High time for another moan.
Likes:
- Clear skies/sunshine in winter - cold but good.
- Lack of overflying planes - Madrid, Europes 3rd largest capital, unlike London or Manchester, manages to keep at least it's central parts free of noisy air traffic
- Honey Rum - goes down real smooth. See also Tinto Verrano - fizzy wine, like cider but more Spanish.
- Eavesdropping English conversations - people tend let their guard down in public places when they think no-one's listening.
- Metro musicians - god bless 'em
- Rodilla - it's a pretty sterile chain of cafes serving very average sandwiches (see below) but whoever had the oddball gumption to call a string of eateries 'Knee' gets a thumbs up from me.
Dislikes:
- Mahou - I'm so fucking sick of Mahou, Madrid's local beer and the only one available in most bars/offys. 'A flavour of 5 stars' it may be but I've had a-bloody-nuff of it! Occasionally you'll get Cruzcampo or San Miguel but they'll be pricier.
- Winter temperatures - I'm understanding the 'bitterly cold' comments now. Although it reaches the mid-teens in the afternoons, it's regularly minus a couple of degrees in the morning.
- Sandwiches - don't bother with what passes for a sandwich, you're better off with an empañada.
- Bureaucracy and the unhelpful bureaucrats that 'enforce' it - having to convince the woman in the social security office that yes, I did need to pay it, or yes, they were going to fine me, was pretty annoying.
- Broken escalators - I'm not sure if this should go in the 'dislike' bunch because of the dizzying feeling you get when stepping onto a broken escalator (of which there are many) and the exhilerating effect it has.
- Lack of squash - are dilutable concentrated juice drinks a purely English phenomenon or has Spain just not caught on? Not found a drop of it.
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