Highlights-Málaga to Madrid

I traveled to Madrid on the high-speed, low budget AVLO train. Normally, high speed does not equate to low cost, but in Spain it can. The nicest, non-grumpy old man thing I can say is it was an interesting experience (I’ll save details for Notable Items). Teaser: it was a trip I’m “going to remember for a very long time.” (Bonus points for remembering the movie that comes from). After arriving at Atocha station and taking the Metro to Ópera to meet the host at the same AirBnB where I stayed last year, I met a friend who lives SW of Madrid (still accessible by Metro with a secret ninja trick), and he took me to a local community theater presentation of five plays. It was a great opportunity to work on my dismal Spanish listening skills (still dismal, evidently I need lots of practice). We went later to a cafe at a mall for bad snacks. More charitable: uninspiring. My accomplishment for the evening was spilling cheese sauce on my pants. Now I have a stain that will accompany me all the way home next week (sigh).