Sunny City Skulking

Today, fellow readers, I am very pleased to be writing to you whilst I being caressed by the cool breeze of my very own air conditioning unit – but all this luxury came from a right royal fiasco in which I realised I hadn’t booked a flat for the dates when I needed one, and hence had to jump on the first thing I could find which I could afford – which just happened to be a lovely modern room in some student-style accommodation in the east of the city. Oh well…

As I basque in the excitement of Danni & Abi’s visit in two days time, for the past week I have been sensing quite acutely the sudden spike in temperatures, but I somehow managed to survive a day peaking at 36° whilst commuting in my jeans. The sun may be doing it’s worst and the air conditioning unit at work may sound like it wants to break through the ceiling under the strain, but the strong light and bright evenings have made for some beautiful photo opportunities…

As you can see, the metal chairs are out on the streets and the trees are in full bloom, and the area around work benefits from the relief of a slight breeze. The best time of day during this weather, however, is in the evening once the sun has set but the air is still pleasant, and to this end I managed to snap a couple of lovely pics of the royal area of Madrid basking in the embers of the day’s sunlight.

Just this evening I was sat in the Oriental Gardens enjoying the evening ambience, when the sky was suddenly filled with dark grey clouds, which naturally I took as a warning of imminent downpour – but I was informed that they come and go frequently here and rarely signal rain. The contrast of the sun illuminating the buildings and the sky in it’s eerie darkness provided an interesting mood…

I am, as I said, now tucked up in bed after a lovely evening visiting my ex-hostess from my old flat, Pilar, with whom I stopped for a caña and a chat as I picked up a bag full of snacks that I’d left at hers over a month ago… Oops. We have arranged to meet up once again soon for a proper drink and some tapas and as we say here, lo que sea – meaning whatever might take our fancy!

Until then, though, I have to pack and prep for the arrival of Danni & Abi just this Thursday… Did I mention I am excited!?