Midnight flamenco and the twists and turns of finding your room

After the last post, we got the itch to stay out late, as the spanish do. We decided to take a chance on catching a midnight showing of flamenco at a local place that came highly recommended, called Casa Patas. There were about 15 minutes until the start of the show, and when we pulled out the map we discovered that Casa Patas was a 2 block walk from our hotel. Talk about meant to be. We showed up on the doorstep, and were told that there were still a few seats left open, so even though we did not have a reservation, we were seated at a high table in the back of the room. Good views of the stage though, so the distance was not that bad. Better, we learned, than the very front row which was inches from the stamping feet of the dancers and where you needed ear plugs.

The tickets came with a free drink, and since you can never have too much sangria, another round was promptly ordered. Delicious, refreshing and buzzing all at the same time! The dancing started shortly after we entered. It lasted until shortly after 2 am, and was full of the passion and vigor that the dance is known for. The dancers were two men, each taking turns out dancing the other. The only problem was that we were both waiting for the femle dancer to come, and it was quite some time before we realized that there was no female in this group. There were 3 people in the band (1 rocking the violin, 1 on the guitar and 1 playing a box like drum) along with 2 different singers. The guitarist played so fast his hands were a blur at times. The crowd was cheering with frequent cries of "oleeeeeeee".

Back to the hotel room we went after the end of the show. Finding our room is quite a production. Here are the directions, which we had to have an escort to the first time: go up 3 flights of stairs from the ground floor, enter the room at the end to get the keys to our room from the reservation desk (you have to return them every time you leave), back out the door, up 3 more flights of stairs, enter the foyer, and turn left. Go to the end of the hall, make a right, go to the end of that hall and make a left, then go midway down the hall, make another left, then a right at the end of that hall, and a right at the end of the next hall. Out the door that is straight ahead of you, and up two flights of stairs. Enter the last door on the left, then straight ahead to our room door. And you are finally home. No, we are not making this up, and try finding that after a few glasses of sangria!

Today was full of museums and palaces. We started with the Royal Palace, and were surprised to find that it was a free entrance fee day for all portions of the palace. We happily wandered through the main palace rooms and the private art collection, then made our way across the square to the the armory (way cool with coats of armor for man, horse and even a dog - then there is the weapontry swords, guns, long range rifles mounted on cannon-ish wooden structures and crossbows). We then strolled back across the square to tour the farmicia.

At noon, the bells began ringing from the Cathedral de la Almudena, which is next door to the palace. We were able to walk in and watch as the noon mass was about to start.

We made our way from the cathedral to El Rastro, which Tim insists on calling a completly different name every time he refers to it. This is a huge flee market with tons of vendors lining the streets and even more people. It begins in one square, and then there are three or more streets coming off of that square that are involved. We surveyed the vendors, were amazed at how many people there were, and picked up a few gifts and souvenirs. It was an overwhelming sea of people, but such a sight to see!

We had lunch at a little kabob store and ate out on the patio so that we could people watch. Kabobs were a favorite we discovered with Tim´s brother and nephew when in Italy in 07, and Duane, they were wonderful! A quick metro ride took us to the train station in hopes that we could squeeze in a trip to Toledo. Unfortunately, the train ride to get there and back would have taken up most of the time we had to visit the city, and it seemed impractical to spend 5 hours riding the train to spend only 2 hours in the city. So instead, we went to another museum.

This time it was the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, which is the second largest privatly owned collection, after that of the Queen of Englands. We were again pleasantly surprised to find that today was national museum day, and there was no entrance fee to see the collection. We buzzed through, gazing at Monets, Reniors, Picassos, De Goyas and El Grecos for about 2 hours. Our favorite was Maximillion Luce´s "Factory in the moonlight", but we were also pleasantly reminded of Rome when we saw Casper Adriaansz Van Wittel´s "Pizza Navona, Rome" (A soon to be Shinsky favorite). Then our tired feet could not carry us anymore, and we headed over to La Plateria for more sangria (who knew it was that good!) empanada (pie with pork meat), and a strawberry tartas (torte-cake).

After that wonderful meal we went home. It is now 9:00pm, and we will spend the rest of the evening in a walk about town, hopefully culminating in a great dinner.

Tomorrows train to Cordoba-Sevilla leaves at 7:00 am. Buenos Noches.