Headin for Alicante

Hi everyone. This post is being written (photos to come later) as I’m travelling on a train from Madrid to Alicante which is about a four hour trip. The last couple of days have been pretty awesome with plenty to see and do. Fortunately work has slacked off a little too and so I’ve had a bit more of a chance to get out and see the city. The bad side of it all though is that I was unlucky enough to get a mild case of food poisoning. We think it was because I was lazy and drank some water from the hotel tap rather than bottles (we found out later that some locals drink bottled water in summer as there are water restrictions etc and their water quality drops). Fortunately it only knocked me around for a few hours one night but the annoying side effect was that I was so tired the next day that I had to sleep and missed out an afternoon of potential sight seeing.

The Spanish countryside is actually pretty flat in the centre but more mountainous near the coast and kind of barren (not a lot of trees). It looks very dry (sort of like Australia) but they’ve got lots of Olive groves and other crops near the cities. The plains are ‘golden’ in colour and not green like the UK or even Amsterdam. Every so often there is a small ruined cottage or house near the train lines which probably was once a big family’s establishment. They are also using wind power generators which are good to see – environmentally friendly… It could just be the season or something, but the city of Madrid was quite polluted (air wise) so maybe they are trying to cut down.

Ah yes, but Madrid is a wonderful place. Just like a lot of European cities there are hundreds of things to do and see. The older sections of the city have an absolute maze of little streets with bars and cafes to explore. The old buildings and plaza’s (everyone MUST eat a late dinner at Plaza Mayor) are stunning and well lit up at night to show them off to their full effect. One of the most amazing places aside from the Palacio Real (the Palace) and the Cathedrals is actually the Post Office. Despite the humble implications of the name, the building is gigantic and elaborately decorated. There is a big difference between the more commercial sectors of the city and the old ‘town’ area where the shopping and eating etc is done. There is one huge main street called the Peaso de la Castellana which runs the length of the city and has park areas running alongside it and nice fountains every few hundred meters. It’s a very nice drive and as it’s the main motorway, you get lots of chances to see everything along it (including the Post Office). Oh yeah, and even though there are 4 or 5 lanes on the road, don’t worry, the drivers don’t pay any attention to those).

The other reason Madrid is awesome is because the people do everything late, which is perfect for a night person like me. Work starts around 9am in the summer and finishes at 3pm with lunch running from 2pmish for at least an hour, sometimes two (it’s no coincidence that you return from lunch just in time to go home). We were told however that hardly anyone actually gets to work at 9, it’s usually later and even then there are the obligatory smoking breaks in the morning. Oh yeah, most people smoke in Madrid so it can be tough on your lungs, but the laws are changing. The flip side of the slack working hours in summer is that people work longer in the winter, until 6pm or so, but they still take the long lunches. According to our unofficial tour guide (the tech who spoke English who was accompanying us to our office visits), the siesta is becoming a thing of the past with people just taking a long lunch instead and then heading back to work. He of course was very sad about this trend (but he was a champion, a really cool guy).

So after the bullfight, Monday was a long day where we spent a lot of time chasing up a small issue or two left over from the weekend. We made it out late and managed to head to Plaza Mayor for dinner which was really nice. Because it is a major tourist destination, we had been warned to look after your belongings (pickpockets etc) but it is worth it as fantastic street performers set up all over the place and start cranking stuff out. This dude (below) had a sort of mini piano which he played using small padded sticks by hitting the strings in the appropriate places. He could play all sorts of stuff and it was really awesome to hear.

One Tuesday work was pretty good but reasonably long. It was also a hot day so that night we just relaxed in the hotel pool before heading down the street to a popular local café to eat. I shared basically my whole meal with John (my co-worker) so although I was sick later that night, it couldn’t have been from that meal. By 11am on Wednesday I felt well enough to head into work (my co-worker was covering me by starting at 9) but everyone commented that I looked really white (eek!). That night I though it best to just sleep it off so I actually managed to get a full 8 hours sleep for once on this trip. The bad thing was that my friends went out with the intention of getting dinner at the Real Café (I passed because I wasn’t up to the smell of lots of food) but instead managed to catch a local trophy match with Real Madrid playing! They were going to call but weren’t sure if I was ok (I was fine!, they should have called! Arrrgh!)

