The Wellington Society of Madrid. We Tour, but we NEVER bore!

The one regret that many new members of the Wellington Society have expressed to me is that they joined and took my walking tour through Old Madrid on their last night in the capital and not the first. I introduce them to many aspects of the old quarter not mentioned in the guide books: cozy taverns and restaurants frequented by locals only, doorways of houses down narrow side streets where many a curious anecdote of its famous (or infamous) owner of centuries past is told, and typical but exceptional tapas to sample.

The Chairman has many friends

With my Nikon camera, a 50th birthday gift, I decided to visit all my friends who own some of the finest tapas and wine bars and modest eating establishments throughout the Old Quarter, to photograph them, all my good friends. It took the better part of a year to complete the task. At every refreshment stop we receive a warm welcome from my Spanish friends. You shake the hand of a smiling friendly face, sample local cuisine and drink wine unseen in the general stores. By the end of the tour, you are no longer a tourist in a foreign city, but an honored guest in these establishments.

Making it Easy

Members of the Society who sign up for our day excursions are surprised at the ease in which we travel, tickets are already in my hand, bus or train awaits us with your very own reserved seat. As English is spoken on a very limited basis in Spain, my fluency in the language has helped Society Members ease many awkward situations.

Expect the Unexpected

Although the AVE fast train-line was completed in 2006 it is not easy to get round-trip tickets at Atocha station. First the queues at the AVE ticket office (not the main largo ticket office by the way!) then to find their is a seat available on the all seat-all numbered AVE to Toledo but that all seats are booked up for the return journey: reason? people book on line for the last train home which is early evening...hours wasted for a 20 minute ride!

Transportation|

The Spanish transport system is unlike anything Americans or the British have ever experienced before. Some bus and train journeys have seating numbers, others do not. A round trip ticket on the bus is not a round trip ticket until you hand it in at the other end to get your return ticket. Members look on as I speak in fast Castilian and promptly receive what unknowing tourists take an age to obtain, namely our return tickets. “We would never have been able to do it ourselves” say so many members. Wherever

we travel on our Society day excursions, there are wonderful, kind Spanish friends ready to fuss over you. It is all part of being a member of the Wellington Society!

Join us!

So join the Wellington Society and assure yourself a most pleasant experience in Spain!

Kindest Regards

Stephen Drake-Jones, Chairman

The Wellington Society of Madrid

The Wellington Society of Madrid

Revised 19 January, 2004

www.wellsoc.org