Our British Airways flight from Madrid to Heathrow on Sunday 12th July was at 7pm so we had plenty of time to recover from the fabulous 4 day Mad Cool festival. My job was to clean the apartment and Captain Caveman’s job was to make sure the bin was out and the property was secure and the AC off. I thought I’d done a good job of cleaning the apartment, including the bathroom so I was a bit cheesed off that Captain Caveman decided to use it afterwards – I cleaned it again. At 1.30pm we went for lunch at a lovely tapas restaurant which Captain Caveman’s brother had recommended to us. El Guichi was small with excellent service and the staff spoke English. We took wine recommendations from the owner and had a few dishes to share. We had pork, croquettes, tortilla, a toast with meat on and 2 glasses of wine each for a total of €39.50 (£33.86). It was very tasty and quite filling, if we hadn’t had to get off to the airport I could easily have stayed longer. Our flight ended up delayed so we had a beverage and a sandwich in the airport. Our seats on the plane were the back ones, near the toilet which is always good for me! We arrived back in to Heathrow and had to get a replacement bus which was absolutely rammed. It also took a long time and we ended up back in Barnes very late, so we went straight to bed, knowing the working day tomorrow would be a long tiring one!
Gratitude List 1. A lovely tapas lunch with Captain Caveman in Madrid 2. Being able to stay in a wonderful apartment in Madrid 3. Having sandwiches and drinks for dinner in Madrid airport.
The Black Crows, The Reytons, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Kasabian, David Byrne and Pulp were all playing at the last day (4) of the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid on Saturday 11th July. As much as we had enjoyed the last 3 days of music festival going, I was looking forward to this line up the most. Due to the overlap and the red hot sun we needed to make important decisions. We’d already had a lay in, we’d doubled down on the rehydration tablets so much that I was now peeing like a racehorse with a bladder infection, and the blister plasters on my toes had been replaced! We set off on our last train to the venue, armed with water bottles, sweets, a sun hat and a good bra (just for me, not Captain Caveman). The heat was relentless and we had to stop off for a beer and a Clara at a roadside bar along the way. The bar owner was the only one serving and spoke no English, in fact if you spoke English he ignored you. I don’t speak Spanish (unless you count knowing the entire Spanish lyrics to a Gloria Estefan song!) so I gave it my best shot; “Una cerveza y una cerveza con Fanta de limón, por favor”. A Spanish couple next to me, congratulated me on my desperate Spanish speaking attempt, just to get served, and I had drinks, with lots of ice in. I took the drinks to a table outside where the stools were hot to sit on! I chucked an ice cube under my sun hat and one in my sturdy bra and started to feel less overheated. We got chatting to the only English bellends for miles and then, after another round of drinks (ordered in Spanish) and with ice, we made an exit! At the venue we were just too hot to be able to stand in the sun to listen to the Black Crows. It was 44°C at 7.50pm so we went in to the only shady spot we could find, sat on the grass and ate our packed lunch before it melted!
We missed the Reytons in favour of the main stagers, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. From the minute they came on to the end of their set, Captain Caveman and I were in awe of Nick Cave! He gave one of the best performances that I’ve ever seen at a gig, impressively walking on hands and shoulders of the crowd, whilst singing! I could now see what Kylie saw in this geezer! He did a fantastic jam-packed 2 hour set which ended at midnight and then we rushed over to the 2nd stage to watch David Byrne.
I am totally biased as I absolutely love David Byrne and it was one of the reasons for me being there as I think he is amazing live. I was a little dubious with him being on the 2nd stage and it being so close to the main stage, where Pulp were due on soon. We’d also missed Kasabian on stage 2 as Nick Cave had held us captive. There was a bit of faffing about with sound and David, understandably, was making sure the sound was right. The crowds were massive and I was apprehensive of getting too near, Captain Caveman was now getting annoyed at me not liking to be crowded in so he went over to Stage 1 to watch Pulp. He’d not seen them before, but me being from the same city had, so I made the decision to stick with David. I’m glad I did, he was amazing and did all the favourite songs. He did an hour and finished with Burning Down the House, ironically he had no idea at the time that Spain would be having some horrendous fires.
I ran over to rejoin Captain Caveman at Pulp (we always set up an easy to find meeting point) and he was really enjoying the last act of the night and the 4 day event. Jarvis was great and I particularly enjoyed Babies and Disco 2000 which took us up to 2am!!! It was sad that it had finished but the last 4 days had really worn me out! My top 3 favourites had been the Foo Fighters, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and David Byrne. We got the last train back and the walk up back to the apartment for the last time was slow. Tomorrow we were back off to London after one of the most amazing times which I would remember for a very long time! Captain Caveman and I both agreed it had been one of the best music events we had ever been to (so far)!
Gratitude List 1. Surviving Day 4 of Mad Cool and the whole festival in very hot temperatures 2. Being so desperate for a cold drink that I managed to conjure up a bit of Spanish lingo 3. Seeing musical legends such as Nick Cave and David Byrne.
