Someone went to Madrid and left us at home

Throughout the summer they promised us: wait until September and we'll all go on a trip, TOGETHER. A few days away at the seaside, camping, was what they told us. Ella and and I, plus the two tall ones, camping on the Atlantic coast of Spain. What could be more enjoyable? But when it came to pass, what happened? A slight suggestion by the forecast that the weather might be inclement and they were off, at the drop of a dog biscuit. Plans changed, dogs left at home and the two of them minus their canine companions off to Madrid, no doubt to wine and dine themselves, without us.

Admittedly, they left us in very good hands, being cared for by Haidé and Christobal, but a promise is a promise. And granted, the weather was actually awful with tremendous storms across Andalucia that saw more than 60 mm of rain fall in a few hours and caused the death of three people in the province of Jaen, but still, they said we would go together. I can't see what would have been so bad about staying in a wet tent with two soggy dogs, watching the rain lash down outside. I thought our carers were made of stronger stuff.

To show my displeasure when they returned I paid no interest at all when they told us of the hotel they stayed in and how well located it was in the district of Chueca, just off the Gran Via; and I ignored their reports of visiting the two famous art galleries, the Prado and the Reina Sofia. I scorned their enthusiasm for the art works of Velazquez and Goya, Picaso and Dali, and positively yawned when they described a pleasant meander through the exquisite Retiro Park and Royal Botanical Gardens. Tales of a visit to a fashionable alternative theatre built in an old slaughter house to see The House of Bernada Alba did not stir a whisker of reaction from me, neither did the fact that they also found time to go the cinema. I was, though, interested to learn that they encountered no less than three wired haired dachshunds, and am now wondering whether Madrid might make a more suitable residence for someone of my lineage than the mountains of Andalucia. I must work on being included in any return trip.

Yours, with nose in the property pages,

Fergus

PS: Here is a little video footage of the trip - notice the absence of myself and Ella!