El Gatos

OK, I've made it to Vienna, and am having the usual internet problems. I could make it to this site, so I guess that is a step in the right direction. The trip here was relatively uneventful, although Madrid once again earned it's reputation for being a citz of night owls. I left my hotel at 5:35 a.m. to go catch the Metro to go to the airport and there were thousands of people in the streets heading home. Granted, there was a special celebration where everything, including the Prado, was open all night, but somehow I don't think these folks are probably any different on any other Saturday night. When I made it down to the Sol Metro station there were a couple hundred folks sitting on the steps and waiting for the doors to open. I figured this had disaster written all over it, but I didn't have a choice. However, and pleasantly, when the gates opened everyone walked down them in some sense of order (albeit a drunken one) and made their way to the tracks. Once there the people on opposite sides of the tracks, who must have spent the night partying together, began to sing songs in unison and dance. Ah, Madrid.