Finally Thursday was pretty easy as we only had one site to visit. We were done by 1pm and broke for a final lunch with our ‘local tech guide’. The lunch went for over 2 hours, we ate a stack food! (I was feeling fine again). We tried lobster paella this time and it was fantastic plus another meaty one that they just burnt on the bottom so it was nice and crispy.. mmmm…... After lunch we tried to get a train ticket to Alicante organised and soon learned that in Spain you have to book EARLY if you want to travel on weekends. Our guide had previously explained that most people in Madrid aren’t actually from the main city and that they typically have moved to there for work away from their original towns etc. Therefore, on weekends (kinda like Perth), people all disappear either home or to the coast for a weekend break – especially at the moment because it’s the end of their summer. The only train available today (first or second class) was at 9am, and they run every 2 hours or so. Next time, I’ll sort out tickets earlier because we had planned to visit the Palacio Real Friday morning, but now that wasn’t going to happen. I’ll just have to get back to Madrid some other time. Oh, but the train station was cool in itself as it had a tropic garden right in the middle of it!

After sorting that out we quickly headed to the Museo del Prado as I’d heard it ‘up there’ with all of the others around Europe in terms of the art on display. The big drawcard was also that they had combined with another art gallery to put a combined collection of Picasso on show. The Picasso stuff was really amazing (I’ve never seen so many of his works in one location before) but it was great to also get the audioguide and learn more about the cubist style of art and see his progression from more classical art through to his abstract paintings. We only had a couple of hours to see the museum though so although it was time enough to see Picasso, I had to rush and quickly move through the rest of the museum before getting kicked out. Most of the other styles of art I have seen before and so it was still a brilliant way to spend the time.

After the museum closed we quickly jumped in a cab to head to the theatre for a Flamenco performance called Carmen. The people who had come to the bullfight had organised it all and all we had to do was rock up (which was awesome, we wouldn’t have thought of doing it ourselves). It was really excellent with amazing music (the guitar was awesome), elaborate and bright costumes and a sort of ballet/expressive dancing like feel, but with Flamenco (big shoes on the chicks to pound the floor, castanettes, high pants on the men, everything!). After the performance I had one of the local girls translate the program for me but as it turned out I had actually picked up the story correctly the whole way through (it was very well choreographed). I won’t tell you the specifics of everything just in case you guys want to see it for yourself (maybe when you are in Spain sometime!) but it’s the classic love and betrayal kind of tragedy.

The performance was amazing, but the highlight of the show actually came at the end. The usual clapping and multiple bows started but then seemed to drag on for a looong time. We thought the dancers were milking things a little but then we seemed to pass some ‘secret’ barrier (something like 10 bows) and suddenly they just started clapping and pounding their feet to make musical beats and the principle dancers and some of the other leads just started free-dancing all over the place. Although they’d just given a fantastic performance, this was completely different and they were just up there busting moves out, yelling, cheering and having a great time. It was a whole different energy and they were just enjoying dancing for the sake of it (and to further entertain us). Eventually they finished, did another bow and actually got forced off the stage by the curtain lowering. I tried to take a picture so you guys could see the costumes but it was too far away for a flash so all I got was this blurry thing (my apologies).

After that we headed out for dinner (at the normal time of 10pm) and munched on Tapas while drinking a few beers in an outdoor cafe. Thursday night is a going out night in Madrid, so lots of places were open but even at 1am, most club were empty as it was ‘still early’ for clubbing and lots of people are away for the summer holiday season. We grabbed a few more beers at a bar on a street corner and enjoyed the very warm night and beautiful surrounds (cars, people and buildings) before heading back to the hotel some time after 2am.

After packing etc I got around three hours sleep and managed to grab breakfast before getting on the train. Hopefully I’ll get some sleep this weekend although there are a lot of things already planned. I’ve just found out that one of the girls we are travelling with has her diving certification, so we are hoping to get some diving in this weekend as apparently there are some fantastic spots in the area of Torrevjeca.

I’ll post pics of the beach!

Anka