Espagnol es bueno

We made it to Madrid together! The weather is really sunny and it is warm, very warm. We went for a walk last night and happened upon two brass bands with a religious ceremony in between. The street was thick with smoke from incense and the old ladies marched, dressed in black, with long black mantillas. Lucky, eh? We had an ice cream and watched the procession. After wandering around for a couple of hours, we headed back to a bar near our hotel to have tapas, but don't believe the hype about Madrid staying open all night, because it was only 9.30 and the bar was closed for food. We had to resort to the Chinese restaurant across the square.
Our cd on learning Spanish in one week has come in handy, because we can already say hello and thank you. But do you think we could get the taxi driver to understand the address of our hotel? Apparently Pizarro is unrecognisable unless you say "pitharo" and it was fun ordering some water because it is awa, not aqua.
Anyway, today we joined a group for a guided walk of the city and then went to the Prado art gallery just for some more walking. Then we walked back to our hotel to do a quick change to join another group for a tapas tour. It was really fun and we met some interesting people - a young couple completing their PhDs in Switzerland, a computer scientist from Bologna uni and a librarian from London. It was nice to have some conversation with people other than Ray. It is now 10.30 and we have just got back, so we have completed another 12 hour walking day. Just can't wait for the bike ride! If we can find the bus station, we will arrive in Astorga tomorrow for the start. The wind is not looking good for later in the week.........
Brenda and the slave