Spain, Greenday and one really loud American girl

Sigh…

Life as I know it is back in full swing. The only real joy left will be picking up my photo’s from the RiteAid.

There are exciting things to share about my last day and a half in Spain – and some musings about the flight home.

The hotel where I stayed was lovely and most of the patrons I encountered were with our conference. We tended to take over the bar after the day ended and after dinner. On Wednesday, the other patrons took on a different look and feel. American guys in cut off jeans (at the knees like skateboarders not at the ass like 70’s rollerskaters) plaid shirts, wallets on chains and skinny American girls in super tight jeans, heals and um… breasts were milling about. That night in the bar, there was our party of nerdy security folks and their party of hip (but calm and quiet) hipsters. I noticed them, but didn’t really pay much attention. Needless to say – they had beer I had beer so TECHNICALLY we had beer together. Why is this important? Well – it’s a technicality that means I had drinks with GREENDAY!

It turns out that Greenday was staying in my hotel for 3 days between gigs. There were a number of Billy Joe sightings including a very exciting revolution in the lobby door. We did actually talk and it went like this:

ME: are you looking for the guy with the horns?
Billy Joe: yeah
ME: he just went up in the elevator
Billy Joe: he’s hard to miss huh?
ME: yeah

Then Billy Joe went up in the elevator, and I’m thinking to myself – “oh yeah, me and Billy Joe are tight!”

I have been asked if I got an autograph and the answer is, no I did not. You will have to take my word for it that Billy Joe and I are best friends now. I really think if I was famous that I would hate the loss of being invisible in a crowd. When I see celebrities I really make an effort not to flip out even if its someone cool like Billy Joe. I would so much rather appreciate them for what they do and honor that by leaving them alone than trying to say something meaningful. I don’t really know these people and I’d hate for the encounter to go badly and then have to think of them as an asshole.

I put some thought into who I might cross the line with and the only people I came up with was Duran Duran and only because I loved them so much as a teenager and I really like the new album that I’m not sure I could stop myself.

Anyway – the Greenday sightings were fun and it made the last few days more exciting.

Our last night out was amazing. We went as a group to a restaurant I never would have tried on my own and we had a blast. The beverage selection went like this: Cava (Spanish champagne), white wine, red wine, port, coffee and then back at the bar (with Greenday) beer.

My appetizer was Gazpacho with fresh vegetables and lobster (a cool 22 euro for that bad boy.) The bowl it was presented in was the most amazing bowl I had ever seen. It was super thin white china and it looked like a very stylized heart with the two sides pulled out into graceful wings. It was sexy – there’s just no getting around it. The soup was served with the lobster in the bowl but the vegetables were on the side in a special dish with diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and crunchy croutons.

My main dish was a grand piece of Turbot in spicy paprika oil. It was good, but I’m really excited about the dessert – Mango Pyramid with Chocolate Sauce. I took a photo of it and as soon as the Rite Aid frees my film I’ll post it. I was expecting mango slices and chocolate sauce, but was served a tart mango mouse with a gelled mango core the whole thing was drizzled in a rich dark chocolate. It was sweet and tart and chocolate all at the same time. It was so good that my mouth is watering as I type. My table neighbor wanted a taste and it was all I could do to let him have a bite, heck it was all I could do not to lick the plate.

After dinner (3 and ½ hours after entering the restaurant) we walked up to the fountains. Friday was a major Spanish holiday (St. Joan Day) and like the 4th of July in America the Spanish celebrate with fireworks. We missed the last of the state sponsored fireworks but the natives celebrated late into the night. The scene was chaotic – with children throwing lit fireworks at every open spot, adults lighting big blow your hand off fireworks – punk kids dropping fireworks into tin cans to watch the cans explode. By the time we left at 12:45 the crowd was thinning – but we passed two bonfires with people throwing fireworks into the fires to watch them explode. This wasn’t a parking lot or a secluded area of the beach – this was smack dab in the middle of a public park area under trees (who live in 90 degree heat day after day with little rain) it was a 13 year old boys dream and a mother’s nightmare.

Dodging fireworks and fires on the way back to the hotel we hit the bar for one last drink. That lasted until 2am when the bartender asked us to leave (because of the holiday) and I headed to my room. My flight the next morning left at 6:30 am – so I needed to leave the hotel at 4. I was packed and I attempted to take a nap but with the constant sound of fireworks and gunshots out of my window there was no sleeping. I turned the light off for 15 minutes and then gave up. During dinner one of my companions explained how to get free porn (not to me, but to someone else) so I checked it out. The trick was to turn the tv to the porn station and then turn the tv off and on again at the tv (not the remote) and boom – Spanish porn. I didn’t watch long but the plot was intriguing:

Dude standing in a field talking to a woman. Next scene, dude is in an outdoor pool and 6 ladies (including gal from day one) walk up – they appear to be in flight attendant gear. After some talking and a Vanna White Showcase moment the ladies drop top and pool guy takes a second look at each gal. One more clothing drop and the ladies are standing in high heals and their kicky flight attendant hats and scarfs and he selects one. That’s when the music started and I realized I was sitting alone in a hotel room watching porn, so I clicked off the tv. I’m not opposed to porn – but as a single gal what’s the point?

Anyway – after a shower, change of clothes and a detailed look around the room to make sure I didn’t forget anything I headed downstairs to check out. The night clerks checked me out and when my cab arrived unlocked the front door and let me out. Meanwhile, rockets and fireworks were still going off outside.

Because I was early at the airport the check in was smooth and calm. Folks behind me were restless and I made a mental note for the fall – check in early! There was a young American girl (maybe 19 or 21) who was having trouble checking in and while she waited for the agent to figure out her situation she had a loud conversation with her companion who was NOT standing with her. They talked over the whole queue of people as if no one could understand them. They talked about the guys they hooked up with, how drunk they were and how excited they were to be going to a place where you didn’t have to be worried about getting mugged. This is the gal who gives American tourists a bad name. Once down in the waiting area things were peaceful – I was sitting next to a nice couple and we were watching Spanish news on the tv on a roll around cart. Loud girl arrived, asked the one guy closest to the tv if he was watching it and even after he nodded yes, she changed the channel looking for basketball. She tried to tell him how important basketball was and after she couldn’t locate any channel showing basket ball turned the tv to a station with some loud nutty game show. The couple next to me gave me a look of horror and said something very low in Spanish that I could only take to mean – “get a load of that gross American” and I whispered back with sadness in my eyes “no habla espanyol – Americano.” They seemed not to hold it against me. Fortunately she was not on my flight back to Seattle and I was able to ditch her loud ass in Amsterdam. If you get mugged or shot on your next trip overseas – it’s loud girls fault.

I’m not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the many many drinks from the night before but I managed to sleep on both the short flight to Amsterdam and the flight to Seattle.

It’s good to be home and the weekend was fun – I went sailing on Lake Washington and played softball on Sunday. It was a glorious Seattle weekend. Looking forward to the 4th with friends and before I know it, it will be time to head back to Spain for vacation in October.