Art, celebrations and party til morning!
Day 3- Saturday May 17, 2013 12:00 pm to 6:00 am
Day 3 of my trip went from being a quiet day out enjoying some Art at one of the most fantastic museums in the world, to passing through a celebration for the team that beat us in the Copa, to visiting one of the best clubs I’ve ever been to in my life. This is life in Madrid. It is so varied that you can do almost anything you have a passion for on any given day. It started off at 12 pm and ended at 6am the following morning. Talk about pump!
First off I decided that I’d use today as a quiet, relaxing day after the adrenaline of the two previous days so I planned to visit 3 museums in the Paseo Del Arte. The Prado was the 1st (and as it turned out the only) one that I went to. The Prado is huge and houses some of the best works of art in the world. Painters from Rafael to Valasquez and Goya hang on it’s walls and some of the pieces are such a sight to behold in person. Now I am not an art critic but I know a good painting when I see one and that museum has, in my opinion, the best collection of paintings I have seen anywhere. The mix of religious with earthly and mythic themes ensures that you are never looking at too much of the same thing. The only problem is that it’s so big that you can’t do anything else after it. By the time I was through it was 6:30 so I decided to head back to the Hostel and attempt the other 2 on my list at a later date.
Lo and behold, as I stepped across the street, a sea of Red and White greeted me as the Athletico Madrid tide had just rolled in to celebrate their recent victory over Real Madrid in the Copa Del
Rey Finals. Now it’s bad enough that they beat my team but now they were blocking the streets and messing up my bus plans so I had to stick around until they were through gloating. And gloat they did! Geeze! You would think they hadn’t won the UEFA Cup last season. It was like
Carnival Tuesday on the streets of Spain as traffic was diverted and music blasted, punctuated by the various Anti-Real and Pro-Athletico chants. They really rubbed Real’s collective noses in it. I did admire them though. Their joy felt so real that it was hard not to. They sang they danced, they joked; everything in good cheer. Only loyalty to my club stopped me from buying a bootleg Falcao jersey and joining in the festivities. I braved it until the end though (I didn’t have a choice because all the roads were blocked) and I wondered if the celebrations for Real are anything like that? Athletico Madrid fans really know how to party.
Finally at around 9:15pm the festivities ended and I was able to go back to the Hostel to what I thought would be a nice, quiet dinner alone while I type up my blog post. That’s when I met the
British. These four guys from Manchester were in the Hostel drinking beers and we quickly got to chatting about Dwight Yorke and football as soon as they realised I was from Trinidad. They were playing some music from an IPhone which did not have a playlist so I offered to play some music from my Kindle. They accepted and I queued up Private Ryan’s Spring Chicken mix which was an instant hit. Soon it got the whole Hostel pumping and we linked up with another table containing folks from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. We soon got to playing drinking games which are always a good idea on a Saturday night apparently. I will describe one such game that was really fun. It’s called “the cereal box” game and the object is to pick a cereal box off the ground with your teeth without making your hands or knees touch the ground. The only parts of your body that can be in contact with the floor are your two feet. Sounds simple right? You try it. Did you try it? Were you able to do it? If so then cut off an inch of the top of the cereal box and try it again and so on and so on. If you can’t do it you drink. Needless to say the ladies (being the more flexible) had a huge advantage over the men. Some men resorted to removing their pants so they could increase their flexibility. Yours truly just drank once his time came around. I was able to do it twice but then that was it. Think I need to pick back up Yoga.
Anyways by that time we had a nice buzz but it was midnight which means we have to turn down the noise in the Hostel. We were faced with two options; go to bed or take the party elsewhere. What do you think we did? The natural pumping choice! We left the Hostel 12 deep heading to a club called Kapitial. However, on the subway there and one stop short of our destination we met up with an Irish dude that one of the guys knew. This Irish dude told us about some Karaoke bar that was supposedly very cool. NOT. This joint was a hole in the wall with the lamest tunes on tap. The vibe was dead and people were talking about heading back when the idea to just walk the one subway stop to Kapital came up. Twas a good idea!
