Madrid the last days: Retiro, Museo de America, Chueca, a ghost from the past

Saturday, 2nd June 2007
Up at 0930 after 4-5 hours sleep. Rich and Madelyn have been kind enough to lend me their spare room for my last three nights in Madrid. They cook me a great breakfast that whose name escapes me but it consists of dense doughy potato,bread with scrambled eggs, cheese and tabasco sauce(Madelyn - could you leave me a comment in the blog with the name?).

In the afternoon we have lunch in La Latina and head to Retiro for a row on the lake. Then we meet Ben Curtis and catch up on things. It will be nice to catch up with him again if he is in England or when I make it back to Madrid. Finish up with souvenir shopping in El Corte Ingles, then back at the apartment we have tapas and polish off two of the bottles of Rioja that I bought in La Rioja.

Sunday, 3rd June 2007
I get up at 9 to try and internet-shop for a last-minute Glastonbury ticket (no luck). Then off to do some last-minute sightseeing. I start off at the Faro de Madrid which is an imposing tower in the west of the city which is supposed to have great views from the top. Unfortunately it is closed for maintenance, but next door is the excellent Museo de America. It contains great collections from countries in Central and South America colonised by Spain, including mummies and shrunken heads and lots of pilfered gold.

After this I do a farewell lap of Madrid - from Moncloa I head down the Calle Princesa to Plaza de Espana, up the Gran Via and down the notorious Montera, where the prostitutes tout for business. A menu del dia and then to the Cine Dore for coffee. Along the way I shop for souvenirs and bump into Henry and Constantine at Cervezeria 100 Montaditos.

My last night in Madrid (for now). Madelyn, Rich and I join Henry and Constantine outside the school and head for dinner in Chueca. Along the way the strangest thing happens. On the Gran Via I see my old landlady, the one I escaped from weeks ago. She either does not notice me or ignores me. It gives me a chill that she happens to be here on my very last night in the city. We find a great Italian restaurant and have a relaxed evening, although the fact that I am leaving tomorrow plays on my mind a bit. We all exchange contact details and say our goodbyes.

Monday, 4th June 2007
Up at 5am on my birthday for the flight back. Last minute packing and I drag my 27kg suitcase down the three flights from Madelyn and Rich's apartment. A taxi ride through Madrid as dawn is breaking. An uneventful flight back and I meet my Dad at Gatwick.

Oddly it does not feel odd to be back in the UK. In a way I feel that I have been away much longer than three months, more like six. But the old town looks the same and familiar. Maybe I need to go away again...

Madrid week 13: San Sebastian, Bilbao, Guggenheim, Logroño

Saturday, 26th May 2007
I get up late and catch the Cannes Film Festival news on CNN. Borrow an umbrella off my landlord for the drizzly journey into town. The bus drops me off in the old part of town and I grab a coffee & diplomatico before having a wander around. San Sebastian has been recommended to me but I must say that it's charms are lost on me. It could be the rainy weather affecting my mood or it could be my innate dislike of seaside towns.
I have a menu del dia just before 2pm - bad timing as the whole town shuts down 2pm-4pm. Nothing is open aprt from the local FNAC music department store. I catch an exhibition of video installations at the CCIC contemporary culture centre. This place used to be a tobacco/cigarette factory and is a very atmospheric environment. The pieces vary between high pretension and mildly diverting. Then it's the San Telmo museum which documents the history of Basque culture. A bocadillo and wine at the local pub and back home.

Sunday, 27th May 2007
Waking up I see that the sun has emerged, which is very welcome after the blanket of cloud and rain of yesterday. Take the bus into town and walk along the seafront.

The clouds reappear as I make my way up Monte Urgull, which offers great views of the town. On the way to the top I come across a curious sight. The Cementerio de Los Ingleses (English Cemetary) holds the graves of English soldiers from the mid 1800s who fought with the Spanish in the Carlist Wars (against who? I don't know - must find out). The cemetary is built into the side of the mountain and is very run down, so is somewhat hard to traverse. At the top of the mountain is a church and an imposing statue of Christ overlooking the town.

A great value menu del dia in town - 12 euros for 3 courses and a whole bottle of wine. I feel duty bound to drink the lot. This leaves me a little weary and then the rains come again, so there is no more tourism today.

Monday, 28th May 2007
Coffee and napolitana at the nearby hospital cafe, then I brave it into town for some more challenging sightseeing. The weather continues to be terrible as I dodge and weave in and out of the rain. Another great value menu del dia, which again includes a whole bottle of wine.

Then it's off to Monte Igeldo, the other and higher mountain in San Sebastian, which I am determined to see the top of no matter what the weather does. I make my way on foot to the base of the mountain and take the Funicular tram car to the top. Great views of the town but a very sorry-looking amusement park which is unsurprisingly shut. I feel like I've given San Sebastian my best shot, but it's a pity the weather was so atrocious.

