The Adventures of Jill and Lisa Part Eleven

The Last Night in Madrid

A fun-loving bus ride back to Madrid gave Lisa the opportunity to harass one of her fellow English speakers:

“So your name is ONLY Randy.”

“Yes.”

“Not Randolph.”

“No.”

“How about Ronaldo?”

“No, my name isn’t Ronaldo.”

“So your birth certificate only says Randy?"

“Yes.”

“What about a middle name?”

“What? Look I’m trying to sleep.”

“Oh sorry.” After a few minutes of travel through miles of vacant hills, “Are you sure your name isn’t Randolfino?”

“Listen. I’m snoring. Hear it?” (Simulated snoring)

“Oh right.”

Once the bus reached Madrid and our heroines said their goodbyes, they began their journey home. Our American dilatants lugged their bags, three times the size of standard carry-ons, back to their rooms in the Hotel Atlantico. Determined to get some shopping into their stay and after exhaustive interviews of Spaniards to discover the best place to purchase shoes, clothes, and souvenirs, our heroines quickly freshened up and confidently strode out of the hotel and to the shops that were surely anticipating their entrance.

Yeah, that’s it.

As they approached one of the larger malls, only two blocks from their hotel, they note that many people walked the streets, but no one seemed to be going into the shops. Jill and Lisa stood at a mall entrance, only to find locked doors.

“Let’s check out the next entrance.”

“Are you sure they’re open?”

“Uh. Dunno...”

Our heroines searched for and found the mall hours.

“According to this, the mall’s open for another two hours.”

“Maybe only that store is closed?”

So they walk around and around ...

And around the outside of the mall, only to find that every entrance was locked and the primary lights seemed to be dimmed.

The women remained at an entrance and watched as entire families strolled through the streets, greeting other wanderers along the way. Pedestrians stopped and hugged each other like they were discovering old friends. Then the families disappeared into a restaurant or bar to chat. Jill and Lisa looked across the street and in a small family owned shop a sign had been posted – closed for holiday.

“You have to be kidding.”

“Now what?”

“There’s nothing wrong with the good old stand by.”

And what might that stand by be? Why the Hard Rock Café in Madrid of course. Not only did it have food but it also offered souvenirs and clothes. OK, no shoes but two out of three ain’t bad.

With their final evening in Madrid before them, Jill and Lisa joined the strolling families and wandered to the Hard Rock Café. All the while admiring the beautiful and eclectic architecture of Madrid; people watching; and admiring the openness of the Spanish culture.

And this makes our final entry for The adventures of Jill and Lisa. Tune in next week, when Lisa will come up with something that will be incredibly clever, breathtaking or at least palatable.