A Night at the Theatre

Our village neighbours association went to Madrid over the weekend to see a musical. Keen to be a part of the gang we paid our money and went too.

Six hours on the coach got us to our hotel in the northern end of central Madrid just an hour before the show started. So with checking in and across town travel we had just enough time to throw our bags into the room, wash our hands and face and get back onto the coach. At least it was a posh hotel.

The musical, Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar (Today, I can't get up) was the story of the 80s told through the music and lyrics of a group who were dead famous here in the 80s - Mecano. The show started at 10.30pm, and lasted over four hours so we got out just before 3am! We didn't understand most of the dialogue, we didn't know the songs, the cultural references generally passed us by, the dancing looked a bit duff to me and the humour was very Spanish - slapstick and politically incorrect. My bum ached a lot too but the show was definitely a bit of an experience.

We also got a few hours in Madrid on Sunday and we were reminded of the pluses and minuses of small versus big town life. Plus points - stacks going on, lots to gawp at, exciting and interesting. Minus points - noisy, busy, smelly and expensive - I'm still reeling from the cost of a plate of whitebait, a beer and a soft drink topping out at 17€ - maybe four times what we would have paid at home.