DATE
2019.04.13

START
Madrid
Avenida de Oporto, 33, 3a

END
Madrid
Calle el Escorial 26, 1a interior derecha

DISTANCE
~ 25 miles

TRAVELED BY
Foot • Metro

HIGHLIGHTS

• Made coffee this morning (and put a spoonful of chocolate ice cream in it!).

• Watched another episode of Our Strange Rock with Taylor. It was a lot cheesier (somehow) than the rest I’ve seen so far.

• Shaved and showered.

• Went to Matadero Park (a former slaughterhouse that has been converted into a recreational center with bars, art galleries, movie theatres, etc.) for a picnic, some casual strolling/lounging, Polaroid picture posing, tin foil ball tossing, helado, and some fun conversation about language.

• You looked so insanely beautiful in the picture you sent of your perdy hair. It’s now my picture for your contact in my phone.

• Talked to you on the phone again this evening and got to hear about how your day up to that point had been. I’m really excited to hear more about Porchfest and your Peace Corps party!

• Had another fairly intense (but fun!) conversation with Taylor and Paula about language which lead to discussing trans/identity issues (unexpected but still engaging and therefore enjoyable; it was also an enjoyable challenge to have these conversations with a non-native English speaker).

• Met up with Steph and ate a Pad Thai-esque meal (she had to wing it based on ingredients available) that was delicious.

• Came up with a beat on the metro over to Steph’s that I think will be pretty cool.

• Also on the metro to her place, I listened to a new album from a drummer/composer I really like named Mark Guiliana. (Embedded below)

• Walked around the neighborhood (Malasaña) with Roco, who is cute but such a loud and obnoxious piece of crud more often than not (sorry Steph!). Got a free glass of wine at a terrace bar she frequents. All the staff knew and loved Roco and kept giving him potato chips.

CHALLENGES

• Roco is fairly annoying after a certain amount of (loud!) barking and attention-whoring. Especially when we were giving him sooooo much attention.

• Taylor has been overly quick to apologize for things that make him feel like he’s being a bad host, so that’s been a compounding challenge over the last few days.

SOME THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW

• Another fairly low-key day with a trip to another park.

• Ironing out more details for my northern departure, likely on Monday morning.