4.02.2009

Sunday, April 2, 1989

Another Cash Poor Day in Madrid ...

Since we are poor until Monday (OK, we're always poor... but cash poor until Monday), little was done today. Woke up late, had a bowl of Chocapics for breakfast, then worked on fixing up Viv's room some more. We switched beds with Isabelle, then went to the store room to get out what was supposed to be a wardrobe, but after we pulled it out, we determined that it was something for the kitchen, so Viv didn't want it.

We took one of the chairs that was in the room, but later in the day one of our chairs was "stolen" from us, leaving us with one.

Isabelle the frog managed to get on everyone's nerves at one point or another.

After eating sandwiches for lunch, Viv and I took a walk down Gran Via to El Retiro, where we just sat on a bench for a while, relaxing and talking. It was nice. Then we got up and gradually made our way to the Television Tower, which we found out too late that that visitors weren't permitted. So much for an unrivalled view of Madrid.

From there we caught the Metro at O'Donnell Station (good Spanish name!) back to Chueca station. It looked like it might be closer to the flat then Gran Via, and it was. It turned out to be only about 500 yards away, but immensely seedy. Apparently, the leather-clad teddies liked to hang out in this area. Not exactly my scene.

The flat is located at 19 Calle de Pelayo. It's not exactly the greatest neighborhood. But the price is right, and the door is secure.

We rested in the room until Liz returned, when we made pizza and chips. Liz semi-whined about getting a smaller portion, so later Viv decided that she was not going to share meals with anyone if they act like that.

Viv and I sat chatting in our room, and at around midnight, the cheeky frog next door told us to shut up (in her outrrrageous Fronch axscent), not too unlike how The Old Man did it just a few nights earlier. So Viv and I decided to stay up even later than planned and continued talking and playing Gin Rummy. We finally went to bed a bit past 1 a.m.
Pictured to the right is a street photo of the flat that Viv and the other seven international students that abandoned the Residencia were now living. And where I was now living until my departure from Madrid back to Hull. The heavy black door was the entrance, andthe window above was to the room that Viv had claimed as her own. I didn't actually take any photos of the place, but found this photo on Google Map, actually. Never thought I'd find it... but there it is. Looks pretty much the same as I remembered.

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