Tuesday, 29th May 2007
A bus at 1030 from San Sebastian to Bilbao. The journey takes just over an hour winding round the rocky mountains. The bus drops me in the new town area of Bilbao which is drab and a bit rundown. I catch the tram over to the old town (Casco Viejo) where my hostel is located. A lovely old building with wooden floors and bannisters.

My room is on the 4th floor with no elevator. I drop my stuff off and catch a menu del dia which again includes a whole bottle of wine. The waitresses here are much more pleasant than the Madrid grouches - here they are all smiles and pats on the back. A quick siesta and then I explore the old town. I notice that the buses are called "Bilbobuses" and after consuming a bottle of wine this seems like the funniest thing ever. I walk along by the river which seems to have undergone a lot of development. I catch a glimpse of the Guggenheim Museum which I am going to hit tomorrow.

Wednesday, 30th May 2007
An early start to beat the crowds for the Guggenheim. The building is very impressive - a massive, tin-like structure by the river, wholly encased in steel tiles. There are some playful exhibits outside including a giant spider and Jeff Koons' Puppy - a giant dog made of plants and flowers.

By contrast the exhibits inside are a great disappointment. The museum is only displaying works by two artists and I have not heard of either of them. The Guggenheim has a massive collection of the best and famous modern art, so why isn't it on display? All we get for 12.50 euros is lots of drab and obscure work. The saving grace is Richard Serra's The Matter of Time in the Fish Gallery. There are giant steel structures you can walk in and around which play games with your sense of perspective.

So I leave the Guggenheim not a little disappointed. Much better is the Museo de Bella Artes just up the road - a rich variety of art from many different perods. There are works by El Greco, Goya, Francis Bacon and David Hockney. Puts the Guggenheim in the shade but sadly not as well-attended.

The last stop is the Funicular, just the same as the one in San Sebastian, a tram that pulls you up into the mountains for great views of the city. A brief stop on the way home to buy my ticket for Logroño and a glass of rioja at a great bar called Casco Viejo.

Thursday, 31st May 2007
1005 train from Bilbao's Abando station gets me into Logroño at 1245. This is the capital of the La Rioja region. My Pension, or hostel, is dead central in the old town. The room is the best value yet - 25 euros including a shower and loo.

It is disappointing that the Museo de la Rioja is shut, but there is a great replacement exhibition. Tierra Abierta (Open Ground) about the town's history and culture is taking place in five locations in the town, including a couple of churches and a local market. Everyone I meet is very polite and helpful and proud of their town. It would be great to tour the wine regions of Spain in the future. I spend some quality time in the wine shop in my street. The owner does me a good deal and insists on taking a picture of me with one of the bottles I have purchased.

Friday, 1st June 2007
The 0800 train from Logroño to Madrid. I had a nice feel for the place and it would be good to come back again soon. Some minor joy in the railway station when I spot a Star Wars pinball machine dating back to the Empire Strikes Back era, so it is at least 25 years old. On the train I have a nice space in which to stretch my legs for the three-and-a-half journey. Beautiful mountainous countryside again, which I never tire of looking at.

I meet Madelyn at 1pm at the Eureka school. I see lots of my old teachers so it feels like saying goodbye all over again. I drop my stuff at her apartment and we go back into town. I post some things back to the UK which will not fit in my suitcase on the flight back, and collect some exercise books from the school. I say goodbye to Angel, the owner, again. I make arrangements to meet Ben Curtis tomorrow and book my flight back to the UK. Ben informs me that the podcast that we recorded has just gone live and it is weird to hear my own voice. If you are interested, the podcast can be downloaded from Ben's website http://www.notesfromspain.com/794/

In the evening we go for a meal at the Mini Lounge, the first in a possible chain of restaurants based around the Mini car. It's a bit snooty and the design isn't great, but the food is good. I have the Italian Job tiramisu for desert (I could have had a desert called Una Noche en Oxford - A Night in Oxford). Joining us for dinner is Shauna, the young girl from Ireland who was in our class. She is going back tomorrow, and we go with her to an Irish bar in town to meet some of her friends. But it turns out they have hit the sauce a bit too much and we have to chaperone them to a taxi.

It's weird being back in Madrid and knowing that I am returning to the UK in a few days. I have mixed feelings about going - I will miss the place but I feel that I have seen and done most of the things that you can do here. And I have lots to see when I get back - my friends and family, including my new nephew.

Madrid week 12: Haircut, Valencia, Barcelona, San Sebastian

Saturday, 19th May 2007

My alarm wakes me up at 930 after 4 hours sleep as I have a hair appointment at 1030. Before the appointment I have my last "English breakfast" at the VIPS restaurant (I've really gone native, haven't I?). The haircut is what I want but is best described as drastic.

