It Takes Two to Tango

I packed up early from my Granada casa and walked to the train station. Once there I ran into my Saudi Arabian friend again. He was leaving for Madrid as well. We chatted about Granada and our plans for Madrid while we waited in line. Turns out that our designated seats on the train were just an isle across from each other. Small world! On the train I mostly listen to my iPod so I could listen to the acoustic flamenco music I had; very relaxing.

I arrived in Mardid in the afternoon. Before heading to the metro I said goodbye to my friend. While I was on the metro I was delighted with the out-of-tune music stylings of a keyboard player looking for some loose change. I will say this about Spaniards; they are very generous people. They will go out of their way to dig into their bags to find some change. Half-way through my metro ride the train stopped at a station called, “Sol”. When the doors opened my Saudi Arabian friend was standing there with his luggage looking a little lost. I yelled, “Hey señor, don’t get too lost!” He looked over at me, smiled, and laughed before waving goodbye. The train doors closed and I moved on toward my stop.

When I got to the hostel I was pretty tired and travel fatigued. I rested for quite a while, but then I made myself get out the door to eat some tapas. I found a nice little place and ordered a sangria. It came with potato chips, but sadly in most of Madrid you don’t get the awesome tapas with your drink, you must pay separately for the good stuff. I pointed to the menu at random again and what came out was steak and peppers on a some baguette bread. Very tasty! I was going to head back to hostel, but then I thought, “You know, it does take two to tango.” So instead I found another place for tapas. The place I found was pretty cool. The music was great, the crowd was relaxed, and the bartenders spoke English very well. I got a beer and then looked at the tapas menu. Again, I was on the hunt for something spicy. I asked the bartender, “What is spicy?” and he said, “Oh, the Patatas Bravas is the only spicy thing we have.” I glossed over the menu and said, “What about this one?” as I pointed to a menu item that read, “Perrito Caliente”. I continued, “Caliente, that means hot right?” He looks down and laughs, “Yeah, that would be a Hotdog.” I laughed. I ordered the Patatas Bravas and they were fantastic!

I was still feeling travel fatigued and so I took it easy the rest of the evening and talked with some people at the hostel. Tomorrow I’ll go out and do some exploring.