June 28th to July 1st, 2002

Madrid, Spain

Madrid with a bit of Pride!
Old and new friends in the city that never seems to sleep...

By bus, Daniel, Jorge, Armando, and I left Barcelona arriving into Madrid at 11pm. At the bus station I met up with my friend MariaJose while the guys checked into their nice hotel in Quevedo. MariaJose was in a rush as we were late for meeting some friends, Nadia and Christian, in Chueca. MariaJose also introduced me to her other fun friends in Madrid. Once the guys arrived into Chueca we all partied in the square with the tons of other people enjoying the Friday night party for Madrid's Gay Pride. It was a great time to have an old time friend Daniel, his cousins Armando and Jorge, new friends MariaJose, Nadia, and Christian, plus some other friends in company.

Chueca was a party. People were drinking in the streets and dancing to the music. All the gay bars around the area moved their bar service outside to better serve the people. The energy of Madrid's outdoor dance party, the liveliness of the night, and the entire bit was such a different world. We started partying at around 1 am. and like the rest of the people stayed out till day break. After the dance party in the square, MariaJose took us to a salsa bar where the guys had a fun time listening to some Colombian songs. I stayed for a bit and headed to Pasapoga for my fun night out.

The next morning, or rather afternoon, I had an opportunity to spend more time with MariaJose. I met her nice parents and had lunch with them. This was was really special for me. I tried to practice my Spanish with MariaJose's parents over the delicious home cooked meal. I learned some things about Spanish culture and the beautiful parts of Spain they recommend I visit. We also talked about Lugo, the place they originated from in Spain and many more other things. Of coarse it was a bit difficult to converse because my Spanish was very basic and limited. But, with the amount I knew and with MariaJose's help it wasn't too challenging.

After the special lunch with MariaJose's family, I headed to the center of Madrid to do some sight seeing and meet up with the guys. We headed to Sol to eat, hang out, and do some computer stuff. The guys were looking online for apartments in Ibiza and arranging future plans. While they were busy doing their thing, I decided to go outside for a bit and have a wander. I walked towards Sol and saw all the colorful people walking the other direction, heading back. As I turned the corner I could see an oasis of people cheering in the parade. I had made it just in time for the last three floats, which was a dance party on wheels. The boys from Pasapoga and the other floats with festive drag queens diva's were followed with a good number of people following. Sol was packed as many were spectating or part of the parade.

After the parade I headed back to the Internet cafe and the guys were still enwrapped with making their plans to Ibiza. I wasn't sure if I would be joining them so I told them to make their own plans. I had retained the option to come along later. They booked a fully equipped apartmento in San Antoni for three nights and were now really pumped on the Ibiza portion of their trip. After the Internet cafe we met up with MariaJose who showed us around Madrid and brought us to a tapa bar near the hotel.

Later that night I decided to meet up with some guys from Barcelona I met on the bus and head to Sol for an apartment party. It was pretty fun practicing my Spanish and meeting some locals of Barcelona in Madrid. People have been saying its hard to meet the locals of Barcelona because they are closed to the people who come and go, like me. They were very welcoming and we were able to speak with each other. They took me around to some places in Chueca which was really crowded as always.

The next day was the world cup match of Brazil vs. Germany. We walked around the streets of Madrid looking for a pub so the guys could watch the game. Originally I was planning on meeting up with Nadia and Christian to watch the game all together but plans fell through. So instead we watched it at a pub packed with half Brazilian and half German fans. The game was great but even better was the rumba cheering the Brazilians provided. It was like being at a Salsa club with their tribal rhythm table beats. Meantime, the German fans were more quiet in observing the 2-0 defeat. Afterwards we headed out into the streets of Madrid and it was like Spain suddenly turned Brazil all of the sudden. People waving the flags screaming around in the street. I even caught some Germans cheering for Brazil and wearing their flag.

After the game I did some site seeing and split from the guys as they returned to the hotel. I walked down Calle de Alcala towards the Plaza de Independencia and finally into Retiro Mediodia. Retiro Mediodia is a park with a place to relax and spend the 'middle of the day'. Its a fairly large place to spent a quiet afternoon or walk through. In Retiro Mediodia there are some Spanish gardens and a huge lake, called Estanque. I spent my quiet Sunday afternoon here resting, talking on the phone with my parents, and watching the entertainers.

Later Sunday night was a lot of fun. The guys and I met up with MariaJose in Sol for some sangria. She brought us a to tavern in the centre where some locals go. This was my first Sangria tavern experience and it was fun. Spaniards enjoying sangria in the company of their groups of friends, was a great cultural experience. After the sangria tavern we flooded out onto the rainy streets of Madrid in search of El Botin, the worlds earliest restaurant.

After having a walk around the town we finally located El Botin. I invited MariaJose to join us for dinner, but she couldn't stay for any longer as she went home. We said our good-bye's hoping to see each other the next day as I was thinking of staying in Madrid and possibly going to Toledo. Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw her because I had made a last minute change of plans to continue to Sevilla with the guys instead.

El Botin is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the earliest restaurant established in 1725. The food they served was delicious. I enjoyed the chicken casserole, while the others feasted on their roasted baby pig, veal, and steak. We shared and sampled each others entrees, discovering they were all delicious. It was a great dinner and time spent with the guys. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and chilled out Sunday night.

The next morning we got up, checked out and headed to Sevilla...

Scroll down the page to view pictures of our trip to Madrid.