Hola, Madrid.

So I took the show on the road, but you already knew that.

My drinkabout was kicked off with a wicked event at the ole 33 last Saturday. I think by the end of the night my arms were tired from the amount of hugs I had given out. I also had the pleasure of being hugged by Shamus a few times. During these times, Shamus who is 7 feet tall ( I round up ) lifted me high off the ground and swung me around. It was kind of disturbing to those watching but oh so fun for me. A sincere thanks to all who made the trip in on that Saturday or during the last few weeks and months to say good-bye.

So I jumped on the plane...literally with a realization that a much needed re-centering was about to begin.

I thought briefly about giving the liver a few days rest as over the past several weeks I had spent my fair share of saying good-bye with a toast and hearty farewell. That idea ended rather quickly as I found myself on Tuesday walking through a jam packed plaza in Madrid. Miraculously my liver as it usually does took over on auto-pilot and steered me directly into a bar for an order of Paella and glass of Vino tinto followed by Vino blanco. I thought it would be nice to try the Spanish equivalent of our house wine. The red from Rioja for approximately 2.75 USD (thanks to the latest screaming while falling dollar) was so, so but okay. So I switched to the white and well, well, well. Rueda Blanco came through again and I thought to myself about all those Rueda Blanco's that graced 33's by the glass list over the last several years and teased your summertime palates.

Get this... There is a statistic for Madrid stating it has 6 bars per 100 residents. Well here is a little something about something. I walked the streets in Madrid on a Tuesday night until a little after Midnight and they were packed. Not just one full bar, not just one full street. I saw families with little kids out at 11:30. (The kids were not drinking.) I saw people of all ages listening to music, drinking wine and eating. Best yet, they were enjoying it.

I left for Barcelona the next morning as I am set to return to Madrid for a few nights before my flight leaves to hurl me back across the ocean for a two week regrouping in the states before the French segment of my Drinkabout begins.

Also of great note. On my first day in Barcelona I was walking miles around and I became somewhat parched and decided it would be best at this time to quench the thirst with water. So I stumbled into a grocery store and found this glorious revelation not far from the Sagrada Familia. 1 liter of water costs 1.50 Euro. Wine costs 1.35 Euro.

So I bought a bottle of wine. Actually, as I write this I realize I should have bought wine. I am sorry if I let you down. But I can assure you it was for my health whose needs may may not always coincide with the needs of the drinkabout. I can assure you only in certain threatening decisions will I choose water over wine. One is serious dehydration, the other is if a bandito held a glock (not the musical instrument) to my head.

Now, lets go back to the Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is a stunningly beautiful and a bit odd church began by the famous architect Gaudi in 1882. It is still not completed. In fact, they expect the work to take until after 2020. They did however finish the gift shop and it seems to be fully operational.

My thoughts: If wine costs me less than water, I would get less work done as well. On another note, it kind of does away with the idea of how cool it is to turn water into wine. This now represents a net loss business situation of .15 Euro. Not so cool anymore at least from a financial position. Still a somewhat wicked trick though.

That's it for the first installment from Europe. Thanks for reading. Keep your nose in the glass and your ear to the ground. I am going to a Spanish wine tasting tomorrow evening with a 33 customer who now resides in Barcelona.

It will probably give me another chance to work on my Spanish. Yesterday, I asked someone speaking Spanish if they spoke Spanish.

Tu hablas espanol?

Oops...