Voluntarily self-exiled and living year-round on our peaceful tropical paradise island most contentedly – thank you very much – Jeff and I nonetheless imagine we know what´s going-on in the “real” world.
With so much fast-breaking news arriving 24/7 via the Internet and satellite TV we´re probably better informed today than all the kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and dictators causing mayhem for lack of information in the pre-Beatles era.
Furthermore, during Jeff´s hectic career days we moved-to and lived-in enough different countries to believe we can still judge the tempo and moods of big cities even though we haven´t seen one in ages.
That was before we came and scratched the surface of Spain´s impressive capital city. From where I write today on my laptop at an outdoor cafe on the Plaza Major (English Translation: Extremely Large and Very Imposing Main Square).
This is my first visit to Madrid and although Jeff came here a few times to put out corporate fires he admits he has almost no recollection of the place. As he often reminds me, “You take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, meet in a windowless conference room and thinking you´ve doused the flames return by taxi to the airport.”
And I say “scratched the surface” because it would be incredibly presumptuous of me after these few short days to say I´m beginning to understand Madrid. So I won´t. But we have seen enough to declare it the most dynamic city we´ve ever come across. And beautiful to look-at in the bargain.
That Madrid is a major tourist attraction is obvious when you see the thousands of visitors buzzing around admiring parks, palaces, squares, churches and museums. Using a bus and subway system that is so spectacularly reliable, efficient and clean.
But that is not why we´re loving Madrid. I´ve never seen a city with so many restaurants and wherever we´ve eaten the food has been inexpensive, varied and positively delicious. And you don´t need to speak Spanish – which we don´t – to get impeccable service.
What has all this got to do with our regular subject readers are probably asking? Well this is the first column we´ve ever written where we won´t be dwelling on frisky sexagenariansim. Because in Madrid sightseeing takes up the day, dinnertime starts only at midnight and nightlife – including flamenco – goes on until the sun rises.
So this week – no time or space for friskiness. But don´t worry, it will most surely return. Stay tuned.
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You might also enjoy our short “Sexy after Sixty Day” video. But pump up the volume.