Afterwards I start packing up my stuff, most of which I am storing at Madelyn and Rich's while I travel light around Spain. I drag my Samsonite across town to their new apartment in La Latina. It's a nice barrio (district) and a very nice apartment - spacious, bright, well furnished and with state-of-the-art facilities. I check emails and book my passage to Valencia tomorrow. The plan is to do 2-3 nights in Valencia (on the east coast), travel north to Barcelona for 3 nights , over to San Sebastian and Bilbao, then back to Madrid, perhaps via Logroño, a big wine town recommended to me by Ben Curtis. the evening we go to the Ideal Cineplex to see Spiderman 3. The film is a bit episodic and inconsistent in tone, with one-too-many baddies. Then we go for some churros and I head back home for my last night in the apartment.

Sunday, 20th May 2007

A funny old day. I rise at 7, finish packing and check the room to see that I've not left anything (over and over and again). Say goodbye to my landlady who seems quite tearful that I am leaving (either that or she has something in her eye). Say goodbye to the apartment and head back to Madelyn and Rich's as I have yet more stuff to leave at their apartment. I am travelling really light - just a couple of small rucksacks. Head to Atocha for my train to Valencia. The train is very comfortable - DVD movies, headsets and a choice of music. The journey takes just three-and-a-half hours to cover the 400 kms to Valencia.

The first thing that strikes me about Valencia is how drastically quiet it is compared to Madrid. It is Spain's 3rd largest city, and is located on the east coast. I have fun and games trying to locate my hostel - the unhelpful tourist info person at the station circles a place on my map about 2kms in circumference where he thinks the place is. I walk in what I think is the right direction and stop in at a restaurant to ask for better directions. The three people I talk to try to help but are clueless. I find out later that the hostel is located directly behind the restaurant.

The hostel is OK as these places go. I am paying for a double room because they had no singles. But the staff are friendly and they have a roof terrace. I head out to find the Museo de Bella Artes and go completely the wrong way. When I do find it I find it nicely turned out as with most Spanish museums, but it feels neglected and is a bit smelly. Tapas for tea and an early night.

Monday, 21st May 2007

Get up about 0930 after a very peaceful night. I can't get over how much quieter Valencia is compared to Madrid. I'm in quite a vibrant area just off the old town but there was little noise and I slept soundly with my window open all night. Using the hostel's PC I book my room in Barcelona for tomorrow night. The choice is limited given that I want a cheap private room in a central location. I choose a new hostel in a central area and hope it is OK - I'll find out tomorrow.

The plan today is to check out the America's Cup, which is on in town until July. On the advice of the hostel management I take the metrobus (tram) to the port area. I take a brief stroll along the beach - plenty of female topless sunbathers with few inhibitions. Get to America's Cup port area and end up spending a good few hours there, even though I'm no boat racing fan. The entire port consists of a massive exhibition/sponsorship area which is all totally free. You can take ferry rides around the port and a little mini-train to transport you here and there. There is no racing today (there was yesterday) but it is still a fun few hours. I even get my picture taken with the America's Cup itself.

Next it's over to the Cuidad de Las Artes y Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences), a vast area in the south of the city given over to the most bizarre architecture I have seen in a while. There is an IMAX film theatre, an Oceanographic Centre and a Museum of Sciences, each housed in strange, nautical-themed buildings. The only thing I can equate it to is the sci-fi film Logan's Run, or maybe Milton Keynes the way it was meant to be. I take numerous photos, but I don't think any of them will do justice to the jaw-dropping oddness of it all.

Go to the station to book my train for tomorrow. Thoughts on Valencia? Mixed. It has little to recommend it, in my opinion. The "historic centre" consits of lots of badly neglected churches and municipal buildings. But the ruined nature of it all lends it a certain charm. Good tapas at a restaurant called Pilar.

Tuesday, 22nd May 2007

The 10am train from Valencia gets me into Barcelona (BCN) at 1340. Not as nice a train and it stops every 20 minutes. The hostel is easy to locate but it is unmanned - I have to wait 45 minutes to meet Frank who has the keys. There is a couple from Birmingham who are also waiting to get in. But the room is clean (a top bunk, which reminds me of my first room in Madrid) and central, close to Plaza St. Jaune.

A quick shower then straight to the Museu d'Historia de la Cuitat (Museum of the City). It is built on the foundations of some Roman ruins, which the museum features in a well displayed underground area. It feels weird to be back in BCN when I wasn't here so long ago (January). Back then I didn't think much of the place, but I want to give it another try. This time it feels different, crammed with early summer tourists. Some tapas in Tapas Gaudi and then home.

Wednesday, 23rd May 2007

A jam-packed day. It begins at 10 with a visit to the Picasso Museum, not far from my lodgings. The museum is very comprehensive and informative, although it doesn't have any of his landmark works. It's interesting to see Picasso's transition from a fairly conventional portrait artist through his Pink, Rose and Blue Periods and all that Cubism (still not sure what the latter is).

Next is the Frederic Mares Museum which my 3-year-old Rough Guide recommends. The museum features a personal collection of sculptures donated by Sr. Mares including Roman and ancient Spanish church art. He was a celebrated sculptor in his own right and a collector of all kinds of stuff - cigarette cards, pipes, clocks, theatre tickets, children's games - which are all on display. A delightful museum.

