Hello
I tried to reply to the email you sent but it didnt work so I hope that you read this before you leave for SPAIN. We are staying at the Hostel Dulcinea in Madrid arriving on the 10th also. I think that it would be a great ideal to meet at the tapas you mentioned but if you look at the previous thread there is a list of tapas bars that looks interesting. Let me know what you think. By the way we leave at 8:30pm on wednesday what about you?

Devon

Hola! Unfortunately, due to a change in sheduling and problems with my airline tickets, I am going to be flying into London May 13 and staying there for four nights (instead of madrid May 10) before flying into Madrid and, on the same afternoon, taking the AVE down to Sevilla. So it looks like I will be only spending my last night in Spain in Madrid (May 24). But, ultimately, Sevilla is going to be an incredible experience. My main concern is that I had hotel reservations at Hotel Arias and needed to shift my nights by only one day later. They responded and said they could not help me on the final night (full) and said they were cancelling ALL of my original reservations! I don't know why there are doing this.I couldn't believe it. Do you know hard it has been trying to book a hotel in Sevilla in the middle of May? Anyway, thanks for all of the great advice. If anybody is going to be in and around Sevilla May 18-22 please let me know! Adios!

Devon, this is my last stop. We fly out of Atlanta at 5:30 (I think) on Wednesday night. I don't have time to check the other tapas places you mentioned but if you want to try the Tabernas y Dolores first, we can move on from there. We will try to make it around 8pm on Thursday. Anyone else who sees this is WELCOME!

Have a great trip...hope to see ya'll there.

Hey Dargus,
I am planning on being in Madrid May 16-19 and heading for Seville on the 20th. Maybe we can hook up for a drink or three in Seville?

p.s. Right now I am only about 180 miles south of you

Ron

Hello Beth,

I have written down the information and I will hope to see you there on friday night. I am so excited about leaving tomm. I will figure that if I dont see you by 8:45pm then you were detained. I will be the happy girl (you know im turning 30) with my hubby. See you soon,
Devon

My Walk of Spain Tour was cancelled tonight(5/15) also. What's with this guy? Isn't this a real business or what? Very disappointing.

That is a shame, Cam. Andres who leads/operates the Walks of Madrid (called "Walks of Madrid", but the website is "www.WalksOfSpain.com" - not sure why) tapas tours is human like everyone else and I don't know that he has other people in his circle to take over if he cannot make it to the tour. Also, it's possible there were not enough people in the tour to be worth while. I'm only guessing here about the reasons for the cancelation. The "company" isn't a real company, but rather a sideline for Andres. He has a "real" job during the daytime. Maybe if he's reading this he could give you an explanation.

Still, ENJOY MADRID and Spain!!!!!!

Saludos, MadridMan

Again there are some misunderstandings and questions about walks of Madrid:

Cam: My Walk of Spain Tour was cancelled tonight(5/15) also.
Also?
Andrés:I told Dargus that I may cancel his tavern crawl but at the end there was not need to, so:I, Tracy, Susan, Rick and Michael went out from 9 to 1:30 what meant 5 of my favourites taverns and Spanish vermu,Sangria, different wines, beer, garlic shrimps, Spanish omelette and three different desserts. Two of my girlfriends, Cristina and Mariam where also joining but were unable to due to personal reasons.
----------------

Cam: Isn't this a real business or what?

Andrés: We began as a small club for nice people (Spanish and foreign)
who wanted to go out, we tried to become a business (I didn´t like it)
and now we have come back to what we
were a club for social people who want and agreable night out.
---------------------------

Cam: Very disappointing
I can understand that, it was my first time cancelling a tavern route,
very frustrating to let people down but I had problems in my weekday job
-----------------------------
MM: called "Walks of Madrid", but the website is "www.WalksOfSpain.com"
- not sure why

I want to have room in case Walks of Barcelona or Walks of Seville are
born.
-----------------------
MM: I don't know that he has other people in his circle to take over if he cannot make it to the tour

Andrés: It´s one of the thing I want to but unfortunately that is easier
said that done, it needs some maturing and work.

Ok, I hope this helped, now I have to keep working on next Saturday night taven crawl.

Regarding the Chairmain, he was very accomodating and flexible once I called him from Madrid. If the tour operators spend lots of time communicating by email than they don't have as much time to give tours and even when people commit to a tour they sometimes no show. I went on a tapas tour with my 10 year old and he was wonderful with my son!!! When I go back I plan on doing a couple of days trips with him. He is very laid back and will plan whatever you want once you've done one tour with him and he trusts you won't be a flake. --That was my impression anyway....

I will be in spain this summer, and I would like to ask a question. In the late 60's and early 70's I spent a lot of time in Madrid. One of the better areas for tapas was aaround the Plaza Mayor. in November '97, I returned, and the area was basically closed at night. A staff member at Botin's basically said the area was not safe at night. I noticed that one of my favorites was still around (meson del champiñon) and it looked like some of the others might be. The question is - is the area open in the summer? Is it ever open?