Madrid – Day 1.75: Irish Pub in Spain?

“Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts,…” – Havelock Ellis

After our day of sightseeing everyone did some necessary sleeping, errands, and or showering. I did the latter since I still wasn’t tired. At about 8 or 9pm we all started clustering in the beautiful commons area. Cat’s Hostel has a beautiful inner court yard full of floor pillows, sofas and chairs. We all sprawled around with our giant drinks and enjoyed each others company. This was a fun, relaxing, mellow moment. Another San Diegan checked in, so now there are 7 of us in one hostel. It seems the Brazilians are multiplying too. Heitor now has fellow countrymen to bond with! Sam met a fellow Aussie, and Giancarlo met a fellow Canadian. Conversations all seem to begin with “Where are you from?…Oh really, me too!” or “Oh really, I would love to go there.” Haha. During this time we split for a while to grab food, it had been quite a while again. The Aussies and English went for Burger King…I couldn’t forgive myself if I ate BK in Madrid, so our small circle (Heitor, Ryan, Arlene, Giancarlo and I) wandered to a tasty little joint on the corner of Atocha and Calle del Amor di Dios (if you find yourself in Madrid). I ordered lahmacun. They called it pizza, but it was a wrap. ??? After eating, we all gathered again and then went to our reserved flamenco show. Our friend, Flavio used to live in Madrid and recommended Casa Patas. Is it destiny that it was on the same small street as our hostel? Only 3 doors down?  We wait in line inside the cafe of Casa Patas, where the show is performed in the back room. Once it was time to enter, people started shoving to get in the door, which I’m sure isn’t necessary. This was frustrating.

I enjoyed the show. The dancers were both attractive and passionate. The guy looked just like Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean..I swear it. Ryan says Colin Farrell, but he’s wrong. 🙂 There were 5 other men on stage, they were so relaxed like they were just hanging out enjoying music. 2 play guitar, 2 sang, and one guy played on this wooden block he was sitting on. I got a bit of film I will post too.

After finding ourselves in the bar again, I attempted to call Stephen like I promised. He checked out the prior night to move into his new Madrid flat. I couldn’t use the phone! Never-mind that I didn’t know if it was an international number or local (Irish or Spanish)…then my Euro coin kept falling out of the phone. I get assistance and learn European phones don’t ring. There was this beeping noise that I assumed meant I messed up again. Giancarlo told me that was the ring. Oh!! Phew…learning something new everyday. It’s amazing how many times I look stupid thanks to all the “unknowns.”

Back downstairs, we are all sitting in a pow wow on the floor since all the chairs were full. Half of the group went to bed at 3am, but the rest of us stayed to chat, we were having fun conversation. At this time, 3 more Brazilians strolled in. They were also from São Paulo. I learn Brazil can be a scary place. They tell me stories of robberies and Heitor talks about his bulletproof car that apparently is fairly common. What!? He says it so casually as well. While we are discussing snow days, or fire days, the São Paulons talk about days the city closes because the gangs threaten shop owners. So when a respected member of the gangs dies…school is closed. What can the government do they say. After all of this Heitor says I should still visit and he doesn’t want to scare me about Brazil. Ummmm….too late I say jokingly. (but secretly I´m dead serious) The new Brazilians just came from Barcelona and were ready to go out. So we did! It is still strange to discover that I’ve quickly adapted to thinking 3am was a very reasonable time to head out in the city. Wandering the still adorable, stone streets, we find ourselves in an Irish pub. I learned if I have to drink beer…I prefer Guinness.