Giddy like a schoolgirl

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Geo: 40.4167, -3.70327

Ben mistakenly woke me up at 6:00 AM. He thought I intended to be up at 6:00, but I wanted to wake up at 6:30. A guy needs his beauty rest to have any shot with the Spanish hotties!

We ate the leftovers for breakfast. I was completely stuffed - there was way too much food for dinner yesterday and way too much left for breakfast today. The Underground wasn't running yet so we needed to flag down a cab for Victoria station, where we would be taking the Gatwick Express to the airport for our Madrid flight.

I ate my yogurt on board. Did I really need to eat more food after such a massive breakfast? Not really! The conductor came around looking for tickets - I simply showed her a scrap piece of paper scrawled with my booking reference number. She merely looked at it, nodded, and walked away. I think I can pull a scam next time - that was a pretty half-@ssed way of checking tickets. I really didn't even need to buy a ticket online, to be honest.

The train was a little slow in transit to Gatwick. The check-in line was surprisingly quick. I chatted with an American student from Portland who was studying in Spain for a few months. He had been traveling around Europe a bit and was on his way back to Spain to catch a flight back to the States. He was a lucky guy as he had been studying in Salamanca. Salamanca is an amazingly vibrant city, famous for its university and crawling with beautiful Spanish women. Why couldn't I have done my engineering degree in Spain???

So off to Spain again - for the fourth time! But for the first time, this trip didn't involve any crazy plan to sweep a beautiful Spanish senorita from Toledo off of her feet. The same old crazy Canadian is still there, but times have changed - I really don't feel the same any more. But in all honesty, if I knew Isabel would be there or if she somehow contacted me, I would probably go back if I ever found myself in a situation that allowed me to. There once was something there for me - in the right situation, could it be there again? Who knows!

Upon arriving in London this time, I didn't feel all that excited to be there. But after walking around town the last few days, all the excitement returned. And I was incredibly excited to be returning to Spain again - I actually had goosebumps!

The nicest thing about flying to Spain is the beautiful Spanish flight attendants. As I boarded the plane, a flight attendant smiled at me and said "Hola". "Wow ..." I thought to myself. The I looked to her immediate right, where another flight attendant also said "Hola". "Wow ... " I thought to myself, "... she's even cuter than the first one. I could die a happy man right now ..."

She said something to me in Spanish, but being too busy drooling, all I could make out was her saying the number "24". Perhaps she was telling me that I was sitting in seat #24, but it's entirely possible that she was saying "Stop looking at me like that, you pervert! I am only 24!!!"

I took my seat. A third beautiful flight attendant walked down the aisle, counting the passengers. A fourth beautiful flight attendant walked by, double-checking the count. One of the first flight attendants I saw upon boarding did a third check. It all seemed rather redundant - but three beautiful Spanish women walking up and down the aisles in rapid succession? I wasn't complaining about this parade of prettiness!

All of the standard flight announcements were made in both Spanish and English. I could not understand a word of the English, but it still sounded divine. And this was probably the first time in 10 years that I actually paid attention to the flight safety demonstration. I found her presentation skills were mesmerizing ...

So - four flight attendants. Four beautiful Spanish flight attendants that covered almost the entire range of Spanish beauty. There was the petite, cute, shy, girl next door look (with glasses, too!) - my personal favourite. There was also the petite, demure, exotic look with smoldering eyes (a close second personal favourite) - she might not have been fully Spanish. Her name tag said "Malta" - could that have been her name, or just referring to her country of origin? Mental note: go check out Malta soon!

The third was a beautiful blonde, cover-girl model type with gorgeous blue eyes that were as deep as the ocean. The fourth - a tall (rare for Spain!), slender brunette that looked like she just stepped off of a runway in Milan or Paris. Three out of four were brunettes, and four out of four were all naturally beautiful. Air Comet - I will DEFINITELY fly your friendly skies again!

I ordered an OJ and was shortchanged 50 cents by the exotic brunette. I didn't argue. I only nodded, smiled, and drooled, like a man that had just walked out of a lobotomy operation. No complaints, only goosebumps. I tried speaking Spanish but she shut down my attempt by responding in English. As Ben would say, I was giddy like a schoolgirl! He recently used that phrase to describe how I am with Spanish women - I love it, because it so perfectly describes me!

Apparently no change was given at the time because they didn't have any. It was later returned by the cute girl-next-door brunette. She originally tried to give it to the couple sitting next to me. I knew it was meant for me, but couldn't form words for all of the drool in my mouth. Or perhaps it wasn't meant for me - maybe she felt pity for this poor lobotomized Chinese man.

The only bad part of the flight is that the four flight attendants spent most of the flight congregated together at the back of the plane, behind a curtain. This is dangerous - such a density of Spanish hotness could cause spontaneous combustion, and vaporize the plane! After the flight, Ben asked me if I spent the entire flight at the back of the plane. Of course not! The air marshal kept dragging me back to my seat for acting suspiciously!

We arrived in Madrid - no hotties so far. Off to the hotel - not bad but sadly, no cute receptionist worked here. I gave B&H some sightseeing suggestions, and I was off to do my own thing. We were to meet up later for dinner at "La Finca de Susana", a kick@ss restaurant (a rarity in Spain) that I went to last summer (see Euro 2007 blog entitled "A feast for the stomach AND for the eyes"😉.

Off to check out Madrid's women ... uh ... I mean ... sights ... Off to the Malasana and Chuecas neighborhoods, areas of Madrid I haven't checked out before. They are supposed to be funky and have an alternative feel to them, but as it was during siesta time, I didn't really notice. I used a phone office to try and book a few accommodations. They gave me a receipt that said 70 Euros!!! It turns out that it was only 0.70 Euros!