Before we even contemplated leaving the apartment in Madrid on Friday 10th July, I read that fans of Twenty One Pilots had been queuing since stupid o’clock this morning ready for tonight’s performance at the Mad Cool festival. People were suffering from heat stroke and there had been incidents of medical attention being needed. I had a morning of work and then we popped to Lidl to replenish the food stocks. Here’s what we bought with prices in Euros;
Lidl Supermarket 2 bread rolls 0.58 Onion 0.84 2 apples 0.88 Crisps 0.92 Coffee 0.95 Bread 0.99 Gazpacho 1.05 Salami 1.79 Fruit Mentos 1.99 Cheese 2.75 Total spent €12.74 (£10.90)
Captain Caveman was still feeling a bit dehydrated so he had a coffee drink and a cold Gazpacho drink to sort him out a bit. My blisters were pretty bad so we called in the pharmacy where I bought Blister plasters for €5 (£4.28) and some effervescent rehydration tablets for €9.80 (£8.38). There was a fire engine near the apartment and we thought it was a fire or a cat rescue, it turned out to be a falling branch.
It was insanely hot now in Madrid and we were struggling to get motivated for day 3 of the Mad Cool festival. We got there in time to see The Pixies who were excellent and definitely another highlight for us. I was particularly hopeful for Kings of Leon who followed on the big stage but they didn’t wow me as much as I thought they would. The crowd seemed to love them and maybe it was just because we were too hot. We made a sensible decision to miss the last band and leave Twenty One Pilots to the youngsters. It was still just after midnight when we got back home but the over 40°C temperatures were certainly taking their toll on us. Tomorrow was the last day and we had the horrible dilemma of at least 3 acts who were overlapping and we wanted to see them all.
Gratitude List 1. Surviving Day 3 of the Mad Cool festival 2. Seeing The Pixies 3. Blister plasters and rehydration tablets.
After more work and part 4 of the free challenge with Lisa Johnson on Thursday 9th July, it was time for us to go to the 2nd day of the Mad Cool festival. I had wanted to see Charlie Puth but Captain Caveman didn’t so we got there in time for Lorde. My main reason for going today was to see Teddy Swims while Captain Caveman was more interested to see Florence and the Machine. The venue was great but did not have much shade so the intense heat and the walk from the nearest station was a struggle. This time we brought our own water bottles in and put the tops in our pockets and I had some sweets to see me through the crowded metro. We ate food before we went so that we didn’t have to spend money unnecessarily on festival food. The drinks were quite pricey but it was so hot that we mainly stuck to drinking water to keep hydrated. Teddy Swims was very good but, as he was not on the main stage, I did feel the sound wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. We’d been spoiled by just how good the Foo Fighters had been yesterday too. Florence and the Machine were on the main stage and excellent but Captain Caveman had overdone it. The last song finished at 2am as Captain Caveman roused from a little snooze, leaning up against a barrier. We got the bus back to near Atocha station and walked back from there, desperately needing the loo and suffering from blisters on my feet!
Gratitude List 1. Surviving Day 2 of Mad Cool in very hot sun 2. Seeing Lorde, Teddy Swims and Florence & the Machine 3. Getting home at just after 3am completely exhausted.
Photo Credit – some photos from the Mad Cool Facebook page
It was late when we arrived in Atocha, Madrid, so we went straight to bed. We were awake quite early on Wednesday 8th July and had slept well in Captain Caveman’s niece’s room while the family were on holiday. The apartment was stylish and lovely, we were very grateful we were able to stay there. In the morning, I attended the 3rd session of the Offline Challenge with Lisa Johnson and did a little bit of work before Captain Caveman decided we were off for breakfast and the supermarket. We found a nearby cute cafe called Armonia which we both ordered the open style sandwiches at. Captain Caveman ordered an avocado and turkey while I got brave and tried a bacon, cheese, rocket, caramelised onion and pistachio. It was probably one of the nicest sandwiches I’d had and it wasn’t that expensive, Captain Caveman paid. I had my meal with tea, Captain Caveman with a double espresso and we both had water. Our next stop was to Lidl where we bought the following, prices in Euros;
This shopping would form the ingredients for most of our meals while we were there.