Entrance to Kapital was a cool 15 Euros but it came with a free premium drink of your choice. This club was very cool from the time you step inside. It’s 6 levels of partying with 3 totally different styles of music going on at any given time. The 1st level is Dance/House music and there’s a balcony overlooking this. The 3rd level contains a cool Jazz Lounge feel. The 4th Level is a Hip Hop/R&B/Sean Paul level. I say Sean Paul because that’s the only reggae artist I heard and you can forget about soca in this joint. The 5th and 6th levels are private rooms for parties and are ultra-exclusive. The whole vibe of the place was very professional and well thought out. From glass holders placed around the perimeter of the dance-floor to giving you a whole can/bottle of chaser they did not skimp on service here. There were girls dressed in mas costumes dancing the whole time on stage. Then something I had never seen anywhere before occurred. A red rope was suspended from the ceiling and the middle of the dance floor was cleared. A man, who can only be described as a scantily-dressed acrobat then proceeded to dance his way up the rope to the beat of the music. Even though it was a man it was impossible not to look at what he was doing. It was just a wicked piece of theatre put on right there to further excite the crowd.
We partied until around 5:30 then headed back to the Hostel via the subway. It was a really enjoyable experience and made me think of how much more our local clubs could do to wow the patrons at home. But that’s the topic of an entirely different discussion. Right now I’m too tired to think. Look out for my next post which will be about Bull fighting! Until then hasta luego!
Cheers!
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A dream comes through.
Day 2- Friday May 17, 2013 11:00 am to 1:00 am
Hola Scorchers and welcome to Day 2 of my trek through Spain! Friday was the recognition of a dreamfor me as I not only toured the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu but I also got to witness a match; and not just any match, a Copa Del Rey Final between city rivals Athletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
I arrived at the stadium around 11:00am and was struck with a sense of awe upon seeing the name right there in front of me. Nothing can prepare a true football fan for the feeling of seeing the home of his/her team for the very first time. Honestly, I stood wonderstruck for a full minute just looking at the Real Madrid emblem. After I pulled myself out of this stupor I proceeded to the ticket counter where I purchased my tour ticket for 19 Euros. It is a self-guided tour complete with a booklet which assists you
in getting around. This suited me just fine as I like to explore at my own pace.
The tour begins with a panoramic view of the stadium where you can just soak in the realization of where you are while looking down upon the hallowed turf from high. It brought me chills to think that this same ground had brought me so much highs (and lows) over the past 15 odd years of following my team.
The second leg is the “Best Club Ever Room”, fitting for the museum of the greatest club in the world over the past 100 years. You immerse yourself in the history of the club from the beginning (looking at the 1st club Constitution document) to the present time (the 2011/2012 La Liga triumph). There are a bunch of interactive touch screen panels to relive the memories and also the boots of and kits of greats who have represented the club.
From here you move to the Tribute Hall to Alfredo Di Stefano and Trophy Room. Perhaps only true Madridistas know who Di Stefano is and what he means to the club. He is the greatest player in our history (responsible for 5 consecutive Champions League Triumphs) and our Honorary President. This room was a living testament to all he has done for the club and it was an honor to be there. This room also housed the 9 Champions League Trophies that Real have won over the years and also pays tributeto ALL the players that have contributed to the success of the club.
After this you get to visit the pitch and sit in the dugout. This is a great place for photo ops and being able to step onto the hallowed turf was quite a treat. Next you get to go to the President’s Box, where all the visiting dignitaries and VIPs sit when there come to matches, and the Players’ changing rooms. These two areas give you a feel for the preparation that needs to go into putting on the show that is a football match.
The last stop on the tour is the Press Room, where the coach talks to the media after home matches.From here you are ushered into the Real Madrid Store where are tempted to go crazy and purchase memorabilia to take back with you.
All in all this was a great experience and after 4 hours of history I was hyped for the game and couldn’t wait to get my hands on my ticket. As you approach the booth you are hustled by shady looking dudes trying to hack their tickets to you. After declining their advances I got to the counter and the process was simple. Your name is printed on the ticket and assigned to a particular seat. This adds a level of security to the match as any trouble makers can easily be identified (and banned) by using video footage
after the game. The ticket price was that of a high-end all-inclusive carnival event but for a once in alife time experience it was definitely worth it. I left the stadium at around three and headed back to the Hostel to ready myself for the night’s pump.
After a quick nap and shower, I dressed and headed back to the stadium via the subway. The atmosphere was tense. Fans of both teams were aboard the subway and there was a strong police presence to guard against any fights. There were some chants and back talk but nothing too serious occurred.