Over to the other side of La Rambla, the main street that is basically the spine of the city. A menu del dia lunch, then onto the Contemporary Art Museum. It is godawful - everything I dislike about modern art - poefaced, up-it's arse, navel-gazing, pointless video art. Much better is the nearby CCCB cultural centre which by contrast has an exhibition that is about something - refugees and immigration. There is a great piece on Miami and Cuba - panoramic photos of each city's coatline facing each other over a carpet of sea.

The last stop today is a metro ride to the Parc Güell, designed by Antonio Gaudi. Awesome views of BCN and mad, fairytale-like buildings and structures.

Thursday, 24th May 2007
Last night's visit to Parc Güell puts me in the mood for more Gaudi. Yesterday in the queue for Picasso I met a kindly old Brit whose must-see in BCN is the Gaudi apartment. So today I head there. A typical Gaudi edifice, the elevator takes me to the attic area which houses models and videos detailing Gaudi's life, times and inspirations. His aim seems to have been to make spaces that mimic and are at one with nature. The terrace above is a work of art too and has great views of BCN. You can see Gaudi's architecture and influence all over the city, but I'm not sold on it. It is undoubtedly striking and distinctive, but can also be nightmarish and garish.

A stop for lunch for another menu del dia in the same place as

yesterday. 8.50 euros for three course and a quarter bottle of wine. A brief visit to another pointless art space and a brief visit to the station to book my ticket for tomorrow.

Back at La Rambla I walk to the port area and pass by the Columbus tower that I visited in January. Supper at Nemrut, the great bar near to my room that I ate in last night. I watch a young Aussie seduce two even younger impressionable Americans.

Friday, 25th May 2007

1230 train to San Sebastian from Barcelona Sants, the city's ugly and yucky main station. This is an eight-and-a-half hour journey which I initially think is direct but halfway throught the journey I find out at the last minute that I have to change trains. I quickly grab my stuff and hop to the other train. At least there is some beautiful countryside to look at as the rickety old train pulls itself up through the mountains and into San Sebastian.

I ring an hour ahead to confirm my room but they tell me they are full and cannot accommodate me. I make a fuss and get a room at the owner's guest house which is further out of town. The room is great - a double, with modern fittings and a TV, all for 25 euros per night. My landlord, Skippy, is an Aussie, and a little odd. He is very nervy, but very welcoming - he even feeds me some paella he has cooked up for his family. I have to surrender my passport to him, which I find strange.

Madrid week 11: Friends from home, El Rastro, San Isidro

Sunday, 13th May 2007
This morning I tick off another Madrid must-do: the El Rastro. This is a flea market that takes place each Sunday from 8 til 2 and snakes around the streets of the La Latina district. My guidebook tells me to get there early to avoid the crowds. When I arrive at 9.30 the crowds are slim and stallholders are still setting up. Everything you can imagine is on sale here - clothes, shoes, jewellery, CDs and gas masks. El Rastro is notorious for pickpockets, and a friendly policeman tells me to wear my rucksack on my front, not my back, to avoid any trouble.

The market is massive, stretching the length of the Ribero de Cortidores (a street about half a mile long). It also spills into the numerous sidestreets, where the vendors offer wares similar to a carboot sale - all the old tat from decades past that no one wants any more - old phones, radios, and other obselete technology. One particularly stomach churning stall offers you old pornographic magazines. The police keep strict control of the proceedings and I observe several stallholders being questioned and moved on. When I try to take a picture of an item that amuses me (an old crash helmet clock from Champion spark plugs, my Dad used to have one) the stallholder is not happy. I end up buying a couple of movie posters - Jaws and All About My Mother.

Then it's a 45 minute metro journey to the airport to meet my friends Kieran and Clare from back home. Their flight gets in around 2pm at T1, one of the shabbier terminals, not the gleaming new one that I arrived at. They check in to the Hotel Plaza Mayor and we take beer in Plaza Santa Ana. I take them on a tour of some landmarks - Plaza Mayor, Gran Via, Plaza de España and the Temple of Debod. We eat in the Malasaña district and walk through Retiro, a little too late for the San Isidro celebrations that took place there tonight. Undeterred we carry on drinking and get a cab back to their hotel where I crash. Lucky for me they have a third bed in the room...

Monday, 14th May 2007

I wake with a bastard of a headache. Drag myself to school with the raging hangover (a schoolboy error - mixing red wine and beer). I feel quite ill throughout the lessons but my spirits are lifted by the return of Madelyn. She brings chocs from the US but I can't even look at them. I am also pleased that we have one of the best teachers in the school for our conversation class, Montse. She gets us talking about the best and worst aspects of our respective countries. We are also joined by a new classmate, Chris, a soldier from Liverpool.

