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Since I was a kid I have been writing stories. Narratives about fictional characters in made-ups worlds, within the infinite realm of my fantasies. Now I write about my real life adventures, about the results of my yearning to see as much of the world as I can possibly combine with a career and regularly seeing friends and family. These stories are primarily a recollection of my own memories, as I am keen to preserve as many details of my foreign adventures as possible, lest the images I try to recall years later inevitably become blurred. As a positive externality, the result may be a pleasant read for the interested outsider. I hope you will enjoy my blog.

Tony Grifone

Saturday, 2 November 2013

Madrid!

The bi-annual trip that is already becoming a much celebrated tradition took us this time to Madrid, capital of the kingdom of Spain and home to exactly the kind of joy enhancing traditions that we were on the lookout for. Imagine rich brunches in the bright sunshine, classy cocktail houses, crowded bars with 6 Euro buckets of beer, the world’s oldest restaurant with their exquisite choice of sucking pig and baby lamb, 1 Euro cans of beer in the streets and 12 Euro cocktails in classy venues with more than competent female bartenders... Despite the economic crisis Madrid buzzes with people enjoying life, outdoors in the streets and parks, indoors in the bars and restaurants. Watching El Classico on a big screen, squeezed in between supporters of both the Royal and the Catalonian sides, transcends any experience of watching this clash of titans beyond the borders of the Iberian Peninsula.



I was particularly appreciative of the fact that Spanish is not giving in to the slightest to English as the lingua franca, despite the many visitors, and that bilingual menus are a rarity beyond the very core of the touristic centre. The landlady of the ho(s)tel did not speak a word of English, which led me to chat to her in Italian whereas she would respond to me a slow Spanish that was fairly well understood. I am all too glad that my hard earned Italian skills come of use at times, also beyond the Alps!



As the tale goes that the ability to sleep little and party hard ties in with one’s juvenility this trip was the perfect yardstick to check whether I am still as young as I generally behave. As I had Griselda from Estonia over for a drink or two on Friday, my head did not touch the pillow until about 1 a.m. whereas the alarm clock woke me up from a deep satisfied sleep a mere two hours later. The odd experience of waking up and walking through a city in which people are still awake ended when I boarded the air coach to Dublin airport. Bar the occasional dozing off on the airplane it was not until four o’clock that night (new time!) that I fell asleep again, after a long night of drinking and dancing. 26 hours, I can still do it!



Griselda wasn’t the only ghost from the past suddenly popping up in my contemporary life that weekend, as my first experience in Madrid was a coffee with 5.5-year absent Lu who aroused distant memories of glorious times as an ESN mentor in Tilburg City.  

The trip was all in all one to be cherished, and Madrid was, however much she had to offer, only second to the company I was in, as weekends as such truly serve to catch up with good friends you don’t see too often. Trusting Madrid to be a trustworthy keeper of our adventures and experiences, let’s finish off with the best and worst of our experience. Gentlemen, it was a true pleasure!


Best value for money (1): The bucket with 10 beers for 6 Euros

Best value for money (2): Luijkx’ metro ticket

Worst value for money (1): Koen & Teun’s metro tickets

Worst value for money (2): Luijkx’ new ring

Best tips (1): Gabri

Best tips (2): Lu

Mostly spotted street: Gran Via

Most random place to drink beer: Building excavation

Best drink: Gin tonic with pepper and cucumber

Most beautiful elevator: in the hostel

Longest consecutive time awake: 26 hours

Longest consecutive time asleep: 10 hours

Best way to finish off in style: with a bucket of beer 2 hours before departure

Cherished forever: Our trip to Madrid and the lovely time we had

Lost forever: De pot (toen Luijkx hm had)

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