In the afternoon I had arranged to meet Emma, the Lanzarote Resort Expert, and her husband Huse. By complete coincidence they were also going to the Mad Cool Festival but just for day 1 so we arranged to meet in town and grab some food before the gig. Despite doing the same job in different places, Emma and I had never met in person so we were both looking forward to it. We arrived a little late because we had an issue with the barrier at the metro station but we soon got acquainted and started walking down the street. We ended up going to a cafe which had an eclectic mix of dishes. Captain Caveman and I had tapas, I had a Clara and he had wine. The Metro to the venue was absolutely rammed and I had another mini meltdown because I was too hot and it was crowded. Captain Caveman would not let me get off at an earlier stop as he said it would be miles to walk so I had to stay on. A Spanish lady lent me her fan but I was very claustrophobic and panicky so Captain Caveman had to fan me until the lady who’s fan it was got off. When we got to the venue, it was a long walk in very hot sun and then we got in the wrong queue for our wrist bands and had to start again. Once inside we had a wander round, took some photos to send to the Resort Experts group chat and got a drink at the bar. At the bar, we had a delay as it was not only cashless, you couldn’t pay on card either and had to top up your wristband with a QR code using your bank card before going to the bar. Luckily, a guy in the know told us what we needed to do as it wasn’t very clear. The cups were reusable and you had to give a deposit of €2 per cup. I’m not down with the kids so Captain Caveman topped his band up with €50 and we would see how far that got us. There was a limited choice of drinks so I took a chance on Tinto de Verano (red wine with lemonade) which was better for me than the Mahou lager.
Wolf Alice was on the main stage and seemed to be drawing the crowds. I’d not heard of her before and as the 2nd stage had on The War on Drugs half way through, we got to hear a bit of both. There were no seated areas near the main 2 stages so we found somewhere to perch near the bar and VIP area but trying to avoid the sun was hard. We didn’t really see much of Emma and Huse after that as they were there specifically for the Foo Fighters and went right to the front. They had to leave as soon as it finished as they had a flight back to Lanzarote first thing tomorrow. I’d not been a fan of the Foo Fighters particularly but they played a 3 hour non-stop & rivetting set. They were probably one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen and I was so impressed. The portaloos and the free drinking water at Mad Cool also made the festival much more pleasant. They didn’t allow any drinks in or for you to take a water bottle in with a top on (just the bottle) so we ended up buying a bottle in there then topping it up at the free water stations. The venue was pretty well organised and when we came to leave, it was crowded but not horrendous. We got back to our temporary home at about 2am, absolutely shattered. We went to bed thinking we needed to improve on a few things for tomorrow if we were to survive another 3 days of the Mad Cool festival in the intense Madrid heat.
Gratitude List 1. Being lucky enough to stay in Captain Caveman’s brother’s home 2. Getting to meet Emma, the Lanzarote Resort Expert, and her hubby in Madrid 3. The phenomenal performance of the Foo Fighters at the Mad Cool Festival.
I spent Monday 6th July drastically trying to finish all the priory items on my to do list and failing. I did manage to squeeze in a Lisa Johnson Offline Challenge at 10am which was insightful and I learned a few things. I had toast for lunch as I was so busy and worked until 6.30pm. Captain Caveman and I had a walk to the shop where my card got declined at Sainsbury’s due to me not realising my balance was so low. Captain Caveman had to buy the water and travel sweets in Sainsbury’s as tomorrow evening we were off to a 4 day music festival in Madrid. Back home, we sat in the garden with Captain Caveman’s parents and had a glass of wine. For dinner we had chicken and salad which was lovely as the temperature was definitely on the increase now.
Gratitude List 1. The Lisa Johnson Offline Challenge 2. Getting stuff done before we left London 3. Looking forward to my first visit to Madrid.
Captain Caveman had booked tickets for the Mad Cool music festival and arranged for us to stay at his brother’s family apartment in Madrid. Our flight from Heathrow wasn’t until 8pm on Tuesday 7th July so we still had a busy day, for a Tuesday. We both worked at our separate working from home desks, I attended the 2nd session of Lisa Johnson’s Offline Challenge. At noon I packed up my stuff as there was an important event arranged. Captain Caveman’s parents had invited us to the Red Lion in Barnes for lunch and to say bye before we all jetted off on our holidays. The Red Lion is one of my favourites and the food there was excellent. We sat in a shady spot outside and it was definitely summery weather now. I ordered roasted veg on toasted sour dough for starter while Captain Caveman chose to spice up his hummus order with a bit of lamb! We had a bit of a laugh over the menu wording of the bread which made it sound like it had it’s own home on a farm, and had to order it. All became clear once the waiter explained the difference and it wasn’t just ordinary bread. Captain Caveman had a chicken dinner which got snaffled with enthusiasm, Ma ordered a burrata with salad, Pa opted for a schnitzel and I decided on the butternut squash pasta. Captain Caveman’s parents treated us to the meal which was very kind given that they were letting us stay with them and I’d tried to tell Captain Caveman we should pick up the bill. We really enjoyed ourselves and could have quite happily sat there for longer but Captain Caveman had to get back for a 2pm meeting. We finished work at 4pm, got our bags, said our farewells and we were off to Madrid. We were at the airport 2 hours before as we had been notified we had to go to check-in for our hand luggage to be checked. All was fine and we went straight through to the bar for a quick pint. On the flight I spent €12 (£10.28) on a couple of beverages and then fell asleep. We landed at 11.30pm and had a bit of a faff finding the right tram/metro to Atocha, where we were going to be staying for 5 nights.
Gratitude List 1. Free challenges with Lisa Johnson 2. A fantastic family lunch at the Red Lion 3. A good flight from Heathrow to Madrid.
joloyolo 