In the afternoon I meet Kieran and Clare, but decide that I need a siesta to try and kick the DTs while they carry on sightseeing. A two-hour kip in their room at the Hotel Plaza Mayor does me the world of good. In the evening we take a walk through the La Latina district, barhopping and eating tapas, mainly seafood (including baby eels - they look disgusting but taste great). The best eats are in El Tempranillo on Calle Cava Baja. We easily get a table at 830 and by 930 the place is packed with Madrilenos. This is my second visit to this bar and by my reckoning theirs is the best tapas in town. They do wonderful things with asparagus.

Tuesday, 15th May 2007

I wake at 9 in Kieran and Clare's hotel room and make my way back to my digs to collect some belongings for them to take back to the UK. I arrived in Madrid with a full suitcase, and since then I have amassed some stuff, so I am grateful for their help in lightening the load for my return. I meet them around 12 and we go for another walk around Madrid. Today there are festivities all over the city because it is the day of San Isidro, Madrid's own saint. Men, women and children are dressed in what looks like traditional Spanish clothing.

We walk down the Paseo del Prado and take a look at the great art shop at the Museo Thyssen Bornemisa. After a beer in La Latina we walk to meet Madelyn and Rich in the Parque de San Isidro. It takes us a while to find the place but it is worth it. The park is not all that big, and it is overrun with Madrilenos sporting their traditional dress and, for some reason, loud hailers. Many people queue to get into the chapel at the entrance of the park, presumably to pay their respects to San Isidro. At the top end of the park we come across a stage area where they are soundchecking for a concert tonight. There are many food stalls with a rich variety of delicacies includng paella, octopus, and, of course, ham. We walk back to Clare and Kieran's hotel and I see them off for their flight back to the UK. It has been fun to have them here and to show them the city, and they have really enjoyed their time in Madrid.

Wednesday, 16th May 2007

In the morning I take the metro to school with my new housemate, Andy, another German. He is spending two weeks here before moving to Salamanca to continue his studies. Unlike most of the Germans I have met his English is quite poor, so we talk mostly in Spanish.

In the grammar class we continue work in the 3 main types of past tense - Preterito Imperfecto, Preterito Perfecto and Preterito Indefinido. It is a bit of a minefield for me working out which tense to use in which context. We have Montse again for conversation, and we continue talking about the best and worst of our countries. My "best" is the English sense of humour, and we talk in Spanish about the merits of Benny Hill, Mr Bean and Monty Python. The other English guy in the class, Chris, has to choose what he thinks is the worst of England. He chooses immigrants. All of them. Legal or illegal. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder about the issue. I think differently to him on the issue but hold my tongue during the discussions.

I am due to move out of my lodgings this Saturday. I arrange with the school to have an additional night, then I am out of Madrid for two weeks.

Thursday, 17th May 2007

In class we move on from Book 1 to Book 2, which in essence means we have moved from beginners to intermediate Spanish. We have a new teacher for conversation class, Carlos, who I think is new to the school as I have not seen him before. He talks in a rapid, gutteral accent which is hard to understand. In the afternoon we have a school excursion to the Spanish Senate, a government body of elected representatives, but I'm not sure what the difference is between this and the Congreso. We get a good guided tour in Spanish - the guide talks slowly and clearly so is not too hard to understand.

In the evening I pay a final visit to the Cine Dore to see the Billy Wilder film The Apartment. I think this is my favourite place in Madrid. It has a great bookshop and a bar/cafe in the foyer where I have one last beer and a slice of tortilla. The film is introduced by three serious looking middle-aged women who I assume are film historians of a sort. One of them speaks in French and another translates her words into Spanish. The film is a classic from 1960 - one of the few Oscar winners that deserves the accolade. At heart it is a black comedy of social mores but at times it is very moving.

Friday, 18th May 2007

My last day of school and quite an emotional one. My grammar teacher Patricia gives me some tips on how to continue the Spanish when I get back home. And squaddie Chris is surprisingly helpful as well. Mito brings in chocolate cake, cheese and biscuits. He can be a bit much at times but I will miss him along with the other students in the class, the teachers and the staff.

I spend the afternoon booking up some accommodation for my trip round Spain. I am planning to travel to the east and north of the country by train, before returning to Madrid for a few days and then flying home. I book the rooms by phone, trying to get by in Spanish but eventually falling back to English. I book hostels in Valencia, Zaragoza and San Sebastian. Later I have a bit of a to-do with my landlady as she has not done my washing and I am leaving in two days. All in all, quite an emotionally draining day.

My second to last night in Madrid before the trip, and probably the best night yet that I have spent in the city. I meet Madelyn and Rich along with some other students - Charlie, a Brit who is shortly moving to Switzerland for a job with the UN, Michael, an Austrian who has been in my class for two weeks and is returning tomorrow, and Chris, a German who is studying at Eureka for the next six months. We have tapas in a place called Vinotech off the Plza Santa Ana, and then drinks at the top of the new Midnight Hotel (great views of the city but snooty staff who take ages to even acknowledge our presence, let alone answer our requests for drinks). It's then on to the Teatro Alfi to see the British comedian Richard Herring. We wait outside for ages before going in, but there is a good atmosphere in the Anglo-Spanish crowd. The gig is very good, although Rich is looking a bit worse-for-wear. After the gig he invites us to a bar for a drink with his manager and the club owners. I try not to be too much of a fanboy but it is fun discussing comedy with him. Despite appearances, he was very happy to have his picture taken with me.

