authentic flamenco shows, dining out, lifestyle, live shows, Single, tablaos, tours, Vacation

Experiencing Flamenco in Madrid

March 8, 2015 scamp73249 Leave a comment

I didn’t know what to expect in Madrid. This was my second international solo trip and rather than attempt to see multiple countries like I did before I opted to see what one city had to offer. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but for this trip I challenged myself to try something unplanned.

I decided on a flamenco show and on my way out of the hotel I met a girl from Majorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean. She was in Madrid for the weekend visiting friends and was helpful with getting me to the train station. Little I knew then that she would later influence where I’d go on my next vacation! We chatted a bit on the train, then she got off to meet her friends and then next I got off to see what Madrid’s nightlife had to offer.

I typically avoid nightlife if I’m by myself and even more-so if I’m traveling. This was a big step for me because the show I chose was a midnight performance. The trains stop running at midnight.

The “Tablaos” for the flamenco show, is one of the many dotted around the city–Casa Patas. I later learned that Casa Patas is also a flamenco school and the home of the flamenco foundation. I grabbed a seat at the bar and nursed a couple glasses of beer with some tapas before the show. It was packed and in hindsight I should have gotten there earlier. Looking around you got this sense of authenticism about the place–unpretentious, homey. It wasn’t a small place, but you could feel that you were packed into a room full of history, culture and tons of energy.

At showtime you are moved to small room in the back of the restaurant. It was practically filled by the time I got there, so I ended up in the back. In the front, a small stage was set up with instruments bathed in tinted red lighting and with the intimate setting, the mood was set for the show. You could feel the sense of expectation in the room and although I could barely those around me you got a sense that there were a lot of tourists but with some locals mixed in. I talked briefly with a few locals next to me in the back.

I had never seen a flamenco show before so I was surprised when I got totally swept up by the performance. The music pulsed with so much energy I could feel it under my skin. It was intense. I caught myself holding my breath a few times during the dance performances because of the passion, the storytelling–very heart wrenching yet beautiful, and you can’t wait to see how it ends.

The musicians, vocalists and dancers combined created this almost trance like atmosphere that when 3 hours flew by I couldn’t believe it was over. We got a bonus performance at the end of our show. At around 3:00 am this little flamenco dancer in training came on and gave us a brief performance.

There was nothing touristy about this experience. For a but a moment these performers gave us a piece of them that you could see was not given up easily. There was a lot of sweat put into each movement, each strumming, each telling and as the receiver, you took from them, demanded even, then took some more.

I was slightly worried to be leaving a show at 3:00 am in the morning with no means to get back to the hotel but the minute I stepped out of the restaurant you saw people milling about like it was daylight and there were taxis readily available. In no time I was back at my hotel. I can’t remember how much it cost and that is a good thing because that means it wasn’t much!

If you are ever in Madrid, this is a must-see performance. You won’t be disappointed.

hotel, lifestyle, Single, tours, Vacation

Being Safe While Traveling Solo

February 24, 2015 scamp73249 1 Comment

AtTheSpanishSteps — At the Spanish Steps

I was excited about the next lap of my trip. I had 3 glorious days in Rome. The Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, The Colosseum and of course the Vatican’s Sistene Chapel were magnificent historical highlights of my trip that I was happy to have seen and experienced firsthand.

Next stop Athens. My flight departed from Rome at 8:55am. My hotel, Hotel Giolli, was 30 mins away from the airport via the Termini train station. The Termini station was 1/2 mile from my hotel–an easy walk for a cold February morning.

So I was up by 4:00am with plenty time to check-out of the hotel and walk to the train station with my suitcase rumbling loudly on the cobblestones in the early hours. I was feeling cute too. I was decked out in my newly purchased hat and scarf.

The roads were quiet. And only the occasional car passed me by. In less than 10 minutes I got to the train station and with ticket in hand headed to the section where the train to the airport was departing. I remember thinking to myself, “Where’s the crowd?” There were sprinkles of people around, but where I was standing was a bit isolated.

I did see some men who looked like Africans off to my left and that was about it. I was about 5-10 minutes in, waiting for my train, when a shabby-chic looking Roman native man walked by. There was something about his dress and demeanor that called to mind the movie Oliver Twist.

In less than a minute he was walking by me again but walking closer. I got the sense that I was being “checked out” and my look probably screamed “Prime American Victim!” Next time he passed he stopped and asked in accented English, “Do you have the time?” I immediately shook my head and said a quick ‘thank you Geesus’ that my watch was covered by my coat.

No sooner than I told him no, even more shabbier-chic men pooled into my area. By this time I could sense something was off. They all seemed to know each other and all had me as a primary focus. I could feel a sense of dread coming over me.

