I made it easily to my host's house in the center of the old city. Hector is a college professor at the Universidad del Rey Juan Carlos, plus he's working on his doctoral dissertation in economics (which he's writing in English). He's a very interesting and nice host, and we spent the afternoon and evening together, speaking only Spanish. He's also a patient and a good teacher. He speaks English because he lived in the UK for three years, but he understands that I want to speak Spanish only, and so we did. As we all know, Philip is never short of an opinion, and as I have discovered, neither is Felipe!
I had only slept for less than an hour on the plane, so when we got home, I went to bed and didn't wake up until twelve hours later. But then I got up and hit the streets to experience Madrid by myself. First stop was an incredible pastry shop for a breakfast snack where the lady there mistook me for a Frenchman ... really. Feeling self-satisfied that I hadn't been mistaken for an American, I went about my day poking into shops around town where the episode was not repeated. How dare they speak English to me?? Can't they see that I'm a native Madrileño? Hmmmf.
Madrid has a such style and decorum about it. The way people dress and carry themselves ... what a great city! The architecture of the old town is so charming, but it's blended well with modern interior design which gives it a style all it's own. I know I will spend a lot of time just taking it all in. I stopped into a tiny light fixture store that had such amazing modern light fixtures that I was there 20 minutes just studying them and their presentation.
Later I stopped into what they call a supermarket. Small, crowded, but full-service, it is what Americans would call a grocery store. Taking forever to read labels to understand what I was holding, I finally picked up some needed supplies. While it was interesting to see the similarities and differences from my own culture, one thing, I observed, is the same the world over: little old ladies are shrewd grocery consumers.
Getting into the swing of the local schedule, I had lunch at three o'clock. I sat next to an American and we had a conversation in English which just totally reset my little brain. Afterward, I couldn't understand a simple question in Spanish. However at lunch, a glass of wine was less expensive than water ... I'm gonna love this place!