A long walk home at 5am. There is a saying by Ernest Hemingway along the lines of "No one goes to bed in Madrid until they have killed the night." I think I had a good go tonight.

Madrid week 10: Chinchon, Spanish cookery lessons, Guernica, Europe Day

Saturday, 5th May 2007
A day trip to Chinchon, 50 minutes south of Madrid. My new digs are ideally located for these excursions - the Atocha Renfe (main railway station) is nearby, as is the bus stop for Chinchon, on the Plaza Conde de Casal. Getting out of Madrid isn´t a problem, but getting to Chinchon is. Not knowing where my stop is, I get off the bus at the first sign that says "Chinchon." But this isn´t Chinchon. It´s 5km from Chinchon, or so the garage mechanic at the bus stop tells me. There´s nothing for it but to walk. Lucky for me that the weather is agreeable, sunny but with a cool breeze. And the countryside is beautiful as I walk along the side of the road, up through the mountains. There is no footpath to speak of. During my two hour walk delirium I fantasize that I am in a Sergio Leone movie (The Man With No Clue?).

When I reach Chinchon I find it to be very pretty. Very small but what there is is worth seeing. A justly celebrated Plaza Mayor lined with shuttered buildings. Today most of them are covered up with netting for restoration work, unfortunately. My first stop is a restaurant, but not to eat. The Meson Cuevas del Vino has a network of caves where they store wine. For 1.90 euros you get a guided tour of the caves and a glass of wine. I also visit the Museo Etnologico and a great ruin of a castle with great views of the town.

Sunday, 6th May 2007
Late breakfast at VIPS, a walk through Retiro Park to Gran Via. It is a beautiful day and fingers crossed the bad weather has left us. Retiro Park is so called because it was constructed for the royals to retire to after they were done royalling. Today it gets filled on the weekends with Madrilenos skating, cycling, having their fortune told or having their portrait done by the appallingly bad "artists" who line the paths.

Monday, 7th May 2007
Another walk through Retiro, early morning this time on my way to school. My commute takes in many of Madrid´s landmarks, including Retiro, the Museo del Prado and the Congreso de los Deputados (Parliament). Madelyn is away from class this week, and Xin-Hui has left us to join another class. We are joined by two new students - Michael from Austria and Shauna from Ireland. The class feels very different.

After school I take an impromptu tour of the independent record shops of Madrid. Most seem dedicated to 1960s and 1970s psychedelia and progressive rock. Most are filled with vinyl, not CDs. In Toni Martin Discos (est. 1976) I find a CD that has me almost bent double with laughter. A collection of U2 songs redone as lullabies, entitled Rockabye Baby (a play on Achtung Baby, a U2 album). U2 songs reinterpreted using glockenspiels, mellotrons and vibraphones. And the first song on the CD to send your little ones to sleep with is, no kidding, Sunday Bloody Sunday...

Tuesday, 8th May 2007
This afternoon we get some extra lessons... in Spanish cooking. I go along as I want to make Spanish dishes when I get back home. We don aprons and gather round while Angel makes a vat of Sangria and then a gazpacho andaluz. The class is packed so we don´t get much of a hands-on experience, unfortunately. Nonetheless it is fun, chopping up fruit and vegetables with Henry and Constantine. This is my very first taste of gazpacho, I think, and I like it very much. The lesson is marred by some young female Irish students who cannot keep their mouths shut.

It is election time in Madrid and there are political posters all over. One of the main parties, the PP, has a podium constructed in the Puerta del Sol with a politician giving forth. From what I can make out the PP is one of the more progressive parties, as the speech I listen to seems to centre on the benefits of immigration.

Alcohol update: After 2 months of drinking beer I have the taste for wine again. Last night I had a glass of stale red in a crummy neighbourhood bar, so tonight I buy myself a bottle of my favourite red, Torres´ Sangre de Toro. Get mildly pissed (drinking on top of this afternoon´s sangria) and listen to 1970s disco music on my iPod. It happens every time...

Wednesday, 9th May 2007
Today is Europe Day. I don´t know how this is being celebrated in the UK but I´m sure it is nothing like the Spanish way. In the Puerta del Sol there is a big exhibition space where each country in the EU has a stall. People clamour for information at the booths (although not, it has to be said, at the poorer Eastern Bloc countries). I pick up several brochures written in Spanish and designed as educational tools for kids, showing them what each country is known for (the UK is Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Oxford and Cambridge). I can´t imagine such enthusiasm for the EU in the UK. By comparison we seem almost ashamed to be members - we don´t learn other languages, we don´t share the same currency.

