I sit in my coffee house, Las Columnas, across the street. Jose brings me a steaming Americano and Alfredo tells me he had a lazy weekend.

I look out the window and see business men having their coffee standing up outside so they can smoke and sip.

I am determined to write, when I get a call from Nick who is in Lisbon. We are making plans for my birthday weekend in Madrid. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me fill you in since I posted last.

Tuesday I check out Los 33 for lunch, a neighborhood restaurant getting a lot of press. I sit by the open window and enjoy a beautiful salad.

Two different people, Monica and Felipe, have sat at the table next to me and each tells me their favorite spots in Madrid. We scan our contact data in with WhatsApp QR code and suddenly I have two new people from whom to learn about Madrid. It’s a gorgeous day and after lunch I walk to Plaza Mayor to meet Tony, a local who attends law school here.

I met Tony at Cambridge this summer when we were both enthralled with Professor Phelan’s Philosophy of the Mind class. On the last day of class I learned Tony lives in Madrid! A great contact. We sit in the square for several hours. I learn alot from Tony about Spanish politics, customs and, of course, food. I head out later passing street musicians on my way to Pez, a very inexpensive popular tortilla restaurant which I learned about from Monica.

After polishing off the tortilla from Carlos, I order croquettes as my savory dessert.

On the way home, I see this outdoor sculpture which makes me laugh. The first week I was here I passed this same site and there was just dry rocks. One day I saw men “watering” the rocks with hoses and picking out the bad looking rocks. Ok, sorta odd. Now I see that was just a step in creating this beautiful path.

On Tony’s advice, on Wednesday I head out to Parque Oeste. It’s a much bigger park than Retiro and has beautiful overlooks. After lunch at Parlacete de Rosales in the middle of the park I go to see the Temple of Debod, a 2nd century BC temple, a gift to Madrid from Egypt for help in saving the temple from flooding when the Aswan dam was built.

Then I make a long detour to a flower market to gather flowers for Laura’s arrival tomorrow. Tonight I continue with my fun of meeting people that have been refers to me. Patricia who introduced me to Chris, has also made an introduction to Marta. It’s a very warm evening and I walk into the Castellana neighborhood to meet her. Marta is a high energy, articulate corporate recruiter-turned stay at home mom to her 3 year old son and his soon to be born brother. The place is empty when we arrive, but by the time we talk for almost two hours we look around and the place is full. Marta texted me later that I now have a new friend in Spain and I truly feel that. I can’t stress enough how much this “putting lines in the water” has enhanced my Shirleyfests all over the world.

It’s hard to sleep tonight because I am excited that Laura’s plane gets in at 7:45 tomorrow morning.

I see her cab coming and run downstairs. Even though my coffee shop is not open yet, Jose makes me two Americanos to go and we take them up to my apartment. Laura has visited me on about half my Shirleyfests and Mallory has made it to two. I’m hoping to get them both as visitors for many more Shirleyfests. We head off to Golda for a healthy breakfast and then wander through Retiro park.

We have lunch at Los 33 thanks to Mallory’s instagram sleuthing. It’s a LONG lunch with so many courses ( we order everything because we can’t decide).

Later we walk through Malapansa and check out the vintage shops. On the way back we feel called to by a local beer hang out. Empty at the start and 2 beers later…….full of people. We end that night at my favorite neighborhood restaurant Mudra.

On Friday I know Laura will love the photography exhibit as she is quite an accomplished photographer herself. A rooftop view and then we are off to explore La Latina neighborhood.

As you know from earlier posts I’m in love with the tapas at Juana la Loca and luckily we get in. I see my new friend Isabella the owner there and she is excited to meet Laura.

Tonight we do the vermouth tasting at Taberna Elisa.

We walk home through the beautifully lit Madrid at night.

Still hungry after our small plates at the vermouth bar, we finish the night at Delivinos, my local wine shop, where Marcello makes us a delicious cheese plate.

Saturday we try Natif for breakfast. Felipe has told us about this place and it does not disappoint.

Laura knows about Fundación Juan March in my neighborhood so we head there to look at sculptures.

The shopping in my neighborhood of Salamanca is exceptional and after a few hours of that we must stop for refreshment.

Later that night we go to Baraccuda for delicious tacos. Laura must leave Sunday morning and I am sad to see her go. She is a great visitor to Shirleyfest.

As her Uber pulls away, it starts to rain. I decide to hit La Rasto, the big big big outdoor market that is open only on Sunday mornings. I thought with the rain I would be the only one there, but it is full of people.

After scoring a few choice purchases, I come back to San Manuel y San Benito for mass. I always go to one movie during my month to see how similar or different the experience is in a new city. I decide this rainy day would be a perfect day to see the movie Oppenheimer. I go to Yelmo Cines Ideal where movies are shown in their original language.

I ask for a small popcorn and a small drink and immediately see that one similarity is that “small” in any movie house is enormous.

Oh well, it’s a three hour movie. As far as I can tell, I am the only English speaker in the theatre. The movie is subtitled in Spanish. I really like the movie and from what I can understand from the comments around me, it is a hit with this crowd.

Coming home I get to watch the finish of La Vuelta, a 21 day premier road cycling race. It’s quite festive with flags and banners and loud! I love it. An American wins ( Sepp Kuss)!

Later, I go to ultra hip restaurant HER ( because it is on Calle Hermosilla). The food is great, but because it is new, the service has some kinks.

Monday I go near the river, the Manzanares neighborhood, where there is an art complex called Matadero Madrid. It’s a former slaughterhouse that now houses contemporary art.

I spend the day there and also enjoy shopping in a new neighborhood. Later that night I try a new wine bar called Gota. I really like it as it has turntables embedded in the bar. Music, tapas and wine…what’s not to like. I spend time talking to Maddie from Boston and Julian from Buenos Aires. I love the vibe of this place.

Tomorrow I am interviewing the Chief Concierge of the Mandarin Oriental Madrid. Stay tuned for that post and further updates on my visit to Toledo and my birthday weekend with visitors from Lisbon! Thanks for following along on my Madrid adventure.