Madrid with Ale

We are so glad we stayed in the Xauen Hotel here in Jaen.  Such a great location and so close to parking that we were able to easily wheel our stuff to the garage.  

We got to Madrid around 1pm or so.  Got our hotel and then cleaned out the car and drove it to the Atocha Train Station to return it.  We tried to find something small for lunch at the train station, but nothing appealed to us so we just got on a metro back to the hotel.  We walked around a little around our hotel and found some nice fruit stores, some bakeries, quite a few restaurants and a decent grocery store.  We bought some chips and fruit and snacked on that as our lunch.  We didn't want to eat too much since we knew we'd be meeting Ale for dinner.

Since we agreed to meet Ale in the Sol Plaza at 6, we went back out at 5:20 to get on the metro.  We got to the metro station at Sol and were FLOORED at how packed it was.  Tons of people trying to enter and exit the station.  We finally managed to make our way out of the metro station and then things went from bad to worse.  It was raining outside the station and there seemed to be TWICE the number of people out there.  Almost all of them with umbrellas.  What a challenge that was trying to maneuver through the sea of people, each one of us trying to avoid hitting the other with their umbrellas.  We finally managed to get to our meeting spot, which is a cafe called La Mallorquina but both the inside AND the outside of that place was wall to wall people.  We had NO idea how we would ever find Ale in all that mess.  I tried to go inside the cafe but it was impossible.  So, we stood outside in the rain, trying to move a little in any direction with our umbrellas raised and our necks craned - hoping against hope that we would recognize Ale.  It was just impossible.  So, I ended up calling her and letting her know more or less our exact position but with all the people and all the noise, I had no idea if she could even hear me, because I sure couldn't hear her well at all.  Finally, success!  Guillermo saw someone looking around that looked vaguely like the person he had seen on Facebook and sure enough, it was her.

Yay, so we finally meet and we followed her to a little Spanish restaurant in the Sol area.  It was a nice little place and we sat and had Sangrias, beers and olives before ordering Fried Squid, Padron Peppers, and a Paella type dish.  

So, Ale is an Yznaga, from Venezuela.  Sbe moved to Madrid 10 years ago.  We have no idea how her family line fits into the picture but it was fun meeting her and getting to know her.  She seemed genuinely excited to finally meet another Yznaga who wasn't from Venezuela.

After dinner, we walked a little along the streets of Madrid to a cafe that seemed to be called the Gran Cafe.  Anyway, it was a very special place and we enjoyed coffee and tea there before walking to the metro station.  Madrid is just beautiful at night.  It was 11pm, and the city was as lively as ever, the Christmas lights were beautiful along the streets and it was just simply a pleasure to be there.