Spain - Day Two - Saturday

What a difference a night of sleep makes...  We headed to the cafeteria across the street from our hostal for cafe con leche and pastries.  It's official, this is our home base.  Good service, good food, across the street.  What more do you need?

We spent Saturday morning making up for the time lost on Friday in our sleepwalking state.  We changed US Dollars to euros and then began our scenic journey back to get tickets to see the Real Madrid game.  Along the way we bought a sweater for Kaitlin.   The mornings are pretty cool.  Many of the spaniards are bundled up, but then they probably rode a motorbike.  We walked along one of the big parks.  There were many sculptures along the street.  We wound our way through the museum district and several shopping districts.  I was looking for the Belstaff store, but it's not open yet.  We eventually made our way to the stadium and bought two tickets to the game.  The service fees I tried so hard to avoid were collected by the ticket scalper.  Oh well, I'm supporting the local economy, right?

We headed toward home before rush hour and discovered that in our sleepy state, we had taken a VERY indirect route on Friday.  We got off at Sol, one of the biggest plazas in Madrid.  It was packed with tourists and vendors selling all kinds of junk.  We did our best to get out of the madness got turned around and finally had to stop for a snack and a drink.  We figured out where we were and then found our way to a little tapas bar for a bite to eat and a beer.  Shanna and Kaitlin were getting tired so we headed home. 

Saturday is a big day for football so I headed back to our neighborhood cafeteria for the Barcelona vs. Athletico Madrid game.  When I got there it was just a few old men watching.  One man explained to me that Barca had already scored 3 goals in the first few minutes.  As I watched, Barca scored again.  Heartbreak for these guys as I expect that At. Madrid is the working-class team. As the game wore on, the little bar became packed.  I went to the bathroom and lost my stool.  I started talking to a couple of guys from France that live in the neighborhood.  One of the guys was surprised that I was a tourist.  He said that tourists never came to that bar.  He asked where in England I was from and I told him that I was from Texas, USA.  I assured him that I was no fan of president Bush and he laughed and said that it is rare to find an American in Europe that is.  Barca ended up winning the game 6-1.  It was a rough night for the home crowd.

Note:  The beer they serve here is very light.  Most places serve draft beer and it seems that both men and women drink beer.  I saw the bartender mix a few beers with water for a lighter colored drink.  When they pour a beer, they get a good head on it and then tap the glass on the counter to get even more head.  I have never seen that before.