One of the first things I did today was to purchase La Guia Del Ocio, Madrid's leisure guide. For me that's the Bible for what´s happening culturally and entertainment-wise around the city, and it only costs a euro.
I blogged for several hours to catch up on my writing. Although the urge strikes to experience more of Madrid, first things first; then I play tonight. I walked all the way to Sol from the hotel because the hotel indicated there were no internet cafes in our area. After several hours´work, I thought about attending a major opening at Circulo de Bellas Artes called La Transicion a la Democracia 1975-82 instead of meeting the group for dinner, but it was the last night for seven of our students and the entire Alaskan group who had been with us during the tour, and I wanted to say goodbye.
From the restaruant, Sandra, Shanelle, Valerie, Steve, and I went to Chueca, the gay/lesbian district. Chueca is full of hip, trendy bars, cafes and restaurants. Throughout its streets we saw rainbow flags hanging from overhead wires. Tomorrow the EuroPride celebration kicks off. It promises to be much larger than any Gay Pride celebration back in the States. This year, the European Union designated Madrid as the center for this celebration. Gays/lesbians from all over Europe and other parts of the world will converge here, as many as 2,000,000 and will reach its climax on Saturday, the 30th the day of the huge Gay Pride Parade.
Hundreds of people were already in the streets, even though the official celebration does not start until tomorrow. After walking around for awhile, we popped into Cafe Madrid for a drink. Later on Valerie needed to use the internet to blog (what dedication!) so Steve, Sandra, Shanelle and I went to a bar a couple of doors down for some vino tinto. It had a nice modern flair, a sleek, white formica bar with red stools. We spoke to a young, congenial bartender who took our order as he explained the pecking order of red wines in Spain. Some of the best come from El Ribero del Duero near Burgos. Some time passed and when Valerie was ready, we headed for El Junco, a jazz club on La Plaza de Santa Barbara. We had passed it when we got off the metro and almost missed the non-descript place, a virtual black hole in the wall with a small sign. Mariela and Victoria would also be joining us here at 11:30 and we wanted to be punctual.
I had heard many positive comments about this club. During my first two stints in Madrid, but I never went for lack of time, and so I was determined to make it over there. We walked into a dimly lit room and sat at the bar. The musicians were setting up for tonight's jam session; the bar was pretty empty. We ordered some drinks and waited for the show to begin, supposedly at 11:30, but of course in Spain shows never start on time. So what? La noche está en pañales! The night is still young! About a 30 minutes elapsed and another musician entered. He approached Shanelle and gave her a peck on the cheek. For a second, I thought they knew each other, but evidently he found her attractive. I think he wanted to make sure she stayed, so he told her they´d be starting the set within a few minutes. More time passed; finally people began coming in and the muscians began to play. I found it amazing that most of the audience was young-- people in their 20's and 30's, unlike San Antonio. The place was packed soon after with the audience really getting into the music as they applauded every solo improvisation. The music was fabulous. There´s a wonderful energy about this club even though the night doesn´t get rolling there until much later. I´m definitely spending my last night in Madrid at El Junco.
Later on in the evening, yet another musician, the sax player, approached Shanelle. His name is Dayne; he´s from Cuba and he´s cute. Unlike most musicians, he doesn't smoke or drink. They seemed to have clicked because he asked her out for tomorrow. She is adorable.
About 2 am we decided to head back to the hotel. Steve had already left because the smoke was bothering him. All in all it was a fabulous evening!
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