Guards_at-The_Vatican — Guards at The Vatican

I felt almost rooted to where I was standing–in a trance almost. Ready to accept what was about to happen–feeling trapped. But in the midst of me trying to coax myself to run, I heard this deep voice off to my left calling out to me urgently. “Hello…Hello!”

Somehow this voice broke the spell of what was about to happen and the men who had started circling instantly backed away. I looked over to the voice and saw that one of the African men was calling me over to him urgently. I didn’t even think twice before hauling arse to walk the 20-30 steps to where he was standing.

I guess I had stupid American written all over me because he knew to talk to me in English. I was so grateful though and didn’t realize how terrified I was until he asked if I was ok and felt a great sense of relief coming over me. All I kept thinking was I could have lost all my money and passport!

The African introduced himself in his limited English and I managed to tell him I was heading to the airport. He was able to say that he would take a later train to where he was going and wait with me for my train and he did. He walked me unto my train and I handed him a business card and told him if he was ever in NYC look me up.

This was back in 2008. By then I felt like a veteran traveler. I had gone to Madrid the year before and walked just about everywhere and felt pretty fearless. I remember in Madrid that I stayed out long after the train system stopped running because of a flamenco show and was proud that I figured out how to get back to the hotel.

I got sloppy on this trip though. A few things could have been done differently.
1. Choose a later flight to Greece
2. Get the schedule for the train in advance and time my arrival to the train terminal to be less than 10 minutes before departure
3. Pay for a hotel transfer to the airport from the hotel.

At the Acropolis In Greece. — At the Acropolis in Greece

Needless to say lesson learned. I shook off that bad memory and went on to Athens to experience an even older time in history. From the ruins of the Acropolis in Athens to the Argolis full day tour that took me outside of Athens to more ancient ruins, this solo trip created an even richer experience for me.

Have you had a bad experience going out solo? How did you handle?

dining out, hotel, lifestyle, Single, tours, Vacation

“Doing” Without a Plus One. The First Big Trip.

February 21, 2015 scamp73249 10 Comments

My first big “doing” without a plus one was my first international vacation in 2006. London-Paris-Brussels.

My mother thought I was crazy. Co-workers who learned of my trip mentioned words, like brave, inspired, or they gave me that uncertain look, with follow-up questions: Are you sure? By yourself? What will you do? Who will you talk to? Are you going to eat at a restaurant by yourself?

Back then I wasn’t even thinking along those lines. All I wanted to do was explore–to see what’s out there. To learn new things, have new experiences and I did–without a plus one.

You might be thinking, of course you can do this by yourself. You’re outgoing, you’re the life of the party, or I may just start the party wherever I go. But no. Not really. I can hang with the best of them. I can talk up a storm–sometimes. But really what I feel on the inside whenever I venture out alone gave me insight into truly who I am.

I forced myself to do that trip back in 2006 and have been doing a solo trip almost every year since. But it didn’t just stop at trips. I went to movies, concerts and restaurants. The key was I ventured out solo. I learned to love my own company. I learned to form my own opinions. I learned to see my surroundings unhindered by a second opinion and then learned a lot by myself.

So to the big question: What’s it like going solo?
First, you have to plan. In 2006, going to London-Paris-Brussels wasn’t like going on a beach trip. There was no lazing at the beach all day and reading a book. I had to figure out what I wanted to do in each of these cities. How do I get from the airport to the hotel? Or better yet, what hotel was good enough without breaking the bank? Reading reviews for each hotel and weighing the pros and cons before hitting the ‘buy’ button helped.

It was my first big trip, so I kept it simple–I booked a hotel and airfare package. Doing the package helped me see the hotel options available and the locations of these hotels. Knowing the hotel options made me see what was nearby each hotel. I could then figure out what I wanted to see and choose the best hotel to see as much as I wanted.

I started with the basic hop-on-hop off tours to get my bearings around each city. I also researched the quickest way to move around. All these cities had a train system with maps, so I researched online and downloaded train maps. With basic tours and maps all done I looked to see what area was popular in each city and then crossed checked it against the train maps to figure out how to get there from my hotel.

Photo taken in Paris. I was pulled into this cafe after getting off the hop on/off tour by the guy on the right. He pulled me around the bar and one of his customers (guy on the left) was pulled into the photo with me. I was hysterical. I hung out with them for a few hours.

You can’t plan everything though. My first trip took an unexpected turn–in a great way–when I met these people in this photo in Paris.

Were all my trips like this? No. But I did meet more people along the way.

Get out there and explore. You don’t have to do a big trip. It can be to that restaurant you’ve been dying to try out or that play you’ve been meaning to see. Just have a plan to do something on your own.

After doing it come back and tell me about it. What you do and how you do it will help someone else take that leap to hanging out without a plus one.