I walked along Calle Fuencarral - it was the magic hour of walking in Spain, where seemingly the entire country is out and about strolling through the streets. It was packed with people, a veritable tidal wave of Spanish hotties. Again, I was giddy like a schoolgirl (this happens to me a lot in Spain!).

Have you ever seen that Axe body spray commercial, the one where a guy is standing on a beach, spraying himself with it? Thousands of women are stampeding towards him - that's exactly what it was like at that moment in Madrid! But unfortunately, they all walked past me without sampling this Chinese dish! Ahh ... Spain ... good times, good times ...

It was time to meet for at Plaza Santa Ana for gelato and dinner. I was really looking forward to "La Finca de Susana" because it was one of the very few truly excellent restaurants I have ever tried in Spain. 8 PM - B&H were nowhere to be found. I decided to go get some gelato from what is considered to be the best in all of Madrid (and having sampled it last summer, I can't dispute that). But - nooooooooooooooo!!!!!! It was closed!!!!!! Why? WHY? WHYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Back to Plaza Santa Ana - 8:30, and still no sign of B&H. By this time, I was getting restless - there was a crafts market going on, but that could only occupy me for so long. I waited over an hour, but they still weren't there. Luckily, all the Spanish hotties walking around helped me pass the time.

I wondered if B&H were still on London time? I remembered Ha asking me for the time and adjusting her watch earlier, so that was unlikely. I was getting worried. I called the hotel to see if they had left me a message - the guy thought I was looking for Mr. Wong, so he knocked on my door and told me that no one was there. My Spanish must REALLY suck now! I finally explained to him that I WAS Mr. Wong, and that I was checking for messages. Nothing.

So I decided to just grab a kebab and head back to the hotel. Yummy - it's been a while since I've had a kebab! It always brings back good memories of Europe. I strolled through the Puerta del Sol area on the way back to the hotel - it was PACKED! I would've liked to have stuck around and enjoyed the atmosphere, but I was anxious to get back to the hotel and see if they were alright.

I ended up getting completely turned around, and ended up lost near the Royal Palace. I finally made my way over to Plaza Espana, which was just a straight shot away from the hotel. Along Gran Via, I stopped to get a bottle of water. There was a creepy Asian girl milling about - I think she was the daughter of the owner of the shop. She kept staring and staring at me ... now I know how the women of Spain feel when a creepy Asian guy keeps staring and staring at them!

At the hotel - still no sign of them, so I left a note and grabbed my camera. I felt a little bit better because the hotel had our passport numbers. I figured if something happened to them, they would've contacted the hotel.

I went back to Puerta del Sol to take some photos of the action. In comparison to only thirty minutes earlier, it was completely dead. Earlier, you couldn't even walk at a normal pace. I usually can't stand the feeling of slowly walking and not getting anywhere because you keep running into people, but I don't seem to mind when there are so many Spanish hotties milling about!

Anyway, my knees were becoming more and more painful - I only took a quick walk and went back to the hotel. Turns out that B&H were OK, after all - I guess they had left the map I had given them (with Plaza Santa Ana circled) at a restaurant. By the time they returned for it, the waiter had thrown it out and they couldn't remember the name of the Plaza.

I have to admit that I was pretty crushed at missing out on dinner tonight. Especially after walking past the restaurant earlier tonight, and seeing it packed with beautiful Spanish women!

Ha called it a night, but Ben and I decided to grab a beer. I could've nibbled on something, but the place we chose didn't have any good tapas on offer. So Ben decided to have a "snack". Despite just having dinner not long before, he decided to have a cheeseburger with fries! Ben deserves props for being able to pack away so much food!

It was funny because Ben ordered incorrectly and instead of saying "I would like a cheeseburger" he said "I like cheeseburger". Really, it was only funny because at that moment, I imagined him saying it like a caveman - almost like "Me caveman! Me like kill animal! Me like fire!!!"

Ben finished up his burger and fries - we left shortly after. Ben debated whether or not to have dessert, but I pointed out that their selections looked pretty suspect. I explained to Ben why this particular place had a bit of a personal attachment for me, and we went back to the hotel. I wished that we had picked a spot that was closer - my knee was throbbing like you wouldn't believe.

I had a little trouble sleeping that night - the couple next to me was going at it until pretty late in the night. Now that I'm more of an optimistic person, these things bother me a little bit less. I looked at the bright side - you gotta give the guy some props because he was able to go at it for awhile!

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Photos

a
Yogurt is so good in Europe that it causes demonic possession. Creepy.

a4
Stepping off of the plane in Madrid. Sadly you can't see them from here, but inside are four very beautiful Spanish women. I wish I could fly Air Comet all the time!

b
B&H arriving in Spain. Could it be a sort of homecoming for Ben? He is mistaken for so many other races - perhaps Spain is his true home?

b2
Ben was talking to me, but I have absolutely NO idea what he was saying to me. I was too busy checking out the women.

b3
Ha, at the entrance to our hotel.

b4
Spanish sweets. For once, I'm talking about the candies and not the women.

b5
I think Ben was drunk on beer - that's why he lost the map at the restaurant.

c
Why Spain is awesome - here I am taking a picture of the chestnut cart, and two Spanish hotties happen to step right into the photo! If only it was that easy to get them to step into my arms ...

d
Taken in the Puerta Del Sol area, this was actually when things were quieting down. I know that London's Xmas lights are much more hyped, but I thought they were actually nicer in Madrid. The presence of Spanish beauties probably also contributed to this, however.

g
More cool Xmas lights.

z
Another teddy bear photo by Ha.

za
Hmmm ... interesting name on the plate ... I suspect it would be a perfect name for a VERY poor-selling soft drink ...