favourite and is about family life in Madrid in the 1970s under the shadow of Franco. Watch it if you get the chance. The website is also interesenting: www.cuentamecomopaso.net

This morning after breakfast went to the Cafe Dulcinea for a coffee and then on to classes.
The classes today were about reported speech or the Estilo indirecto. It went well and we covered most of the basics - reporting present speech, then reporting past speech and then reporting orders. I think some homework might be required this weekend if I can find time.
Later we played the word game of Tabú - all good clean fun (most of the time!).

Sadly, I read in the newspaper that the world number 1 Roger Federer wil not be playing in the MAdrid Masters because of injury - a bit disappointing. The qualifing event starts tomorrow at 12 midday, so I am looking forward to that.

But first there is the little matter of the MM Oct 15 gathering tonight. I will take some pics and report back on the proceedings.

Someting really unusual happened later today, but on my way back to the apartment, I came across a really good and cheap vegetarian take away place. It is called MAOZ and is located just past La Puerta del SOl as you walk along Calle Mayor. They have a great selection of vegetables and it is self-service. Although there are a few seats, it is probably best used for take aways. I bought a Menu option which consisted of a salad bowl into which I could put the vegetables of my choice, a type fo bread (pita-style but thicker) filled with 3 hot croquetes and a drink of your choice. All this for 3.80 Euros and it tasted GREAT. I will probably use this place for lunches even although I am not vegetarian.

Now, I have been looking forward to the MM Oct 15 Gathering for ages and had it in my diary, so off I went knowing that it was Friday night and quite prepared to sink a few beers and eat some tasty tapas. I arrived at the meeting place just before 8.30 and cound not see anyone who looked like a MM board member. I was keepy an eye out for Richy (JoeSambuca), beceaue I would recognise him from his photo.
9.00 pm came and went and by this time I was getting annoyed. I had another beer and then decided to read the bar newspaper. Well... I picked it up and checked the date.... to my absolute horror and amusement, I noticed that the date was Friday 14th October. No wonder no was was here - I got the date wrong!!!!!!!!
H3ll, I was annoyed and relieved at the same time. So, I decided to order up a couple of tapas and another beer.
Suddenly, in came a face I recognised.. Richie aka JoeSambuca. He was with a friend, John, I said hello and the three of us sat down and had a couple of beers and a chat.
I explained what had happened, we had a laugh, another beer and called it a day.
Well, let´s try again tommorow!!

Robbieroy

Day 3 - Saturday 15th October.
After returning home last night I watched a DVD with my host and a friend of his, had a couple of Manzanillas and then it was off to bet. I awoke today happy with the prospect of the tennis this afternoon and meeting up with friends from Malaga. The weather was great and I took a walk to get a newspaper and read it whilst having a coffee. I then went and had a browse round the San Miguel market and bought some fruit.

I took the metro to the Qualifying Event for the MAdrid APT Masters tennis tournament. The tournament was busy with lots of spectators there because of the weekend. I found my friends .. it was really great to see them. Saw some quite good tennis and watched some of Chela (Arg) v Monaco (Arg). Chela won. I then saw El Aynaoui (Mar) beat Lapentti (Ecu) and also Zib (Cze) beat Rascon (Esp).
I was disappointed to find that Andrew Murray from Scotland was not in the qualifying event, as I had been looking forward
to seeing him.
I keep checking the date just to make sure today is really Oct 15th!!!!

THE OCTOBER 15th MM GATHERING
The Oct 15th Gathering.
Well, it took place on the appointed date at the appointed time!!


Lets set the scene by listing the characters, in no particular order:
Richie (JoeSambuca) in the lead role of producer and director. His assistant and partner in crime, John Rafael (Replay) representing the American/Spanish travel business Antonio from the Hostal Chelo and accommodation expert Paloma (Pim) made a cameo appearance along with Keeper at the Gate Natalia (Catiza) and Bertram (non forum member) were in charge of translations and Spanish slang Yance and Eugenia (YZYZ) also waltzed or did the swing in (there is a joke here!) and taking up the rear (but not when it came to drinking, myself Rob (Robbieroy).

We all arrived between 8.30 and 9.00 and introduced ourselves and got to know each other over a few beers and great tapas of Pulpo a la Gallega, patatas bravas, outstanding morcilla (even John liked it) and chopitos and bread. It was great fun mixing with everyone and getting to know each other and waht we do etc. One of the best things of all was being able to put names to faces.

After a few drinks, Antonio suggested that we move on to bar Nueva Galica at the corner of Calle de la Cruz and Pozo, just off Caretera de San Jeronimo. We took our time to walk then although it was in reality only a 10 minutes walk.

The bar was VERY busy, as were all the local bars, because of the football matches that were on and then of course the Spanish going out to eat.

By this time, we were reduced to seven and we were lucky to get a table outside. The food here was great - it was Galician style tapas and raciones. We had unbelievable pulpo Galician style (just the best), Mushrooms and ham, croquettes, tortilla and unbelievable ham (not Jamon serrano, but off the bone). All this was washed down with 3 large jarras de sangria.


