I spent most of the rest of that week attempting to get over the horrendous cold Vicky had given me as a parting gift. Luckily, Marellia happened to have a whole stash of medication and was kind enough to let me use it all, so by Friday I was almost better.
On Friday afternoon, we finished early as usual and I decided to make the most of the sunshine by taking a trip to the park. I reasoned that it was fairly unlikely I would see my stalker again, and at any rate, he seemed to have finally got the hint and had stopped calling me since I picked up the phone and told him he had to leave me alone because he was freaking me out. I did however get a phone call from someone I’d apparently given my number to on Saturday, which was a little awkward. The good thing is, claiming you’re only in Madrid for a few more days sounds like a pretty legitimate excuse.
Except for a few passers-by, I had practically the entire park to myself - probably because I was the only person mental enough to be sitting out in the afternoon heat. Admittedly, it was absolutely scorching and I could only manage just over an hour before making my way back to the comfort of my air conditioned house. Then I had the rest of the late afternoon to myself to catch up on some emails, grab a bite to eat and get ready to go out.
That evening I was going to dinner with some colleagues to celebrate José’s birthday. This was why a snack had been essential, since we were doing the very Spanish thing and not even meeting until 10.15. Somehow, I did what I always seem to end up doing and left the getting-ready to the last minute, meaning I didn’t have time to paint my nails before leaving the house (and coral nails are an essential finishing touch to said outfit, a black and coral Aztec-style dress). For some reason it seemed perfectly logical to paint them on the metro - and it might have been fine had the nail varnish in question not turned out to be gloopy beyond belief. In the end I think I would have been better not painting them at all, since all I really ended up with was a gloopy mess and a lot of funny looks.
On the plus side, I arrived at Gran Vía five minutes early, allowing me to regain composure before José came to meet me, since I had no idea where the restaurant was. It was then that I found out that the only other two girls who were meant to be coming had cancelled, leaving me in the company of seven guys. It’s just lucky I’m not shy about being one of the lads.
The unfortunate thing is the inevitable problem that, being the only girl in a group of so many guys, you’re inevitably going to end up being the victim of banter. At one point, one of them said they couldn’t understand me when I spoke English, and that actually, I must have come here to improve it. Another, after hearing about the guys I’d met in various locations throughout the world, said we should host some sort of casting programme in my house to audition who was going to be my next boyfriend. On the plus side, I definitely managed to impress with my drinking skills, which, since they were all twenty-seven-year-old guys, I consider quite an achievement.
The meal was expensive but really good, as were the Mojitos and Tequila Sunrise. Afterwards, we went onto a couple of bars before ending up at a club called Ocho y media, which cost sixteen euros to get in. I hadn’t anticipated the night being nearly as expensive as this and was considering going home when David offered to pay my entry for me. Not wanting to disappoint José or spoil things by going home early, I took him up on the offer and promised to pay him back on Monday.
At the end of the night, which was around 5.30am, I had the annoying problem that the metro, which I didn’t want to catch alone anyway, didn’t even start for another half-hour - and a taxi on my own from their would be extortionate. José kindly offered for us to stay over at his flat, which was just around the corner - which seemed like the easiest solution. What I hadn’t considered was the fact that, the next morning, when I had to get back to meet Alicia and Ali, I would then have to do what looked like the most epic Walk of Shame ever. Not only did I have to go on the metro dressed in my outfit from the night before, but to get to the station on Gran Vía, I had to go through what are literally the busiest streets in the whole of Spain. This was not a good moment.
After making it home and jumping in the shower, I had a text from Alicia to say they’d arrived at Urgel, so went to meet them there. The two weeks we’d been apart felt like months, and I was so glad to see them. This would probably be our last reunion in Spain before we met up in the UK in October.
They were amazed by my house, which is quite a step up from my little flat in Murcia. When I’d grabbed a bit of breakfast and we’d made a bit of a plan for the day, we headed back to the station and got the metro to Gran Vía. Once there, we stocked up on lunch snacks from the olive counter at El Corte Inglés as well as making a stop at one of the many Starbucks and the gluten-free bakery.
By the time we’d done all that it was the middle of the afternoon, so we decided to get started on the walking tour we’d set ourselves. Walking around Madrid in the afternoon heat was exhausting, but we somehow managed to see the Palacio Real, the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena, the Teatro Real, the Templo de Debod and the Plazas Mayor and España. After all that site-seeing we decided we’d done a respectable amount of culture for one day (enough to make sure Lina wouldn’t be disgusted at us, at any rate), so headed back to Gran Vía for a bit of retail therapy.
A couple of hours later we were ready for something to eat, so took the metro to La Latina, the Madrilenian district famous for its bars and restaurants. Considering this fact, it was surprisingly difficult to find somewhere to eat (although admittedly it probably didn’t help that Ali is celiac and I’m vegetarian). Eventually we came across a little square that seemed to be dominated by eco and vegetarian restaurants - perfect. We ended up at a vegetarian place called Estragon, which I had just happened to find a 25% Off voucher for in my map that day. The whole thing had fit into place beautifully - and, to top it off, they had Quorn! Well, some soya meat equivalent anyway, which is good enough for me.
After dinner we stopped off at a chinos to buy mixers for that night, before taking the metro back to the house. By 11.30 we were ready to go out. We decided that, since Madrid was so extortionately expensive, we would drink the sparkling vodka and Malibu (courtesy of Vicky and Chloe) at my place and go straight to the club from there.
Our plan would have worked perfectly had it not been for the fact that, by the time we actually got to the metro station at around 2.30, we’d missed the last train. There was no other option but to take a taxi, since Teatro Kapital, the club we were going to, was in Atocha, about fifteen minutes’ drive away. It was worth the effort, though; Kapital is the biggest club in Madrid and claims to be one of the most emblematic in Europe. It’s a converted theatre with seven floors, with anything from a cocktail bar to a karaoke bar to a Latin club to a dance club. Entry was a ridiculous 20 euros, but it seemed like something you have to do before leaving Madrid.
We tried out all the floors but the best was the ground floor, playing dance music, which was completely packed and included, every so often, intense blasts of dry ice, which felt like heaven. It was only a shame we’d been too worried about getting our cameras stolen to take them with us, but the most important thing was that we’d been, and we’d had an amazing time.
Today we woke up at around midday and headed to La Latina for El Rastro, Madrid’s world-renowned flea market. It dates back to medieval times, and from 11 to 3 every Sunday, takes over the entire La Latina area. Stalls sell first and second hand clothes, jewellery, souvenirs, antiques and knick-knacks, but the most important part is the atmosphere, which is alive with the bustle of hundreds of tourists and madrileños.
After the market we stopped at a cafe for a drinks before making our way back to the house. We spent the rest of the afternoon lying on a blanket in the sunny courtyard, and before we knew it, it was time for them to go, and the end of another perfect weekend in Madrid.
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