For the third time I lunch at the bar that Ben and Marina took me to the other week. I again order the "menu del dia" - which many bars do for the lunchtime crowd. It is a 3-course lunch plus bread and a drink, all for around 10 euros. I order gazpacho for the first course, and for the second course I take a shot in the dark. All I know is that it is some kind of fish. When it arrives it scares me. It is an entire fish, including the head and the tail, curled up and the mouth is biting the tail (see picture). Like it´s daring me to eat it. I do, and it is very nice.

Thursday, 10th May 2007
For some reason I don´t enjoy lessons today. It could be that I´m missing Madelyn, Constantine and Henry. Madelyn has returned to the US for a conference in Denver, and the two Germans are in Miami. Or it could be that I´ve had enough of studying - it´s been almost two months, we have covered a lot of ground, and I think I need a break. Also, one of the recent additions to the class misbehaves a lot - dominates the discussions, gets bored easily and lets everyone know it, arrives late and leaves early. And we have The Worst Teacher At The School for conversation classes again.

On the plus side we have a really good excursion today to the Centre de Arte Reine Sofia, to see Picasso´s Guernica and to hear Angel tell us all about it. Angel is full of interesting information - the paintings only colours are grey, black and white because Picasso only learnt about the bombing of Guernica from reading newspapers. And the bull in the painting represents the forces of the nationalists, while the horse is the republicans. Once again the Irish students play up and I wonder what they´re doing here if not to learn.

This is my second visit to the Reine Sofia, and it should be on everyone´s list of places to see in Madrid. It is a massive place, and must be the largest museum of modern art in Spain. Even walking at a brisk pace it takes me a good two hours to cover every room. The focus is on Spanish modern art - Picasso, Dali, Miro. There is also a small but interesting section of photographs from the Spanish Civil War. It is strange to see pictures of streets that I have come to know, such as Gran Via, wartorn and pockmarked with bullet holes.

Friday, 11th May 2007
This afternoon we have another lesson in Spanish cooking. Today it is paella. It´s a dish that takes a while to prepare, plus Angel has to explain to us in slow Spanish what he is doing, plus he is a perfectionist. So it is about two hours before we get to sample the food. Still, we get to drink a few bottles of good Spanish red while we wait, and I help to prepare the food, chopping up some calamari. I also get to meet some of the other students at the school who are not in my regular language class, including a guy from the Netherlands and a middle-aged French couple. The latter are for some reason fascinated by my Pan Am t-shirt. How come I have a t-shirt from a company that is long dead?

I say goodbye to Angel - next week is my last week of lessons and he is not here. So I may not see him again, unless I return to the school. He is a great bloke, and has helped me out during my sometimes troubled times here. He takes a personal interest in the wellbeing of his students, and is not trying to fleece money from wide-eyed language students, as I think some of the other schools do. His school is not the cheapest, nor is it that well known, but I would be hard pressed to find a better one.

In the street outside the school, Arenal, I witness a comic scene. All over Madrid there are street vendors selling counterfeit DVDs, fake D&G sunglasses, Louis Vuitton handbags, and so on. They lay out their wares on blankets, so the swag can be easily scooped up and they can scarper should the police arrive. And today that happens - the police swarm up on their motorbikes and the vendors run past me with their bags of swag, hiding behind cars and running down side streets.

Madrid week 9: Cuenca, Podcast, Goya

Saturday, 28th April 2007
A day trip to Cuenca, south east of Madrid towards Valencia. Normally I do these excursions on my own, but today Madelyn and Rich come with me. I am grateful for the company as it is a two and a half hour train journey. Cuenca is famed for its "hanging houses" but in reality they are a bit of a disappointment. There are only two or three such houses, and they are built in to the side of a cliff. Quite a sight, but by no means unique. More interesting is a nearby bridge across two cliffs with a 200ft drop. Makes me feel somewhat queasy as I am 6ft tall and the rail separating me from the drop is less than 3ft high.

We visit two places in town dedicated to modern art; the Museo de Arte Abstracto and the Fundacion Antonio Perez. The latter is huge, with at least 5 floors. Most of the artists it features I am not familiar with, but curiously it has some works by Francis Bacon and Picasso hidden away in the basement. We take a brief rest perilously close to the cliff edges, then return to Madrid for supper in the Paseo del Prado.

Sunday, 29th April 2007
I sleep in late, and say goodbye to Vera, who is off back to Germany. I take a walk to see the nearby Planetarium and IMAX cinema. On the way I grab a coffee and witness the Latino temperament close up - a waitress and a couple get into an argument and it all gets very heated. First the boyfriend has a go, then the girlfriend. They seem to be placated by some free coffee. I am a bit taken aback at how quickly the argument flared up over what seemed to be nothing important.

