San Francisco Boy

Memories of Madrid: Sept. 26-27, 2009

TAPAS STREET: In the doorway of Taberna Los Huevos de Lucio, Calle Cava Baja, Madrid, after a sumptious spread of Jamón ibérico, sausage and eggs. Photo by my Madrid guide and fellow Rapiers partisan Ramon Garcia, 26 Septiembre 2009, after an all-night flight from San Francisco day before to London Heathrow, then connecting flight to Madrid.

LOOKING UP: Rapiers John Tuck, Nathan J. Hulse, Colin Pryce-jones and Neil Ainsby in the harshly lit stairwell of Club Gruta '77, Madrid, 26 Septiembre 2009, before their stonking 90-minute set before a few hundred crazed rock 'n' roll patrons.

GO-GO EN ESPANOL: The party starts late in Madrid. Rapiers came on about 2 a.m., stormed the place with unbridled, potent British Beat on borrowed instruments to the delight of the front rows, then packed up at 3:30 a.m. to head right back to London.

MADRID SUNDAY UNO: Serene balcony view from my De Las Letras Hotel room on Calle Gran Vía, after (yawn!) 4 hours sleep and while suffering mighty noise hangover.

MADRID SUNDAY DOS: Another pigeon-eyed view from the balcony.

LUX SINK: I found De Las Letras Hotel in Time Out Madrid, which cited its chic, ultra-modern decor and trimmings. Quite fine with me; alas I was there a mere 18 hours.

DESAYUNO: No time to dream or lounge, I hopped in a cab to the Reina Sofia Museo Nacional to make its 10 a.m. opening, arriving early enough for a 15-minute repast of coffee and sausage "pincho" (sandwich) next door at Brillante, where I sat at the bar, trying to blend with the locals. Coffee and pincho muy bien, but not the awfully fried churro everyone else enjoyed dunking in their coffees.

Pincho, si!

REINA SOFIA: Even with free admission this Sunday morning, I still felt guilty and greedy for visiting solely for one painting and one painting only.

GUERNICA BY PABLO PICASSO: It's wider and larger than you imagine, painfully stark black and white, in its own dedicated room watched over by a single guard, who waved me off after a few seconds of videotaping (non-flash photography OK). You can almost hear the bombs falling and exploding, and you want to look at the painting's scenes like a camera making quick jump cuts. As I said, having to rush past the most celebrated masterpiece of the 20th Century made me wince with regret, and tears knowing I'd never be able to relate the experience to my mom, who loved art museums. A related video I managed to shoot.

GUERNICA 2-4. I budgeted a meager 10 minutes for this pleasure, ran back to the ground floor, then caught a return cab to my hotel, frantically checked out in 10 minutes, then hailed another cab to Madrid Barajas Airport, for a return flight to London. Adios, Madrid. Related video, taxi thru Madrid.

AEROPUERTO: Only about 15 minutes from the city center, Madrid Barajas International Airport is all glass, steel and tubing sleek, with beautifully colored signage.

AEROPUERTO INFRASTRUCTURE: A Cubist perspective, perhaps?

CAFE OLAY!: No, this ain't the aftermath of several patrons' coffee orders, but mine and mine alone, over half an hour, waiting for my London gate number to be called. Blame the mini, European-sized cappuccino cups coupled with a massive caffeine craving worsened by jetlag, no sleep, non-stop dashing.

London in 48 Hours: Sept. 27-29, 2009

TELSTAR AT HMV: Front of Oxford Street store display for Nick Moran's directorial debut, Telstar, adapted from the stage play for the big screen, chronicling the rise and fall of '60s maverick record producer Joe Meek. I bought a copy, thank you.

SOHO TREAT: Milkily exquisite Flat White coffee, baked scone with bramble marmalade at Fernandez & Wells, Beak Street, London.

COFFEE LOVE: Always seems a shame to stir the design.

O2 LONDON, NORTH GREENWICH: Arriving about 6 p.m., Monday, 28 September, to see Cliff Richard and The Shadows' Final Reunion Tour, celebrating their 50th anniversary as a rock 'n' roll concern. In tow with me, none other than Rapiers rhythm guitarist Neil Ainsby, who met up with me on Great Russell Street, down the street from my digs at the Morgan Hotel, next to the British Museum. We tubed it out to Canary Wharf via the Jubilee Tube. NB: The O2 is the former Millennium Dome. Related videos.

MOVE IT: Posing with a larger-than-life Cliff Richard at the entrance of The British Music Experience at the O2. Photo by Neil Ainsby, who every few steps was set upon by Rapiers fans immediately yakking about this and that, no "Hi, ya!" or "Hi, my name is..." "They're like that sometimes," said Neil, who before the show managed to find time for a quick smoke on a patio and kindly buy me two pints of lager in a pub we desperately needed (for drink and the gents).

GREG MEET NEIL: I'm in J. Kidd and The PIrates motif, Neil in '65 Lennon-McCartney.

O2 FRIENDS: Fellow Shadows fans Linda Krokou and Neil Ainsby, intermission.

WONDERFUL LAND 1: Bruce Welch, Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin on the tri-screen, belting out some classic British Beat rocker, like they were still teenagers just graduated from the 2 i's.

WONDERFUL LAND 2: Bruce, Cliff and Hank, backed by Brian Bennett, were the magical impetus for my 96-hour there-and-back trip from San Francisco to London via Madrid. Hearing Apache, Wonderful Land (tears in my eyes) and Move It maybe for the last time by the masters was worth every penny, every bit of effort to be there.

CAFFEINE EXPRESS: I capped the night 'round about midnight at the dean of London Soho coffee bars, the venerable Bar Italia, Frith and Old Compton streets, steaming with 60 years of character, atmosphere and ambiance, and only a stone's throw from where once stood the 2 i's, ground zero for British rock 'n' roll.