Tales of the City

I'll spare you the details of class (brutal so far, but there are signs of improvement). Brad arrived safely yesterday, but without luggage. However, I just phoned him and apparently they did deliver it to the apartment this morning, as promised. As he was travelling first class, courtesy of various upgrades on Continental, it seemed the least they could do.

Madrid is as incredibly vibrant as ever. People on the streets at all hours of the day and night - we had dinner at 8:30 last night (as Brad was pretty wiped out from travel), and were, of course, the only people in the restaurant, even when we left at 9:45.

There is much grumbling about Rio having snagged the 2016 Olympics - apparently the local politicos had figured - incorrectly - that Madrid had it in the bag. They particularly resent the fact that, in the final round of bidding, they received no support at all from other European countries. Who were obviously voting with the 2020 Olympics in mind, calculating that, in order to have a chance to secure that bid, the 2016 venue needed to be a non-European one.

The big news is that the construction at Plaza del Sol is finally completed, so that it no longer resembles a huge, ugly, perpetual construction site. One result is that the famous statue of the bear and the arbutus tree (see picture to the right), the emblem of the city, has been moved back to its original location, at Sol and Alcala. Once I get a little more organized, I will provide appropriate photographic documentation.

But first, I have to complete today's homework assignments.

Sigh.