May 21, 2011

This morning we decided to take the double decker tourist bus around the city with multiple stops allowing you to get on and off all day long.  We finished the first line in about an hour without getting off the bus.  Again, we had spectacular weather.  It was cool and sunny on the bus. We took the second line to the Bernabeu Stadium, home of the Real Madrid Soccer Club.  This club has incredible economic resources and has been the object of marketing cases in the Harvard Business School.  There was a game scheduled for the evening, but the self-guided tours were available for about $25.00 (dlls) each.  Of course, we had to do it for Mario because his favorite player and idol, Cristian Ronaldo (#7) plays for Real Madrid.  After spending close to 2 hours walking through the stadium, going through the museum, the trophy room and even sitting in the players' spots on the sidelines, you clearly understand why this is a case for Harvard.  The marketing is masterful and of course, we picked up a few goodies for Mario.

We got back on the bus and finished up the second line and then got "lunch" about 5.  We shared a paella and then walked back to our hotel.  We rested for about 40 minutes before our friend Pepe came back to get us for the evening.  Our schedules are entirely screwed up due to the night life here which we could not do forever.  I don't get how the people are out and about night after night until 2 or 3 in the morning and then go to work.

Pepe took us to one of his favorite bars where we had a beer and a light snack and then we took a taxi to his friend Menchu's house.  (Her name is Carmen, but she is called "Menchu.")  She had prepared a beautiful spread of typical Spanish fare and lots (LOTS) of wine.  There were friends of Pepe and Menchu there and in all, there were about 8 of us.  We had "dinner" around 11:00 on her rooftop terrace which overlooks the cathedral lit up at night.  It was so wonderful to be in that environment and we are very grateful to Pepe and Menchu for including us.

Tomorrow, we will visit the Queen Sophia museum and the Prado.  I don't think we will see the same people we saw at the stadium museum. Just one more day in paradise and then back to our real lives.