Saturday, October 22, 2016

Madrid's Spanish Inquisition Tour


Saturday, 22 October, 2016:

Although it rained most of the day, it was still a GREAT day in in Osos Nation!

First there was good news from the Guadalajara Stings.

Stings hitting the pavement
in G-town for four hours

Last Sunday night we had a combination NFL viewing and Guadalajara Stings State-of-the-Club meeting at Hector Manzano's home in Alcalá de Henares.

The games were fun of course but I was happy with the ideas that we agreed upon to help bolster both the Stings' bank account and roster size.

The Stings wasted absolutely no time in implementing their new ideas as they started today, a mere six days after our meeting.

Team members sold lottery tickets, distributed posters throughout the city, talked to store owners and recruiter possible players at two large shopping malls in Guadalajara.

Celebrating a job well done with pizza

To sum things up, Hector e-mailed me that the day netted four new confirmed sponsors and a few other potential sponsors who showed interest.

GREAT JOB STINGS!

And the good news kept on coming

The Knights, like the Stings, are one of the Osos Rivas feeder programs. Today the Knights took the six hour, 650 km/400 mile drive south to the U.S. Naval Station in Rota, Spain to play the Rota Admirals. The Admirals play for the high school on the base serving the children of the U.S. Navy personnel working and/or working on the base.

Final Score: Royal Oaks Knights 42 - Rota Admirals 30

Congratulations to Head Coach Marco Chomón Montaña for this big victory!

It was rainy again today so most of the day was spent reading, internet work and breaking down last night's Osos scrimmage tapes.

I made the decision early in the day to make the 19 stop, two Metro train transfers trip from Arganda del Rey to Madrid's bustling Puerta del Sol to attend the Spanish Inquisition Tour starting at 7:00 p.m.

The weather report stated that the rain would continue until 7:00 p.m. but then stop until after midnight.

Who was I to argue?

 People meeting on Puerta del Sol

It was 5:45 p.m. so it was
raining as promised

 The buildings were bright
as usual

 Interesting juxtaposition of
a crucifix and legs spouting
out of the Teatro Calderon

Nearing Plaza de Santa Ana

Sounded good but . . .

. . . I was headed to the Enrique
Tomas for needed sustenance

Jamón Iberico stuffed into a tortilla Española, great idea!

While eating dinner, the skies opened and a torrential downpour threatened to flood the streets.

The Spanish Inquisition Tour meeting on Plaza Mayor might be in peril.
  
Nearing Plaza Mayor

Still Pouring

 Plaza Mayor looking good
after a spritz

 There are some wonderful
eateries down those steps

Wedding Pictures on Plaza Mayor

The rain was letting up at the 7:00 p.m. tour time approached.

Our Tour Guide under
the umbrella on the right

 Some good, old time torturing
portrayed on the Plaza Mayor

 The skies cooperated

Our Tour Guide Enrique

He did a thorough job and was well informed on his topic.

From the "It's a Small World" file, Enrique lived for a year in Thousand Oaks, California about 15 minutes from Casa Contreras in Camarillo.

Moorish styled bell tower

Reflections on a rainy night

 A deserted plaza

Opera Building on the right

The Royal Palace

 Don't pee here!

 Nice doorway to an Inquisition
holding building back in the day

To be clear, the Spanish Inquisition executed about 6,000 people during its near 700 years (1480 A.D. - 1826 A.D.)  as an instrument of the Catholic Church.

Again, Enrique did a great job laying out the facts for us during our two hours together.

 I deserved this

 Casa de Correros on
Puerta del Sol

The tour was over and as billed on the Weather Channel app own my phone, it never rained on us.

The Puerta del Sol's famed
Tio Pepe neon sign

The COUNTDOWN continued . . .

. . . more days until Laurie joins
me in Madrid

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