July 17, 2023
Prep day in Madrid
We had a much appreciated sleep in this morning. I went with Jacinto to the Churro shop - where he did not buy a pencil thin churro, but a fat porro. I had a toasted croissant with butter and jam. It was tasty, I see the appeal. But I still don't think I could ride more than ten miles on a croissant!
We walked our bikes to the shop, All Ride, for Aymar to pack. He also retaped Jacinto's handlebars, as the tape he had put on in Merida delaminated right away. Aymar was surprised. He said Lizard is a good brand. Aymar was personable, knowledgeable, and helpful. He was open to working on my recumbent, although he had never seen one before. His prices on services were very reasonable.
The high temperature today was supposed to be 106. We wanted to go down to the Sol Plaza. Aymar assured us that was the one place we should go. He said the later at night we went, the better our experience. We had a discussion about touring cyclist hours - namely that we usually eat at 5 PM, and are in bed with lights out by 10 PM. Those are not Spaniard hours!
Aymar suggested Uber as being the least expensive/easiest method of getting to the plaza. He said the bus route wasn't intuitive. In the morning, the Uber price was 20E, by the time we were ready to go, the price had increased to 40E! Who knows what the return would be. We ended up not going. I was happy to stay inside with the AC and take a nap after lunch. I'm not a good tourist. I like to rest on my rest day!
We went back to the Lizarran at 8:30. They were hopping. We got the last table out on the patio. The water misters were appreciated. We ordered tinto de verano drinks. We had seen someone else drinking those in the afternoon. Google tells me it's equal parts red wine and lemonade or Sprite, with orange or lemon slices, and perhaps vermouth. In the evenings at the Lizarran, they bring tapas (snacks in a small bowl - here they usually had french fries on the bottom, and the food on top) and pinchos (small slices of french bread with toppings) around to the tables. First they ring a bell. I felt like Pavlov's dog, salivating as soon as I heard the bell! By the end of the meal, we had eaten three tapas and five pinchos. It ended up being more expensive than menu del dia, but it was fun to eat whatever they were bringing around.
We went back to the room and got organized. Our shuttle ride in the morning was for 9 AM, a reasonable hour.
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