We had the protest yesterday and it was a beautiful sunny day and about 11°C in the shade - and icy in the wind. Despite this, it was too good an opportunity to miss. Juan had recieved permission from the autorities to stage a demonstration and that was from 12 noon to 2 pm. The police wanted to move us along but the permission form kept them happy.

Over night I had been painting the banner for about 6 hours till 7am - and only had a few hours sleep before having to head to Puerta del Sol. Coffee assisted the problem. Long black here is a short black ' they seem not to have long blacks so coffee is basically a shot of expresso and that´s all - if you are not interested in leche (milk).

There are some lovely people there and Juan and I stripped down to take part in the demo. It was cold in the shade, so as long as no one cast shadows, it was bearable lying close to the ground. I was so tired I started drifting off in the sunlight.

"Sun baking in Puerta del Sol, Madrid, Spain..."

Afterwards we all went to felafels, then hot chocolate at Starbucks with Iain (activist from Britain) while waiting for the start of Brokeback Mountain. Juan took me for a touring walk of some amazing buildings on the way. I think that they will be part of the bus tour we are going to take.

I have met both of Juan´s parents now and they are delightful. I am so relieved taht they can speak some English - Juan is going to teach some more when we are travelling by bus around the city. Madrid is a very big place so there is a lot of "class time" available. :)