I got to the stadium at around 8:00pm for the 9:30pm start so as to soak in the sights and sounds of the pre-match rituals. The atmosphere though a little tense, was very festive as fans from both sides mingled and gathered into noisy groups. The nosiest of these groups are called “The Ultras”. They are a sort of cheerleading brigade who lives for their team. They organize all the chants and some of them barely see a kick of the ball because their backs are turned to the action on the field the whole time
as they try to whip the crowd into frenzy on their loudspeakers. They usually sit behind the goal and intimidate opposing defenses and offences on either side of the half. Some of them are violent but there
hasn’t been much trouble with the Ultras in Spain for a while. Every team has their Ultras in Spain so it’s not just a ‘Madrid thing’.
Upon entering the stadium, one thing that struck me was that the Athletico Madrid fans were WAY louder than those of Real. This may be because the bulk of their fan base comes from the working class and are more into their team than the middle and upper class supporters of Real. Real also has a
strong foreign contingent of fans who may not be familiar with all the chants etc. Whatever the reason it seemed like their stadium and they had the place rocking when they equalized to Madrid’s early goal.
The game was extremely close and tense and Athletico nicked it in the end by scoring a winner in extra time. Although it was disappointing I can’t say that I was saddened to see Athletico lift the trophy as I thought that they deserved it on the balance of play. That, coupled with the fact that I had just witnessed a Madrid Derby was enough to dull the blow of losing out on the Copa. Needless to say I had to hang my head on the way back to the Hostel as Athletico fans were quick to jeer once they saw my Real Madrid hat, gloves, jersey and scarf. I couldn’t bring myself to go out after the defeat so I called it a night after getting back at 1:00am.
So Day 2 is over and what a day it was! I definitely got my money’s worth and I dare say even my plane
ticket too. What does Day 3 hold? You’ll just have to wait and see for now. Hasta luego Scorchers!
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3 Bars, 1 Club & a guy named Greg.
Day 1- Thursday May 16, 2013 9:30 pm to 5:00 am
Well I didn’t get much sleep before starting off last night due to some student demonstrations over austerity cuts by the Spanish Government. They demonstrated literally outside my window so I gave up on sleep and went down to the common hall of the Hostel.
Already in motion was a group session called “Drinking Games”. The premise is simple. A deck of cards is shuffled and placed centre of the table. Each number and face card is assigned to a particular consequence for either the person flipping or others at the table. The end result is you drink. Simple.
Sangria was the drink being consumed and let me tell you that stuff is tasty but strong! By the time we were ready to go on “Fiesta” some of the party dropped out. It was definitely an ice-breaker though as by the end of the game you either knew everyone’s name or their nationality.
“Fiesta” is a bar hop basically. You pay a fixed amount (in this case 12 euros) and you get free entry and shots at 4 pubs/clubs. Our hostel boasted a crew of 13 people that set off together with the tour guide. There were people from Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Scotland etc…It was like a United Nations pump! On our walk we met people from other Hostels who joined in our group so all in we were rolling 45 deep before we go to our first stop!
On our way we met a lot of interesting people of the night on Madrid’s busy streets. There were guys peddling beer and novelty items and women peddling flesh. There was a strip called Calle Del Sol which would make Murray Street seem like St Joseph’s Convent.
The 1st bar was a seedy hole that I didn’t really catch the name of. The vibe was dead so we mingled for about half an hour, got our shots and headed out.
The 2nd bar, Planet, was more of like a club and definitely had more vibes. The pump was still early but with 45 of us rolling in it got jiggy real quick. The shots were flowing and the DJ was on point with a good cross-genre selection. Imagine my surprise when the familiar chant of “We ready” came over the speakers. My pores were raised. The people seemed to Love it. No pull ups in the club but that remix got, probably, the best response I heard all night (and YES I am bias). I felt proud to hear one of my countrymen all the way in downtown Madrid mashing up a club!
The 3rd Bar, Commo, was also like a disco complete with ball and all. It was here that we started to lose crawlers who couldn’t keep up with the shots or couldn’t go on. As a friend of mine once put it “tequila is a
demon”. However mixed with Sangria, beer and other brews it became the Devil incarnate. Some of my fellow crawlers were dropping like flies and resorted to calling taxis and stumbling to subway stations to escape the brimstone of hell that was represented in those shots.
It was here at Commo, jam up in a cozy corner, making a young gyal feel d pressure, was my boy Greg. Now I never met Greg before but just an inflection in his voice made me ask him if he was Trini. We started a small talk about how you must meet a Trini anywhere you go and he agreed to pose for a picture for me.
