DATE
2019.04.14

START
Madrid
Calle el Escorial 26, 1a interior derecha

END
Madrid
Calle el Escorial 26, 1a interior derecha

DISTANCE
~ 25 miles

TRAVELED BY
Foot • Metro

HIGHLIGHTS

Stovetop coffee and wafer cookies at Steph’s.
Brief but sweet pre-yoga chat with you
Met up with a few of Steph’s friends (3 out of 4 from Indianapolis) at Parque del Oeste. Pretty low traffic, nice shaded areas near a creek.
More park lounging while they all talked about stuff that didn’t pertain to me at all (tv shows I’ve never seen mainly). I would like to do more grass lounging, in general.
Got more comfortable after dedicating some time to research lodging along the Camino. I even was able to multitask and do the research while at a terrace bar (with wifi) sharing a few pitchers of sangria with a few of of Steph’s friends.
After the terrace, we went to a bar called Vía Láctea (Milky Way), which I learned has a pretty cool history and played a prominent role as a hub in the post-Franco movement within Madrid.
Had some more engaging conversations about politics (sort of, more big picture political strategy), which was entertaining and energizing.

CHALLENGES

Roco is DEFINITELY annoying. Not a high enough cute-to-annoying ratio.
More concerned about the coming travels now than I was before, but I’m pretty calm about it. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. It always is. (Wrote this before the terrace research.)
After the terrace, one of Steph’s friends Christine started spewing nonsense and airing out some deeply repressed frustrations, but in a loud, obnoxious, and drunken way. It was uncomfortable and irritating, and is what prompted my reaching out to you later last night. I hope my appreciation and affection for you came through despite the circumstances of being frustrated and tired.
One of the other friends involved, Danielle, has been fairly frustrating as well, with lots of general complaining without any acceptance of solutions. She wouldn’t stop trying to pull me away from doing my trip research, despite the fact that I was still very much engaged in the conversation. (Even as I’m trying to finish writing this email this morning, she woke up and immediately came and sat down right next to me on the couch I slept on and wouldn’t stop talking to me despite my attention clearly being devoted to what I was already doing.)
Danielle and Christine both seem incredibly self-centered without much self-awareness, which is curious because Steph isn’t like that. It has been a real challenge.

SOME THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW

Getting out of Madrid, away from the city for a while, away from these dramatic people, away from the noise.
Seeing parts of the countryside of Spain I haven’t seen before on the bus ride north.
Talking to K8 (at the time of this email, that has already happened!).