Later, we just had to order more sangria! Things were beginning to liven up a bit as people got over their initial shyness. Following some complimentary shots (of al alcohol based product that Rafa described as being made fron "Lawn"!



Richie suggested the we go to la Fontana de Oro, a music bar nearby in Calle Victoria. He and John had been there the previos night and had heard a band playing Jimi Hendrix staff.
(Richie - I forgot to ask - did they play Hey Joe...?)

This music bar had a lot of people - it was very busy, but we manage to get to the bar and order some drinks. We stood around chatting and the drink was begining to take effect as we strated to jump up and down in time to the music. The band were playing great Irish/Celtic music - they were very good.


By this time it was 1.40 in the morning, and since I had had a very long day and needed to be up early next morning I tool my leave and said goodbye to everyone.
Robbieroy

Great post. You won't know how interesting is read about Spain written by a foreigner.

Sorry for the little off-topic, but I just can't help it:

How was El Aynaoui playing? I couldn't see him play yet, but I've heard a lot about how interesting his game is.

And: Andy Murray is improving a lot. He's not the same Murray from a year ago.

Hi Emilio J
Thanks for the positive comments. El Al was playing well,probably the best in a long time, with more consistency. I agree with you comments about Murray, it is grat to see the improvement, especially in a fellow Scot!!!
If you have a look through this thread you will see other "blogs" by me on Learning Spanish in Spain.
Enjoy
Robbieroy

Sunday 16th October
Got up pretty early this morning to get some food organised for going to the tennis in the afternoon. Compared to crowds out and about on the Madrid steets on a Saturday night, Sunday morning is dead in camparison.
My host and a friend of his had purcheased tickets so we met up, had a coffee and off we went.
The were some good qualifying matches on Sunday.
Karlovic v Serra
Chela v Al Aynaoui
Rochus v Seppi
Calleri v Garcia Lopez and
Martin v Almagro

Here is a view of Pista Acala:


and one of Al Aynaoui


Later in the evening wnet to Madrid Catedral for some food with friends and had a reasonably early night anfter having a walk round the Barrio de Letras. We had a look at some of the inscriptions on Calle de las Huertas:



and up by Plaza Santa Ana with its statue of Lorca in the middle:



Monday 17th October

After a good night´s sleep, it was off to school. Today we worked on Pronouns and I found this good revision. I left pretty soon after the Grammar class so that I could get across to the tennis. Naturally I made my apologies in my best possible Spanish.

The tennis was fairly busy again today and again there were some good matches on offer.
Calleri V Albert COsta
Massu v Chela
Lopez v Grosjean
and Hass v Pavel

Lopez in action:


The night session also had a good programme:
Matieu v Verdasco and
Henman v Dent
My experience last year taught me that going to the day session and the night session as just too exhausing, so with two days of tennis still to go for me, I decide not to bother with the evening session.
Robbieroy

Robbieroy

Tuesday 18th October
I had a nice quiet night last night. After posting, I had a beer and bought a salad from Maoz, watched a film on TV and did my homework ¿what a good student eh? sorry, but keyboard a bit strange on this machine it is not set to the Sanish configuration.

The tennis menu is good today
Karlovic v Rusedski
Monfils v Rocus C
Ferrer v Calleri
Grosjean v Ginepri
Berdych v Rochus O

Berdych in action:

Volandri v Moya
Nalbandian v Meltzer
Youzhny v Acasuso
Keifer v Beck
At night
Ferrero v Mirnyi
and Gonzalez v Verdasco

Youzhny in action:

I am glad I did not go to the night session, even although I missed the Brit Henman beating the American Dent!
I will update later on the class.
Robbieroy

Oh, I'm gonna read your other posts, I'm sure I'm gonna enjoy it as well as I've enjoyed this.

(And what can I say, I love tennis too although I'm not an expert)

And for Murray, maybe he had a lot of hype around him and that's not so good for a younger player.

But his improvements have impressed me a lot. It's wonderful having such a Scottish promise. Maybe some people have doubts about his game, but I seriously think that he'll live up to the expectations and become a great player.

He has been a bit outshined by other young players from his generation, not only Nadal but Gasquet (a wonderful talent) or Monfils. But I think that Murray's potential has been largely underestimated because he didn't sometimes live up to a premature hype.

Give him time and he could give some people a surprise.

Yesterday, the class was fairly straight forward, concentrating on the formation of the subjunctive and its use with ojala, que and quiza. We did some oral work and written work. I again left early to go to the tennis.

I have to say, the tennis was great with some fantastic matches. Rusedski was unlucky to lose in three tiebreak sets, but Karlovic played well. The Moya match was disappointing, but the Calleri/Ferrer and Keifer/Beck matches were excellent.

_______________________________________________
If you have a high speed connection, and 2 or 3 minutes to spare, click on the link below to see a short movie of the Rocodromo, where the main court is:
Movie
_________________________________________________

I did some shopping for things to take back home on Thursday and then the rest of the evening was spent helping the owner of the apartment and a friend of his set up a new portable computer.
Some home-made tortilla and manzanilla were comsumed later.
Robbieroy