Knowing where a tour starts from makes a world of difference. We had a few hours of our own before it began so we grabbed some lunch and wandered through some back streets enjoying the sun. Around 2.30pm we headed to the plaza to find our guide for the free walking tour.
While sitting on the steps fat spiderman came over and started doing some poses with Jac and I from which I've got some great pictures. We chatted to him for awhile and it turns out he works as a bouncer in one of the clubs. Does spidey for a bit of extra money and a lot of fun. He had high praise for our tour guide, Colin, and said we had the best of all of them. Good sign.
The tour was a lot of fun. 3 hours is a long time but Colin was very funny and a bank of information. It was a small group but we had a good chat to most of the people. The company runs a pub crawl later at night so we decided we'd tag along for a night out. We filled in some time by wandering down to one of the art museums, which was free in the evening, and took in some art with a couple of young guys from the tour. Then back home for some dinner and showers before the night began.
We nearly didn't make the crawl as we got off at the wrong stop but after a quick recalculation we arrived just on time. Madrid is nice and tiny so it doesn't take too long to get anywhere. Colin was our guide once again and we were also joined by 3 young guys from the tour earlier in the day.
I won't go into too much detail but there was lots of beer, sangria and shots. 4 bars and 1 club later we stumbled home about 4 am. Madrid has been the hardest place to navigate on the trip so far. Not sure why really but we have just really struggled with it. But it's amazing when your pretty hammered that your subconscious takes over and we made a straight line for home. Think they call it the beer taxi. Much like the beer coat that keeps you warm when your drunk and the beer goggles that make women seem more, well you get the picture.
We had a fun night out. It's such a safe city here that it's great to be able to wander around relaxed and just enjoy it.