Kiwi flies again...: Hello Madrid...

When I was little, one of my many favourite stories was Ferdinand the Bull. That doesn't especially relate to anything except that Ferdinand was clearly a Spanish bull because he was supposed to fight - but he preferred to smell the flowers. I have heard nothing about bullfighting since being in Spain. Good thing too. I'm sure it still occurs but it clearly doesn't have the high profile it once had.

I'm skirting around having to write about Madrid because I simply don't know how or where to start. The task seems massive. I'll start with something small and easy and chuckle-worthy. Back in New Zealand I booked four nights' accommodation at Colegio mayor Jaime del Amo in Madrid. It is a residential hostel for male university students but when the students are on vacation anyone can stay there. So I caught the Metro from the train station, with one change, and found my way to the Colegio. The lady on reception didn't speak English but she engaged a really nice young man to translate. I've got an end-of-the-corridor room which looks out on trees and a swimming pool for the students. What I hadn't anticipated was that most of the students seem to be in residence. I'm clearly a source of some amusement as I walk through an indoor recreation area to get to the dorms. And I was definitely the only female at breakfast! Speaking of which, it's a pretty miserable breakfast for growing lads. Small serving of cereal, white bread to toast, fruit juice, coffee/tea - that's about it. I don't mind but I would have thought the young chaps could have done with something a bit healthier and more sustaining.

Here are some small photos from my time so far in Madrid - small as opposed to big, grand, massive, which seems to be the scale for Madrid. Because it's difficult to convey massive in photos I often prefer to focus on the less obvious - the things that catch my fancy.