Act 2: Happy Birthday

“You say it’s your birthday”

Yup, once again.

Real fast tell me where you were on your last 13 birthdays and who you were with. Hard isn’t it? Used to be for me too. But……..since Shirleyfest I’ve spent my last 13 birthdays in 13 cities that I can easily rattle off. That alone makes the day special. What really makes it special is that in each city, visitors have arrived to celebrate with me (often along with local friends). This year Nick and Ivan will be my birthday visitors. I met them 10 years ago when they were living in Berlin, my Shirleyfest city that year.

It’s Friday and before Nick arrives from London today, I try the new place Osom for coffee. They ask if I’d share a table because it’s crowded. Of course I will. A man sits down and we both silently receive our orders, each assuming the other doesn’t speak our language. Finally I couldn’t hold out any more and I use my standard phrase, “May I speak English to you?” ( I find it much more polite than saying “ Do you speak English?). He smiles and say “Sure, I’m Brandon from San Jose, California, and where are you from?” Turns out he’s in charge of AI development at a Silicon Valley company, so I learn his take on why we need not worry about AI. ( I’m still worried).

I leave and stock up on provisions and flowers and soon Nick arrives.

After apertivo at my place, we walk to the garden of the Mandarin Oriental hotel for a delicious 7 course pre-birthday tasting menu.

It’s really a lively spot with the tables spaced nicely, greenery all around and really attentive waiters. We walk home admiring the moonlit buildings and at midnight it’s my birthday.

We head out to Natif Saturday morning, as I have to show Nick this gorgeous place. Fortunately, we get to talk to Juan Campbell, from Argentina, who owns the place with his Italian partner, Roberta.

He says their unique coffeehouse is where they “create a space inspired by nature, where the kitchen, pastry and specialty coffee coexist in a symbiotic way, respecting the land and its transcendence.” Juan sees Natif as a meeting place where “fires, alchemy and pleasure protect the time from vain materialism.” I mean you gotta love this poetic guy. And the food and coffee are wonderful.

Afterwards we go to the Botanical Gardens which I’ve been saving to go to until Nick arrived. Such fun just wandering about.

Ivan arrives from Lisbon. He’s a real kidder this one.

Now we head to El Paraguas. Ivan and Nick know how to celebrate. First comes the champagne with the Iberico ham and then lots of delicious food appears.

This is obviously a place to be seen and to see, so I spy on quite a lot of tables from my vantage point. A delicious cheesecake with a candle arrives at the end and I feel quite celebrated. ( little did I know what was to come).

Later we walk through the center of town to deliver Ivan to his meeting at the Teatro Real (Ivan is the new head of the Lisbon Opera house.) Jacinto of Delivinos has asked us to stop in at some point today, so we head there. We find they have a birthday celebration in mind.

A lemon ice cream cake prepared by a Marcello is brought out (another candle to blow out) and more wine. We meet Biby and Michele who have moved here a few years ago. A lively conversation/party evolves.

Later Nick and I go to my special restaurant Vinoteca Moratin.

After another delicious meal, Marcos brings another dessert with a candle.

I hope I didn’t age 3 years instead of one by blowing out 3 candles. Ivan finished his meeting and joins us for coffee. My birthday ends as we are walking home at midnight. We prophetically see the fallen stop sign. Time to stop before we fall down!

The next day we explore both the Prado and the Royal Collection museum and take a peak at a wedding going on at San Jerónimo.

A mid morning stop for cakes and coffee at the Mandarin Oriental is fun because Borja who I had interviewed earlier ( and who I am writing a separate post about) was there and greeted us warmly.

Then it’s a late lunch at Quintin. I have gotten to know Belin, the hostess, and she gives us a great table upstairs. More delicious food! The guys head out tonight and I’m left to bask in the memories of an amazing birthday weekend!

Act 3: “I get by with a little help from my friends”

When I think about spending a month in a new city, of course I think about all there will be to do: music, art, restaurants, neighborhoods…..

All of these things are exciting to experience and learn from, but honestly, Shirleyfest is mostly about people. The joy of these new experiences in a new city is greatly enhanced by the human connections I make. Every city this happens and every city I find myself overwhelmed by the kindness of people that have encouraged me and made my month vivid and uplifted.

Madrid has warmed my heart with all the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet.

Sometimes it’s the people I meet working their jobs. Sometimes it’s people also enjoying a meal or an experience and they engage in conversation with me. There’s those people I’ve been put in touch with by friends back home who include me in their Madrid lives. There are the people that make such an effort to visit me. I also feel supported by all the people that reach out to me through reading my blog, sending emails and texts, excited by my adventures.

Thank you to all of you. I truly do get by with the help of my friends. I obviously don’t have pictures of all my personal interactions, but here’s a little photo gallery of a few of the people that have made Madrid Shirleyfest a special September.

Speaking of people, in some ways every Shirleyfest is just an anthropological view of the people. My primary observation is that the people in Madrid live their lives outside, all the time. No matter the time or day, people gather, eat, play, and converse outside. I find this fascinating since San Francisco and Madrid are almost the same latitude, yet I don’t see this outdoor all the time living in SF. I wish I did. My friend Biby told me that even on the rare occasion that it snows, people just push the snow aside, brush off the chairs and sit outside. It’s a way of life here. I really like it.

The other observation I make is what do people talk about. In Madrid people talked to me about learning new skills, wine, romantic relationships, cooking, kids, enjoying their friends, music, travel, school, starting a business, expanding a business, and food, food, food. The most interesting thing is what they didn’t talk about. Not one person talked to me about diets, losing weight, foods they were avoiding, needing to go to the gym more, what things cost, sports or what they were watching on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. Telling, don’t you think?

I’ll do my interview post with Borja Martin soon. Other than that, this is a wrap from Shirleyfest Madrid. I’m going to go downstairs to Delivinos and see my friends. I’ll have one more glass of Verdejo and a Spanish cheese plate that Marcello will make for me. Thanks for following along this trip.

See you on the other side of the pond.

Adiós