Last day...Free time, what to do?

We could have planned another day full of activities, but what everyone wanted was some free time to roam (and spend) as they pleased.

So we made our way to Retiro Park to wander and abandoned ideas of visiting the Royal Palace. Retiro Park contains some major acreage in the city and was originally just for the Royal Family, but after about 50 years it became public.

The bodies of water are man-made, and people take out the row boats for recreation.

The glass building is in beautiful shape and designed as an herbarium, such as can be found in England or France.

We wander a bit and then find a spot on the grass to do one of the NETC activities that had eluded us thus far, "The Caudillo's Conquest: Who will win?". We divide up into seven factions, each with a card describing our political point of view as the Spanish Civil War takes shape. On the left we had the Republicans, the Communists, and the Anarchists, none of whom had any great numbers or arms to fight with. On the right, we had the Monarchists, who supported the King. The right also included the Church and the Catholic values so long synonymous with Spanish culture. The Landowners, paranoid of losing everything to the Communists would align with the King, the church, or the last choice on the extreme right: Franco and the army. Since Franco was the only one who had any strength associated with his order, he ended up winning over all the other splintered factions,

but not without many atrocities along the way. The fascist dictator was more closely aligned with Hitler and Mussolini than the US government ever cared to publicly acknowledge. Spain still is divided over its flag, and people are reluctant to fly the flag, because many prefer one of the other versions of it that represent the Republic, the Monarchy prior to the Constitutional Monarchy that has been restored, or even the flag of Franco's Spain. Our discussion evolved into the subject of personal privacy versus Big Brother is watching you. Raquel showed us her National ID card, which has a chip containing all her personal data. We have yet to go to that in the US, but we are so close. And what data do Google and Facebook keep on us that if we thought about it, we might prefer to keep private? George Orwell warned of all this in Animal Farm and 1984. Where did the stimulation for his ideas come from? He fought in the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War! We had talked about going nightclubbing, but there was the little issue of being underage. The girls were excited to go clothes shopping for the experience. It seemed that ultimately, no clubs were open to underage kids on a Friday night. But at the last minute, Raquel found one that would have us and serve non-alcoholic drinks. At this point it was still a secret,

but we did move the pre-paid dinner to a lunch in a nicely Velásquez decorated restaurant. This is a vegetable dish, layered in puff pastry with a currant sauce. Delicious! Then we were free to shop. My mission was to find a hardware store (ferretería) where I could get a Paella, the pan in which you cook the dish. I was directed toward one in the region between Plaza del Sol and the hotel. The walk started up a pedestrian street for about 7-8 blocks. Along the way I saw many great shops and wondered if the others were striking it as rich. The ferretería was strictly door handles, so I followed new directions through another neighborhood for about 7-8 blocks and successfully found the pan.

Two for less than 15 euros! My bag would be 2.5 kilos heavier for the airline. The walk to the hotel took me through Plaza de Chueca, where every doorway on every adjacent street was an attractive eating or drinking establishment. I thought, "This is where we should come for tapas tonight!" Later Raquel told me it was the gay neighborhood and she steered us away from there.

We dress the kids up as best we can (no problem for the girls, but a challenge for the boys), and head for shared tapas at an establishment just a few blocks from the hotel. Then we head for the evening surprise: The ICE Bar!

You put on this very heavy coat and ascend into a deep freezer where the owners have carved the furniture and decor out of ice. They turn on the disco music and we move about like a batch of frozen penguins, all identical looking, as we check out the

chairs,

the radiatior and

the padded toilet seat. We sip on these non-alcoholic mojitos, the most disgusting lime drink I have ever had. They might be all right if they had the booze they are meant to have in them. We paid 10 euros to get in,

so we hung out for a while until the girls toes were about to fall off. In the lobby (back in the heat) they had bottled water from around the world to support the ICE theme.

This one from California carries a price tag of 80 euros, over $100. It's served by Hollywood celebrities like Mariah Carey at parties. I thought I'd wait and buy it locally! The trip is over:( Our wake up hour is not too early, so of course kids want to stay up. With all this great cultural variety surrounding us, I am shocked that they seem to need to make late night runs to the Burger King two blocks from the hotel. However, if that is the only frustration I have to endure chaperoning Spanish students on a trip like this, I'll call it a success. They are a great group and they exhibited impressive levels of responsibility. A good time was had by all. ¡Gracias a Diós!