Monday 17 October 2016

#Blogtober16 Day 17 Favourite Concert You Have Attended

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Favourite Concert You Have Attended is the next theme for #Blogtober16 Day 17. This was easy peasy!
When I was younger I lived near London, we would go to Hyde Park and see the free concerts there. I have seen so many bands including Edgar Broughton Band, Humble Pie, Pink Floyd..... But my favourite is not one of those.

I also used to go to the all night concerts at the Lyceum Ballroom, just off The Strand in London and saw many, many bands without my parents knowledge.

The Roundhouse was another great venue or The Bowes Lyon in my home town of Stevenage.....but it wasn't those either or Knebworth or Wembley.

In 2012 in the middle of the Euro qualifiers we went to Madrid, we went to see Bruce Springsteen. We have seen him many times before and since but this was the best. We stayed right in the heart of Madrid on the Gran Via. The picture at the top is Madrid, with it's red buses and underground Metro it is a fabulous city. Like London! Much hotter but very similar.

We stayed for five days and saw loads of Madrid.

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Plaza Mayor Madrid


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El Retiro Park

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Retiro Park Madrid

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Retiro Park Madrid
Madrid has a great Metro system and we travelled all around the city on it. We ventured out of the centre to the Bernabeu Stadium to work out the route for the concert. It was super easy, one tube and a short walk. We even stopped in a pub and watched England play a qualifying game. Satisfied that we knew where we were going we headed back to the centre to enjoy the rest of our break.

On the day we found the stadium and got there super early, Bruce started the concert really, really late. Maybe an hour and a half late, anyway he then did his longest concert to date and finished in the early hours of the morning. It was fantastic, 70,000 (this is a guess!) people leaving the stadium all looking for transport home. 

Nothing! Not a bus, not a metro, not a taxi to be found. It was going to be a long walk home after 4 hours of dancing we were knackered! 

We walked for about an hour when I managed to wave down a taxi to take us back to our hotel.

The next day we went to the famous flea market in the La Latina district. It is a haven for pick pockets so I clutched my bag closely and we survived. On the Metro back to the hotel I was pickpocketed! So annoying, we were pushed and hassled into a corner and while we were trying to move through the four or five men crowding us, they stole my purse. I knew something was wrong and checked my bag, my purse was missing. In temper I shouted at them and called them thieves. They all moved back, on the floor was my purse. I was livid. They jumped off at the next stop.

They had only got 20 Euros as I always spread my money around. They left my cards and my phone, they were only after cash. 

Once we got off the Metro I realised how stupid I had been, what if they had knives? There I was taking on five men. My husband and I had been skilfully separated so he didn't know what was happening until I shouted and then they were gone.

Going down!

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Beautiful buildings in Madrid

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Ernest Hemingway drank here and so did we!

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La Latina Market

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Cybele Palace, Madrid City Hall

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Gran Via Madrid

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Tapas Madrid

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Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Madrid


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Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Madrid

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Santiago Bernabeu Stadium -17th June 2012

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The Boss - Bruce Springsteen
So despite the long walk home and the unfortunate encounter with the pickpockets, it is still the best concert I have been too. If you ever get the chance to visit Madrid then do. It is a fantastic, and mostly, safe city. I loved it and would go back again. 


If you ever travel to see a band think of the long walk home after! At Wembley we had a hotel right next to the stadium. in Coventry recently we couldn't book a hotel close and the taxi's wouldn't take bookings either so we had to take our chance. After the concert we spent an hour or two in a working mens club with the locals and then got a taxi back to the hotel.






Have you ever travelled to see a band? What is the best concert you have been to? 


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5 comments

  1. WOW! Bruce Springsteen! He has such an amazing voice, and I was reading an article about him the other day, I was amazed how old he is now as his music is just as fab now! - Sorry to read of your pickpocketing experience though, that must have been upsetting.

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    1. He is amazing live. Once he's on stage he doesn't leave, and no breaks. So a 4 hour concert is him for the whole time

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  2. Wow that was a mini vacation right there not just a concert. I have never seen the boss live but would love to at some point.

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    1. He is amazing, we saw him the following year in Cardiff and Wembley. Went to Coventry this year. He never disappoints and Madrid is amazing. I love Capital cities though :-)

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  3. Wow! What an adventure...It sounds like you had a fantastic time despite the pickpocketers. Grr!
    #Blogtober16

    ReplyDelete

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