2. Happy birthday in Madrid

Day three in Madrid was also my (Fiona's) birthday. One nice gift was that the ancient Egyptian temple (shifted to Spain when the Aswan Dam was built) was relocated helpfully close to our hostel. We ticked off a further set of experiences consistent with being a tourist in Madrid:

• take photos at Plaza de Espana √ 
• sprint across the baking hot Plaza de Mayor to the nearest shade √
• sample the food at San Miguel market √
• wonder why lions are pulling the chariot at Cibeles Fountain √ 
• get pick-pocketed on the crowded Metro √

Yeah, someone extracted my money purse from inside my bag without me (or Kim beside me) being aware of it – until I noted the open zip after the event. We had been aware of the danger of pickpockets and had positioned credit cards and smart phones more inaccessibly, so only 30 euros cash was acquired by the person who thought they needed it more than me. Given the possibilities, it was a positive outcome.

Temple of Debod, from 2nd century BC, relocated to Madrid from the Nile, south of Aswan, Egypt in 1968

The lions were to convey that the power of nature was under
the control of Cybele, the Greek goddess of fertility

Madrid has some lovely buildings but not the consistent proliferation of elegant, graceful architecture that Paris acquired through the strict (but far-sighted) 1853 building code imposed by Paris authorities.

We were mentally prepared for dining late in Spain, a serious consideration given my love of early nights. Despite heading out after 8.30pm to find food, we struggled to have a positive Spanish cuisine experience. On day three, we were determined to have a nice Spanish birthday dinner and headed out around 9pm. Despite prior scoping of options, 10pm found us still wandering, now down on the Gran Via, trying to avoid the tapas bar equivalents of Burger King. We did finally eat but finding good dining in the evening continued to be an unsolved mystery in our area of Madrid.

Impressions of things Spanish:

• cheap, efficient public transport in Madrid 
• wine and beer typically cheaper than Coke, but we didn't see any obvious public drunkenness in Madrid 
• green-orientation: sets of recycle bins everywhere; numerous stands of public bicycles throughout the city – pop your coins in the slot and relocate cycle to the cycle stand nearest your destination; cycle lanes; cycle lights; electric scooters silently zooming around
• a lot of negative graffiti everywhere except at key tourist sites; no particular sign of the disaffected or marginalised persons utilising this expression 
• the Spanish don’t look that Spanish – way more blonde and fair-skinned locals with the lingo than I expected. Kim looks more Spanish – and clearly the locals think so as everyone speaks to him in Spanish 
• and the lingo – Spanish sounds so cool. Why did we not learn Spanish earlier in our lives we wonder.