By the time we left Commo, our Mongol Hoard of 45 had dwindled to what could only be described as “the dirty dozen”. We soldiered on to the next stop; the Oro Nightclub. We arrived at around 3:30 to the customary free shots. The music was so-so but to get it popping we started a dance-off which I killed with my best “Willie-Bounce” and “Air Force One”. By 5 everyone was more or less beat so we decided to call it a morning.
The walk back was quiet and sobering in the chill air and the streets were empty of all “mujeres de noche”.
All in all it was a fun experience and a great way to bond with your hostel mates in a short time. I’ll wait to see if Barcelona’s night life is as much fun as in Madrid’s!
Hasta luego guys until my next installment!
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Touchdown!
Day 1- Thursday May 16, 2013 5:30pm
Ok so after 2 planes, 12 Hours of flying and 15 hours in transit I touched down in Madrid, the capital city of Spain, at 1:30pm local time (7:30am Trini time). American Airlines took me through Miami and my connecting flight was with Iberia Air.
Immigration was a breeze as there were no forms to fill out or long stories to give. By the time you get your Schengen Visa they know everything they need to know about you. One thing you immediately notice is that almost everyone speaks English and there most of the signs are in English so don’t feel intimidated by the fact that you’re going to a country whose first language is not your own. The saying about having “ah English tongue in yuh mouth” is still very relevant here.
When I travel, or better yet wander, I love to use public transport. I could give you guys some spiel about it being the place to meet people and see them in their element but brass tax is it’s a lot cheaper.
A Taxi from the airport to the city center would have cost me roughly 25 Euros. I got to the same spot for 4.70 Euros. I did get lost on the subway though but you know how that goes; just get back on the train headed the opposite direction and start over.
It took me about an hour to get into the city center where my Hostel was located. YES I said HOSTEL not HOTEL! Hostels are an affordable way to see major European cities without having to fork out the obscene charges of big name hotels. If you have personal space issues then they may not be your cup of tea. But if you’re an original pumping machine like the guys at SCORCH who just need a place to shower and lay their heads then they are your way to go.
My first impression was how laid back the vibe is here as opposed to a traditional hotel. You get what you pay for; a comfortable bed and an open space experience which is just part of the Euro-trek experience. Forget about the movie Hostel! These places are nothing like that. They are clean, fun and nobody is in the basement chopping up white girls.
While writing this post I am sitting on my bed which is a few feet away from another bunk with an Eastern European chick that seems to be sleeping off the effects of a wild night into morning and getting some rest to go again tonight.
This city exudes PUMP! From the bars at literally every corner (Madrid boasts the highest density per square meter in Europe) to the very stylish dress-code of the Madrilenos you get a sense that a party is just a few beers or sangrias away.
Anyway more on that later as I go to experience what a night out on the town is like in Madrid. The Hostel has lined up something called “Drinking Games” (with free Sangria) at 9:00pm followed by a “Fiesta!” at 10:30pm, which is a 3 bar tour followed by a visit to a local night club. Talk about pace! Wish me luck SCORCHERS and hope that I don’t let “The Original Pumping Machine” down! Full scores (with pics) on that tomorrow (if I don’t end up like miss Eastern European over there). Salud!
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Introduction
“Not everyone that wanders is lost.” This quote struck me by its simplicity in explaining my philosophy in life. I am a wanderer. I Love to travel and experience new things in as down to street level a fashion as possible. A backpacker of sorts. Yet I am happily married with a beautiful daughter and hold a very senior job at a multinational company. So I am definitely not lost!
My current wandering has brought me to one of the most beautiful countries in the world all by myself with 2 carry-on pieces of luggage, some cash and credit cards and a burning desire to experience a culture that has fascinated me ever since I first fell in love with Real Madrid. Yes. Right now I am in Spain. Alone. Wandering. I have decided to share my journey with all SCORCHers out there that are wanderers at heart. Those who feel weird or scared, because they want to go to some foreign country that speaks a different language all by themselves or those who feel that it can’t be done, because they wouldn’t know where to begin.
Hopefully I can dispel some myths about travel along the way and get people involved in exploring the further reaches of this increasingly shrinking world of ours. I’m not knocking travel to any particular country or for any particular events but we as Trinidadians have certain fears and hang-ups about spreading our wings and meeting people where they live in this global village of ours.
So join me over the next two weeks as I give you daily updates of what I do and how I do it (cheaply and safely). It’ll be informative, insightful and most of all, I mean come on this is SCORCH, an epic PUMP!
