Lessons, more lessons, and tea (Part 3)

February 12, 2012

OK...no more sangria. Have to try to get ready for bed. It's 11:30PM and I would love to get my body onto Madrid time. This will be the night....I hope.

So today started much like yesterday...I got ready and took the metro into town. I found new streets to walk, new buildings to see, more Starbucks to frequent.

Wandering the streets, and getting lost, was really the best part of the day. Lost in the city, lost in my imagination. Falling in love with life a little bit more.

The one thing I experienced today (and yesterday) is how different men are here. They still pursue women. They'll smile, flirt, and even will be forward. Things are so weird in the states. Somewhere along the line, men forgot to "show their feathers" and women forgot to appreciate the men for actually being men. The old art of mating, of flirting...is alive and well in the streets of Madrid. And I must admit, it was really nice to see. It makes me wonder what happened back home...are all the women really that crazy?? Are the men just inundated with sexual images that "real" women hold little appeal?? And will this trend continue?? I wonder. It was just really nice to see a city of men still being men.

In the last few days...in the midst of wandering these great cities...I remembered stories of young women who would say things to me like they would rather die than be 30 and unmarried without kids. Well...good thing I never thought like that. I would have made some choices that might have made other people, as well as me, unhappy. Finding the right person (not any person) is so important. Unless someone had the same sense of adventure...life would have been a series of many compromises that wouldn't have allowed either party to be all that they could have been independently.

There are so many topics for stories that I can find in this great city...

Somehow, after watching lots of people wearing really edgy unique fashions...I found myself back in Corte Ingles and in a moment of temporary insanity...found myself shopping...and shopping...and shopping. 2 long beautiful coats, a hoodie, star scarf, and black mini skirt later...I'm done. Please G*d, I'm done (yes, I found religion again).

So that was it. February 12, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. A beautiful day in a wondrous city. Tomorrow I head to Cartagena (a beach city filled with many architectural ruins) and to see my family.

The thing I've missed is Facebook, texting, and calling my friends. I miss the people back home. I miss my dog. I miss my parents. But...it's a good thing to take a bit of a break from my social media addiction and to actually spend some time doing other things.

So...in this hotel lobby I say goodnight.

Onto the next adventure....