Day 8

As we head to the airport at 5 am, we are lucky enough to grab a taxi since a strike is happening.

Once we arrive to the train station our friend was a victim of theft.
Headed back to Madrid, he and his wife begin to make a list of items he lost. I can’t believe this just happened. You’ve always heard it happening to others but never imagine it could happen right in front if you. The bad part is the other 3 of us who were with him never saw it coming.

We get off the train and immediately notice the difference in temperature and it’s much cooler and less humid, more my style.
Fred heads to the embassy to work out his situation as we head to the airBnB to drop off our stuff.

The apartment isn’t ready until 12:30 so we go out and grab food. I’ve been trying to find a pair of gauchos on this trip and we run into a mall along our travels.

I was very interested to see a supermarket inside the mall and a man going down the escalator with his cart of groceries. Apparently you can get everything here!

With luck I find a really cute pair at Zara, which feels like a Forever 21.

As Fred still try’s to get a temporary passport, his wife, my husband, and I head back to the apartment to take showers and wait for him to get back. Each room at this airBnB has air conditioning in the bedrooms and for that we are grateful. The last one in Madrid did not.

We all reconnect.

Ready to go out, we hit up dinner first at a pizza parlor before the end of the nights entertainment, a flamenco show.
The pizza place serves craft beer from Madrid and this is the first time on the trip I’ve had a beer. I choose a white hoppy IPA and it goes nicely with my margherita pizza.

Fred orders the volcano which comes out in flames and as you could guess that was a spicy pizza! It had him sweating towards the end.

The flamenco show is two doors down from the pizza parlor. As we enter we are greeted with a complimentary glass of vino tinto. They take us back to our seats for the show.

The performers start the show by explaining the importance of each element; the singing, guitar playing, the dance, vocalizations and chorus clapping, hand clapping and finger snapping and how each part is critical to the entire performance of flamenco.

Flamenco's origins are a subject of debate since its only been documented for the past two hundred years. The word Flamenco did not come into use until the 18th century.

The theme of the music is almost always passion of love, poverty, death and injustice.

The show ends at 9, and we are amazed at these performers. The level of intensity and the contortion of their bodies definitely show the passion of flamenco.

Heading back through the streets the sun begins to set and we hail a cab for an early night. First one in eight days.