the slackliners!

Today I finally went to go talk to the slackliners at the Templo de Debod. After work it was such nice weather and I had so many emails to go through that I decided I wasn't going to go check out the other climbing gym but that I wanted to sit outside to write and respond to emails. This led me to try to find wifi in an outdoor space in Madrid.... which I conclude does not exist. The only website I found was this 3-year-old wifi map of Madrid: http://www.gomadrid.com/maps/wi-fi-map.html that of course recommended every single Starbucks in Madrid. 


But I forgot that J&J's Bookstore had wifi! So I went there, chatted to Dave and an older  couple who had just come from Granada, Sevilla, and Córdoba, had two tintos de verano, and answered some emails. 


After that, not having eaten dinner and already having two drinks (it was two-for-one happy hour at J&Js and Dave the bartender was being super nice), I was craving some junk food. And another beer. So I went to an alimentación (not the cheapest, but the only thing that's open at 9pm on a Tuesday) and bought some junk food and a beer. The Cruzcampo Premio was a great dark beer, the first one I had in Madrid, and went really well with the chips. 


I decided I would sit near the Templo de Debod to relax with my junk food and beer, maybe finishing reading my book. But when I passed by the Museo del Jamón I decided it was time to indulge. And I wouldn't even call it indulging - 500 g of chorizo blanco (white sausage) only cost me 3 euros, much cheaper than it would have cost me in the states. Now I have some meat to eat for dinner tomorrow and I had some tonight with my beer. 


I sat down across from the same slackliners I had seen every single time I went to the Templo de Debod to enjoy my chips, beer, and chorizo. It was the greatest dinner I've had in a long time, and all the while I spent time watching the slackliners. I noticed that every single one of them at some point stopped and practiced juggling with either pins or more than 4 balls. It seemed strange that in a group of 8 that all of them would be proficient as jugglers and slackliners.... 


So when I finished my beer I went to throw it out and simultaneously ask one of the girls who these mysterious slackliners were. She told me that they were all students in a circus school in Madrid! Unfortunately I'm not around on Saturday to see their last performance in the Caso de Campo, but it does explain why they're all amazing at everything they do.