Dale's birthday began with presents and ended with alcohol, as any good birthday should! In between we travelled from Valencia to Madrid, which maybe was not the most fun way to spend the day. But at least we were well provisioned with chocolate croissants, filled rolls, chips and pistachio nuts!

Our hotel in Madrid is very comfortable and a short walk from the Prado Art Gallery. On the way to the gallery we passed several street performers of the "statue" kind (motionless until someone puts money in their hat). One of these "statues" actually consisted of two people painted in a terracotta colour, holding a Greek urn - good effort. Another was someone dressed as the Johnny Depp Mad Hatter sitting at a tea party for one - he was a little creepy.

We spent a couple of hours at the Prado wandering past all the 15th century religious works, lifelike marble sculptures, and Goya's "black" works. By then Dale had had enough culture for one birthday and so we headed for a pub where we could watch the first Eurocup match.

We found a place near our hotel that was playing the Poland-Greece match and had reasonably priced beer. Each time we ordered a drink the good looking waiter brought us another small tapa - brilliant! After the football we ordered a paella and salad to share. We received two plates piled with so much food we had no chance of getting through it, or the complimentary bread accompanying it! Feeling ready to burst, we asked for the bill (30 Euro - ridiculously cheap considering we'd each had 4 or 5 drinks and eaten our fill) and the lovely waiter again returned, this time with a complimentary liqueur!

Back at the hotel, the Russian - Czech game was playing so Dale was in football heaven. All in all, not a bad way to turn 28!