Postcard from Madrid: Tim Hortons! Taco Bell! A cat!

MADRID — I have to say, after two days in this city, you’ve pretty much seen everything it has to offer.

Just joking, Madrileños.

It’s more like three days.

Also joking!

No, this is a city I’d be happy to come back to and further explore, especially if it were November and I thought to bring a jacket. It’s been in the 40s in the morning.

Iberia?

More like Siberia!

(I’ve been holding onto that witty gem for three days.)

You’ve suffered enough. On to the photos.

Somewhere in Madrid, Facebook screeds were being written about the horror committed by the Madrid city government for standing a Christmas tree in front of its city council building in early November.

“¡Por el amor de Dios, todavía faltan tres semanas para el Día de Acción de Gracias en Estados Unidos! ¡Voy a perder el control si veo coronas decorativas en Hobby Lobby!“ (“For heaven’s sake, it’s still three weeks to American Thanksgiving! I’m going to lose it if I see wreaths at Hobby Lobby!”)

(Translation credit to Google)

Closing the loop on the Day 2 postcard, which dutiful readers may remember included my mention of the Taco Bell across the street from Santiago Bernabéu Stadium being the nicest I’d ever seen:

Presenting photographic evidence.

To my right stands Falcons superfan Fermin Grau, the subject of my latest column. He was a delight to talk to and another Spaniard whose English facility inspires awe and envy deep within a certain AJC columnist.

Grau was telling me how he had helped found the Falcons fan club of Spain (Dirty Birds España) and even went to the lengths of having it legally registered with the Spanish government.

Impressed, I asked a follow-up question, referring to the club’s certification as the “legal thing.”

I wish I were joking.

At any rate, I do hope you’ll read about Grau, whose commitment to the Falcons is worthy of tribute.

I saw this feline on the grounds of Real Madrid’s headquarters, where the Falcons have worked out this week. From what players said at Friday’s media availability, cats are apparently plentiful in the complex.

Maybe the team to train there should have been ... the Bengals.

Wocka wocka!

If your concern about visiting Madrid is a possible lack of access to Canadian doughnut shops, go ahead and book your tickets.

Tim Hortons has you covered with six locations in Madrid and more across Spain. There are 18 Five Guys, too.

(This photo was courtesy of Daniel Flick, who took it for his sweetie. She is a native of Buffalo, New York, a Tim Hortons hotbed.)

That’s all for Friday. Thanks for joining us and I hope you’ll give a read to Daniel’s (and my) dispatches from Madrid.