ARROW - 22. Chapter 22

We were awake at 6 in the morning, and our taxi would be here at 8 to take us to the airport. Our flight was at 9, which would get us into Madrid a little after 11. By the time we got to our hotel, it would be close to noon.

"Are we staying at someone's home in Madrid?"

"No, I wasn't able to contact my host from the last time I was here. We will stay at a hotel, and we can get our laundry done there as well."

Our hotel was the Westin Palace Hotel across from Plaza Mayor, which was close to the Royal Palace.

When we arrived at our hotel to check-in, it was almost 1 pm.

"Armand, let's go and get lunch. I'm getting hungry."

"I'll ask at the concierge desk for a reference. The place I used to eat was on my way to the museum. I thought we would take it easy today, just you and I, and we will start visiting museums tomorrow."

The man at the concierge desk recommended a restaurant called Sublime with an address close to the Royal Palace. We walked through the Plaza Mayor to the restaurant. "Armand, I was expecting Spanish food, not hamburgers."

Laughing, "I'll take you to a place tonight for dinner, and I guarantee it will be Spanish food."

After eating our lunch, we decided to tour the Palace. "This is the largest functioning Palace in Europe. It has over 443,000 square feet and has 3,418 rooms. Before the Palace, this was a Moorish fort. It was burned down in 1734, and the decision was to build a Palace over the ashes. Construction started in 1738 and took 18 years to finish. Three architects worked on this project, and now it is a fine example of the Baroque style,"

"This brochure said that there are several masterpieces here."

"Not only paintings, but there are sculptures as well. At the base of the main staircase, there are four urns, and they are named Wind, Air, Water, and Earth. Also, two sculptures of lions."

As we toured the building, we saw paintings by several known artists. "Armand, do all of the museums or places like this have a painting by Goya?"

"Well, Goya was a famous painter, It's unusual, but painters of that era weren't recognized unless the Church recognized them. If you remember the paintings we saw by Goya, several were based on Biblical figures or known myths. Their painting style was similar to mine, reality versus those paintings that we saw in the cubism style. I think they also have a painting by Caravaggio, and Mr. Arnaud also had one of his paintings. There are paintings here by Spanish painters, and we'll see more of them tomorrow when we go to the museum."

"What are we going to do now?"

"Let's stroll through the Plaza de Orient." We found a bench, and people watched. I had explained how I used to do that to Colin when we were in Paris.

"I never realized how amusing people are. Some walk as if they are in a hurry, others walk as if they never want to get to the end."

"How about that couple? What does their walk tell you?"]

"They are in love. Look how she clings to him as if she is afraid he will leave her. We never walk that way, why don't we?"

"Because you and I know we will never leave each other." That got me a kiss on my cheek.

"Let's go and take a nap, and then we can get dressed for dinner." Colin smiled; he knew how the nap would go.

Walking into the hotel, the boys were holding hands. And as one would predict, they got the appropriate looks, they didn't notice. As Colin hoped, the nap wasn't to sleep, but they eventually fell asleep for an hour.

They took a shower, dressed for the cool evening, and headed out for dinner. "There is a famous restaurant which is known for their Spanish cuisine. We can walk there, but we may have to stand in line."

Arriving at the restaurant and I was right. There was a line of people standing on the sidewalk waiting to be called. "How long do we have to wait?"

"It won't be too long, you'll see." Just as I said that, a gentleman came out and asked for a party of four. No one answered then he asked for a party of two, two couples who were there before us went with the gentleman.

We waited about 20 minutes before we were able to enter the restaurant. Sitting at the table, a waiter came and filled our wine glasses, and then he put a stand by our table. Soon he brought out a flat pan with Paella. I watched Colin as he looked at the food.

"This is a well-known Spanish dish called Paella. It's basically a rice dish that has seafood in it, and you'll like it."

He looked at his dish, and I laughed as he picked out the shrimp. Soon he was digging in and enjoying it. "Where did the pan go? I may want a second helping?"

"Don't worry, enjoy what you have, and if you want more, they will bring the pan back."

"Armand, do you think this would be good to offer at the club?"

"Maybe on special occasions but not as an everyday item. It takes time to prepare this dish, and it has to be made when ordered. Are you thinking about changing the menu?"

"Yes, if we remove the booths and install tables, we can cook and serve at the table."

"Before we do that, let's think about the other changes first. We don't want those girls to come around and start eating the Paella before it is cooked. I can see Marylou picking the shrimp out of the dish while the chef is still preparing the dish. We might want to introduce this dish on our anniversary, and that will give us time to make sure we don't have ignorant members."

Colin laughed, "With the changes, we are planning, I wonder if those girls will still want to be members."

"Maybe we should require they take a course in etiquette before granting them membership after the club has been renovated."

Our waiter came back and refilled our wine glasses and our plates. Colin smiled, and he was enjoying the food.

It was late when we walked back to the hotel, holding hands. Collin was smiling every time I looked at him, and there was no question he enjoyed himself this evening.

That night as we were getting ready for bed, "Tomorrow, we will tour the Museum Prado, and then we will try some Spanish culture. But right now, let's go to bed." Going to bed and going to sleep is not the same thing, and eventually, we fell asleep.

We awoke in time for breakfast at the hotel and arrived at the Prado Museum at 10 AM. I wasn't sure if Colin enjoyed all of the museums we visited, and he didn't let on if he didn't enjoy them. Tonight he will get a present from me. Except for visiting the Eiffel Tower and the boat ride on the Seine, we spent all of our time with students and museums.

As we entered, we picked up our brochures. "This is one of the largest museums in Europe, and there are over 2,000 paintings here.