Before meeting Carmen, we had a quick coffee and croissant across the street from the hostel, then trekked up past the Palacio Real and Plaza de España to a nearby park where El Templo de Debod stands. It is a full Egyptian temple that was shipped to Madrid and reassembled here as a gift from the government of Egypt to the people of Spain. And it is quite impressive.
Being a Sunday morning, the flea market of El Rastro was in full swing, and we met up with Carmen at around 12 in Lavapiés, wandered around the market and soaked in the atmosphere. Among the street performers was a Gallego gaita player, and while we stood and listened to him play, we witnessed the guardía civil shutting down business for some bootleg CD vendors, literally moments after Charlie had bought a couple of CDs from them.
Afterwards, we took a leisurely walk over to Parque del Retiro, stopping for some empanadas de atún along the way. In the park, we sat and had a coffee while we looked over Carmen’s photos from Bolivia, then made plans to meet up in Alcalá later that evening.
Lunch at Vips and a siesta at the hostel later, we hopped the night bus out to Alcalá, and, after touring the casco histórico a bit on foot, we met up with Carmen and her friend Quique in Whelan’s pub, my old regular in the Plaza de los Irlandeses. Then we went de caña at a few places along calle mayor, before having an early night back in Madrid.
|  | 
|