The IMAX cinema and Planetarium are in neighbouring buildings in an unsalubrious part of town, near the railway track. I go first to the IMAX and see Tiburones - 3D, all about sharks and other things that live in the sea. For kids, really. Some bloody action wouldn´t have gone amiss. The rest of the afternoon is a bit of a disappointment - the Planetarium is shut, the Reine Sofia museum is also shut, and the internet PCs at the tourist office have caught a virus and don´t work. I meet Madelyn and Rich in the evening to see The Good Shepherd at the Ideal cinema. Directed by Robert de Niro and starring Matt Damon, it concerns the formation and early history of the CIA. Overall it´s a good movie with a lot to chew on, but for me it doesn´t fire on all cylinders, especially given the two and a half hour running time. You need a very good reason to keep me in a cinema for that long.

Monday, 30th April
I spend most of the day studying. In the afternoon I take a stroll through Retiro Park (for those who know it I am about 20 mins from the Crystal Palace). Finally pluck up the courage to get my hair cut in a Spanish salon. Beforehand I have an unwelcome encounter in a bar with a drunk Spanish woman. She accuses me of being unfriendly and I try to explain this away by pleading Englishness, but she feels she has to bother me some more ("Change your brain" she says, over and over). Eventually she staggers to the loo and I make my escape. Despite this incident, I do now feel as though I´m living here, as opposed to passing through as a tourist. I know I have much more to learn about the language and culture, but when I see tourists arriving on a Friday I feel different from them.

My landlady stands about four feet high and has zero English. None. But she is friendly, has my room cleaned today, and does my washing (which I reluctantly let her do). Today it continues to rain a lot. In the English papers I read that temperatures in the UK are higher than in the Costa Brava...

Tuesday, 1st May
More homework duties and a little back and forth with the landlady over my washing. And she seems concerned with the amount of water I am using - I am allowed no more than one shower per day. I take a walk through Retiro and up to Gran Via to update the blog and check emails. I am very pleased to see some more pictures of my new nephew, Edward. In the evening I take a wander along the Paseo de Ricoletos, a very long street which at the moment is lined with booksellers from all over Spain for the Ferio del Libro. Most of the stalls have books on art, history, theatre, the cinema and Spanish history. Lot of Agatha Christies as well - she seems very popular over here (my landlady has a set of her books).

Wednesday, 2nd May 2007
Back to school after the break. However most other places are still shut because it is a public holiday in Spain. It feels odd to be studying whilst most of the city is still on a break. Incidentally, at the moment I am reading a really good book - Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg. Murder and intrigue in post-Vietnam California. It was made into a film in 1981 with Jeff Bridges, Cutter´s Way. Both book and film are worth seeking out. The book especially is evocative, gripping and very well-written. Oddly enough, the main character is a bloke who used to be a marketing manager (as I was), then dropped out (as I did), and then eeks out a living as a gigolo (I´m not quite there yet).

Thursday, 3rd May 2007
Lessons resume with a new student joining the class - Aline from Brazil. She has been at the school for a few weeks already but has been put (back?) to our class. However she seems to be streets ahead of the rest of us. It takes a while to assimilate her in to the dynamics of our class.

After school I meet up with Ben Curtis and his wife Marina. They run a website called http://www.notesfromspain.com/ and publish podcasts about life in Madrid. I have been listening to their podcasts avidly since discovering them in January. Ben is from England and came to Spain 9 years ago with few plans except to escape the UK. He did some English teaching, met and married a local girl, Marina, and is now a full time writer, publisher, blogger and podcaster. I found out yesterday that he was born and raised in Radley, Oxfordshire, only a few miles from where I live in Abingdon. And he attended Abingdon school. The coincidences continue today when I find out that we were at Leeds University at the same time, both have dads with a passion for motorbikes, and, er, have both had salmonella food poisoning. We all take a menu del dia and then have coffee at a cafe close to the Palacio Real. Ben and Marina want to do a podcast interview with me about my experiences in Madrid, which I happily agree to. Despite some initial jitters on my part this turns out to be a lot of fun as we discuss my language teaching, the ups and downs with my host family, and my thoughts on Madrid. A really positive experience - I am very pleased to have met them both.

Late in the afternoon I catch a showing of Vertigo at the Cine Dore. This film is Hitchcock at his weirdest - obsession, mental breakdown, fantasies, phobias and blondes. Don´t want to sound too anoraky but it is good to see Saul Bass´s credit sequence on the big screen and to hear Bernard Hermann´s woozy music.

Friday, 4th May 2007
Round off the week with after-school dinner with Madelyn, Henry and Constantine. The two Germans recommend a tapas place called Los Gatos. We walk in and the place is filled with old junk of all kinds - soldiers´ helmets, toredors outfits, old radios and TVs. I love it. Don´t love it so much when I see the bill for dinner - we get royally screwed and could have eaten just as well elsewhere for much less. Oh well.

In the afternoon I try to find a movie poster gallery called Casablanca´s, but end up in the Ermita de San Antonia de la Florida. It is also known as the Panteon de Goya as this is where the artist is buried. His work saturates the walls and domed ceiling. A nice bit of tranquility in the middle of the city.