Jan 2008

After a hectic week in London it was time to leave and go check out the capital of Spain, Madrid!
Having heard lots of wonderful things about this city; especially the nightlife, it was time to go and see if it lived up to its reputation.

After being picked up by my good mate Monica; who I met in Ibiza, and then dropping my stuff off we headed out to a few local bars with her brother Hugo and I soon realised again why I absolutely love Spain. It’s just the Spanish people and their way of life, so relaxed, always smiling and having fun and seems to be enjoying every minute of every day, if only I could speak some proper Spanish it would be so much better.
Well I’m not sure if it was a stroke of luck or what but after walking into this club on the first night they just happened to drop ‘Heater’ by Samim which was the biggest tune to hit Ibiza last season and fuck I just couldn’t get the smile of my face and that pretty much how it stayed for the next few days.

Was staying with Monica, her brother & her wicked Granma in there flat which was just a stones throw away from the Real Madrid stadium. Now I’m no soccer fan but did a tour of the magnificent stadium which took you through the changing room, media room and the pitch. Was a bit of a shame I had no idea what I was looking at in the trophy room but going on the size and the amount of trophies I’m sure it would have been any soccer fans wet dream.

While Monica & her bro were working I took the opportunity to go and get lost in the city and find some really cool spots and places such as an Ibiza Metro station (Corny I know) before heading back home to get ready for the next night out.

Apparently Madrid is a bit of a trendy city, so the idea of changing shoes to something a bit more ‘smart’ didn’t go down too well, thought my shoes were well ; trendy, maybe a bit dirty but still trendy....right?
After everyone got dolled up I got into my well ‘usual’ clothes, we set off to have a few drinks in the park with some of Hugo’s mates before hitting the Heineken club then the absolutely unbelievable Kapital club.
Set in an old theatre and made up of SEVEN levels it’s Madrid’s biggest club and has a floor for just about every type of music (even a karaoke bar and cinema), and I have to say (even at risk of sounding like a big geek) the lighting rig was just truly astonishing. I suppose only fitting for the capital of the best country in Europe.

Next day it was up unusually early to go check out the Plaza De Torres bull ring which I was rather excited about. Not the whole bull killing thing but more the tradition of it and it being the second biggest ring of its kind in the world. Well it would have looked a hell of a lot bigger if the fucking circus hadn’t decided to come to town and erect there big top right in the middle, although seeing there elephants and lions roaming around was quite cool, with it being a bull ring and all
It was then time to head home to have a kip before venturing out into the crowds for the 3 Kings Festival which is like a second Christmas for Spain and apparently Italy, where they have a massive parade and all the kids get there presents from the first Christmas! Confused?

I have to say that Monica was an absolute champion as she managed to hook us up with guestlist or free entry every night to some of the best nights and for the 3rd night I became a honorary ‘agents de la noche’ or to the non Spanish ‘agents of the night’. Nothing crude or rude just a company that sends out ‘agents’ to take photos of people partying the night away; to bad I didn’t have a good camera or understand what they were asking for so left it up to Monica while I went and had some fun.

On the Sunday it was time to chill out and after catching up with my buddy Evan, Monica showed me a few of here favourite spots before I had to leave the next day back to France.

I had a absolute ball in Madrid and with it being my 4th visit to Spain its the country I’ve visited the most without living there and has now even got me thinking of studying there for a year or so sometime, but with things changing every couple of months these days who knows what will happen.

p.s A massive thank you to Monica & her lovely family for letting me stay with them. Next time Monica please let me at least wash the dishes won’t ya! :p

Check out the pics here >>> http://redmonkey.smugmug.com/gallery/4143458_8aaCF#240011704_Sfq5G

Being lucky enough to be back in Europe around the festive season meant that I could return to my old stomping ground in London & celebrate with a bang with some of my good mates.

After leaving the yacht & being flown back to Nice one week before Christmas, I ended up staying with my mate Steve at his friends join in Cannes where after he left was by myself over Christmas.
Wanting to make the most of it and at least feel like I was at home, I decided to cook up a storm and after discovering one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks found the perfect meal for Christmas Day. Upon waking on Christmas Day and discovering that Santa has YET AGAIN forgot to deliver any presents I cracked open the wine and started preparing the feast for one.
One big chicken smother in salt and pepper and drowned in oil.
Then one lemon, some garlic cloves and a few herbs stuffed up his insides then covered in bacon rashes and lied to rest on a bed of potatoes before being roasted for an awfully long time.
In the meantime had turned on the telly and was reminiscing back to the good old days with every single pop chart number one from since I was still at school. Christmas is one of those weird days where you can think back years to where you were on that very day.
Well the chicken was done and totally beat my expectations of how it would turn out....it wasn't burnt!!! But then, like always I realised why I don't like cooking as in the time it had taken to cook I had lost my hunger and wasn't hungry no more but being that I cooked it I managed to fit in one tasty chicken breast before passing out on the couch.

After having to make a hasty evacuation from the apartment after being informed the owner was on her way back and will be there in 10 minutes, I headed to Steve's boat back in Monaco for a night before jetting off to London.

We'll I'm the first to admit that I've given London I bit of a bad rap in the past and it's not one of my favourite places but it did feel good to be back as it's like a second home and where all my mates are.
Staying with my friend Denisa who is living in an absolutely magnificent humongous ex-hostel/ex-squatters pad up in North London was quite cool and after catching up and having a good night sleep it was time to see what everyone else was up to.
Heading out to Brick Lane the night before New Years with a couple of buddies ended up being quite the night and was already exhausted before NYE had even begun!!

Well NYE came and went like any other year, but this year had a special touch about it as it was like being back at home again. I spent the first half of the night at some Kiwi party in a recording studio in Shoreditch where I was a bit hesitant to confess that I was an Aussie in case they all turned on me and to get away from their extremely discounted alcoholic drinks. Then it was off to Ministry of Sound to catch up with the gang again and see what's being going on before ending up at The Key & The Cross for the ultimate New Year's Day party where it got very messy indeed surprisingly quickly.

With only a few days of my trip remaining I caught up with a few other people before bidding farewell again & setting off the Madrid.

Check out the pics here >>> http://redmonkey.smugmug.com/gallery/4138284