I slept until I woke up – which was only 11am. So I went back to bed, and my alarm went off at noon. I hit snooze twice before resetting my alarm to 1pm. That’s when I woke up. Obviously having missed breakfast, I was taken to the CD signing which was still going on, 2 hours later (it was now 2pm). I hung out there for a bit, and then we were taken back to my hotel where there was a big luncheon gala planned. That was good since it was now 3pm and I hadn’t eaten anything yet today.
Lunch consisted of more of the same: tapas for two hours, and then a main course. But as usual, the tapas was mainly pork based, though they did have some fried cod (like fish and chips). They even brought something that looked like eggplant spread or olive tapenade. It tasted good – and then it was pointed out that it was blood pudding. Again. Gah! I think it might be best to go through a foreign country without ever being told what you are eating. Just taste it, and if it’s good, enjoy it. Ignorance is truly bliss in this case.
There was actually dessert at this lunch. Not meat-based, I might add. It was ice cream and cake, which was quite good. And a welcome change from the constant tapas that have been raining down on us. Noting how long the lunch went (3.5 hours!), I then went up to my hotel room to change for the evening’s festivities (a flamenco party is planned – but lord knows what time that will start/end), and now I’m back at the hospital where they have internet access. It’s about 7:30pm, and currently a composer roundtable panel is going on with all the guests, and afterwards Bruce Broughton will speak, and Robert Townson of Varese Sarabande will present a “listening party” of some of their upcoming releases. (I’ll be skipping the latter to go explore the old part of the city and take some pictures around sunset.) I leave for Madrid in the morning, so hopefully I’ll be able to post more before I leave, but if not, it will be after I get into the hotel on Monday afternoon/evening.