Spain Day 3

As I said, the "team" left early. I stayed and slept in. Actually, there were a few last things to do for me before leaving Madrid.

Top of my list: tour the Palazio Real Madrid (Royal Palace). Apparently it's just a business palace for when the royal family needs to be in Madrid. Some day I need to hit the point where I entertain at my business palace but say things like "This is quaint, but my real palace is a place to behold." Actually, that would sound really douchey, scratch that.

Anyway, the palace was really incredible. The Throne Room is unreal, with plush chairs on a raised platform flanked by a procession of bronze lions on each side. Those led into King Carlos III's 3 chambers. The official story is one was a changing room, another a sitting room, and then a hosting room. My interpretation: Wife room, Mistress room, Girlfriend room. Some of the other areas included a porcelain room which was lined with custom statues from floor to ceiling, a billiard room, and a dining hall that was bigger than ever place I've lived in for the last 10 years. Proving, as always, it's good to be the King.

I also took time to go to the cathedral next to the palace. I've been in Europe for 2 days and hadn't hit a church yet - sacrilege! Seriously though, churches in Europe are amazing. As Greg said last trip "Huh, I'm starting to get why this Jesus guy is such a big deal." There were amazing, intricate bronze and stone statues. I'm also always amazed by the size of these ancient buildings, made entirely of stone. You can't do it in California because of the earthquakes, so I'm always impressed when I see it.

I grabbed lunch at the Museo de Jamon - a total local spot. The name is ironic, as it's not a museum, but it is a place that has figured out every conceivable way to make ham. And of course it's all delicious. I left myself just enough time to grab my bag and hop the late train to San Sebastian. Train travel still remains my favorite, esp in Europe. No bag check, minimal security delay, lots of leg room - even in coach.

Anyway, I arrived in San Sebastian and here's where things get a little dicey. The group had been unable to get me the info on where they were staying before I left Madrid, but San Sebastian is a fairly small town, so I have to think I can find a WIFI connection and find them when I get in, right? Wrong! I would find out later that everything "figured" I had to go a specific way out of the train station to reach them. There were actually 3 ways I could go, and I of course picked one they weren't hanging out along. I spend the next hour wandering San Sebastian, trying to find a WIFI connection so I can get online and see if they sent me any info. By luck, I find something and figure out where they're staying. The streets are poorly marked, but I had been around the area, so I give it one last shot. As I was circling around, nearly ready to just call it off and find any open hotel, I walk past a cafe and hear "KEITH!" Turns out the group had given up finding me and returned back to their area. Mindy happened to be facing the door and noticed me exactly as I walked by. Random discovery FTW!!!

Now that we're all back together - and every one is finally happy - it's time to party!!! We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a tapas bar and headed a bar/club right along the street we were staying. It was a narrow, but long place with the bar running nearly the entire length of the place and a decent dancing area in the back. It's also 2-for-1 Sangrias and Becks. Score! Every time I surveyed the group, at least two of us were double fisting some combination of beers and sangria. Awesome.

We met some girls from France who couldn't speak English or Spanish (and of course we couldn't speak French), but at least everyone speaks drinking and dancing. One of the girls was a cute raven-haired girl that was definitely a little crazy. Her friend was...well...fat. I can't even sugar-coat it. She was huge. But for the most part the cute friend and I were away from her, so things never got awkward. The french girl figured out our group and eventually focused from me to Eric. At this point, I don't care. We're finally having fun as a group so I say game-on for whoever can get it. Eric, being a good friend, at first stays away from the girl, but I can tell I've lost this and pull him aside to tell him, "Bro, she wants you, go ahead." That's what I said. My skank-o-meter was starting to beep though, so I think I meant "This girl is kinda freaky and I think she'd let us tag-team her but there's no way that's going happen. Go get her and make sure you do it in a sterile environment." Stay classy San Diego.

Anyway, we were pretty hammered at this point and it was getting to be too much drama, so we eventually just slipped to another part of the bar. Eric met a smoking-hot Australian blond who is upset her friends ditched her to go sleep with some other dudes. Eric flashes his Midwestern boy smile and she melts instantly. Unfortunately, Eric decides he is too drunk to really hit on her. WHAT?!?! Damnit Eric. Epic fail.

The bar finally closes down (I have lost all sense of time by this point, but I'm guessing it was 3am) and we start to head home. We're about halfway home when I hear a girl calling from up the street. I turn and see Frenchie and fatty bearing down on us. Que? We end up at the corner of our street and I'm trying to make sense of the fat chick's broken English. Eventually I figure out she's trying to communicate that Frenchie REALLY wants to hook up with Eric. Finally shes able to ask, "Is your friend very shy or something?" I have a sense that Eric is standing behind me and I turn to shoot him a look, except he has wandered up the street a little bit. Actually, he's stopped about 20 feet away and positioned himself over a drain in the middle of the street - his back to us. Then I realize he's taking a piss. In the middle of a San Sebastian street at 3am. Hahahaha. I turn back to the girls and say "Yeah, he kind of is." Eric stumbles back over to us and I tell Frenchie she should talk to him. Or I may have said "Grab him, throw him against a wall and make out with him." Whether or not I said it, that's what happened. Fatty had a Black guy in tow with her, so looked like everyone was setup. My work here is done. Joel is holding the door to the place open waiting, so I throw him a thumbs up and we head inside to pass out.

Except Mindy did not give me keys to the room. So I can get in the building and into our wing, but not my bedroom. Mindy is O-U-T, OUT. no amount of banging can get her up. I do manage to wake the neighbors though. Oops. I throw him a "Sorry" and was about to just give in and sleep on Joel's hardwood floors. Someone says "Maybe we can jimmy the lock." At this point, why not. I pull out my wallet and pick my Blockbuster card to use. It's laminated, flexible, and I haven't used it in 5 years, so it should be perfect. I'm messing with the lock - Anisha in my ear saying there's no way this will work - and after a few clever hand maneuvers - POP! The door springs open. Ingenuity FTW! I throw Joel and Anisha a "Goodnight" wave and pass out.

Epilouge:
Eric it turns out came in about 30 mins after me. He recounted a pretty funny story about how the fat chick took the Black guy home and Frenchie, who was basically giving Eric a Wall Job, kept trying to get Eric to head upstairs to our room. Eric was having none of it b/c he decided this girl was just too skanky. He eventually broke free and ditched her. The next morning he said he was pretty sure the Black guy got to ride a train that night. I agreed, and we laughed. The trip is finally cooking :-D.