I’ve just returned from our local bar downstairs. We are blessed with a bar right next door to our flat. Even better, they have a terrace out back, the owner is the freindliest bar owner I’ve ever met and his wife prepares simply fantastic food. Unfortunately they were closed last weekend for a well earned break. Unfortunate, as I wanted to treat the boys who were over for Henry and Natalia’s wedding to some of the goodness.
I first met Henry 5 years ago when Jon and I were living in Bristol at Uni. We headed into Wales to see the Network Q rally and invited a selection of friends over for it. Not only did we get an excellent weekend watching the rally cars blat through the Welsh Forests, Henry and I had great fun blasting across the Welsh roads between stages in our respective Subaru Impreza and MG Maestro Turbo. I subsequently met Natalia when Jon, Henry and I went to watch the Farnborough airshow four years ago. I have fond memories of watching fighter aircraft performing ludicrous maneuvers while we discussed the merits of me taking my current job in Madrid.
Four years later I found myself invited to their wedding in Madrid of all places. Convenient for me, but top marks to others who made the trip from far flung places such as Australia and Canada. Now I’m gonna try and keep this short. It was a fantastic weekend and we did loads, but to post it all here would be a little tedious. On top of that my memory of it all is a little hazy.
Thursday night after collecting Jon, Dan, Jack, Southall and George from the airport and passing the early evening chatting it the flat we then headed into town to meet Henry, Natalia and a larger collection of their friends (not before the boys discovered the roof terrace on the flat giving the best views of Madrid I’ve ever seen). A good evening with the opportunity to catch up with many people, and meet even more new faces. Highlight of the evening had to be had to be George attempting to crowd surf on a collection of wheely bins.
Friday morning was another casual affair. After home made Tortilla Espa�ola and Pan Tomaca we lounged around chatting all things cars, bikes, photography, travel, music, maps etc. Curzon, who’s really into kite flying showed us some stunning videos. This one most definitely bears checking out.
Friday night was a chance to catch up with even more friends I’ve not seen since Christmas. Especially satisfying was seeing Espe getting on with all of them (contary to here own belief, the girl’s English is getting better all the time). Most of the evening was spent in or around Plaza Santa Ana. After turning down an offer from some of the Germans to join them for a 50 euro steak, we headed of to a favorite little tapas place of mine, famous for their spicy mussels. The tapas was as ever fantastic, but I was amazed how cheap it worked out… Less than 8 euros a head!
The wedding itself on Saturday was absolutely superb. They had picked a beautiful location north of Madrid. Words cannot do the place justice… the photos however do. Natalia was looking stunning for the ceremony which took place outdoors on the lawn. The whole evening was great. Great speeches, superb food, great wine, and best of all great company. Just before the ceremony I spotted someone who looked like a girl I went to school with. After a second glance I realised it not only looked like, but was Lucy de Silva. I got chatting to her after the ceremony to find out that she works with Natalia. I was introduced to her boyfriend, Wayne, who as it turns out, he grew up less than 30 seconds from my parents house! Small world.
Everything wound down at about 5am at which point we were all piled onto the coaches returning to Madrid. A bit to much for some after all the alcohol, while others thrived on it. Jack for example, managed to traverse the coach without touching the floor. A truly fantastic wedding. One of the best I’ve ever been to. The only negative thing I can say about the wedding, is that it was a shame that most people were so destroyed from the two previous evenings, although that probably helped keep everything under control.
Sunday, was understandably relaxed. After a rather long lie in, Espe and I headed down to the Retiro park to meet some of the others. We both agreed that we should go there more often as it is so relaxing. I was entertained, as is normal for a Sunday in Retiro, by the multitude of bongo players who gather in the afternoon. Afterwards Espe and wandered into the center to meet up with Philippe, Jon, Ana and Michal, who is over from Poland for a few weeks. Later on we met up with Dan, Jon and the boys, once again in Plaza Santa Ana.
Monday, thankfully was a nice relaxed day. I grabbed the photos off Dan while he, in his own words, “raped over 50% of my mp3 collection”. I dropped Jon, Dan, Jack and George off at the airport in the afternoon, with it finishing of one hell of a weekend. There are lots of highlights, but the best for me was being surrounded by so many friends, who all seem to share similar interests. I feel so normal around this lot…
A selection of the photos from the weekend can be seen in the photo gallery.