Paula and I woke up a little later than usual today. No big walks on the schedule; in fact, it was supposed to be 104 degrees today. Instead, I hate to say this, dear reader, we didn’t do much of anything. Sure, we had lunch and had a fruitless search for a post office, but much of the late morning and early afternoon hours were spent under the protective custody of the air conditioner in our room.

That would change for Paula’s interview (see her post for the deets). I spent much of the late afternoon/early evening listening to people ask Paula questions from the business center we found. Well, it was behind closed doors, so they sounded more like the teachers in Peanuts, but she was definitely talking to people. The office space had the strangest statue I’ve ever seen in the lobby. Look below for a silver dude who doesn’t quite look like he belongs in a rentable office space. Yes, he was anatomically correct.

Sure, the good folks at OfficeMadrid were probably wondering why the loud American was taking a close-up of their statue’s junk, but a man has his readers to think of. I will do what I can to get the scoop.

A short taxi ride back to Calle de Los Huertas, and wow. First off, it was warm. At 11 pm it was 90 degrees with rain coming in an hour. That’s … not ideal. But also, we were starving, so we had to find a place to eat. That wasn’t difficult at all. Madrid seems to come alive at night, and our neighborhood is particularly lively. Everybody was wandering around. Young people. Old people. Men and women not wearing much of anything walking their dogs, who were entirely naked. Two particularly tired and hungry Americans. Everybody looking to see or be seen. Or both.

I love our street, which has literary quotes on the pavement and funky business signs. aAnd for the next couple days, it has two Americans looking forward to see what Madrid shows them next. But also, home beckons. It’ll be nice to get back to the States, but we’re going to enjoy the rest of this vacation while it lasts.

-Will