100 montaditos, Skyfall and frozen yogurt..

So today's cultural experience? My first trip to the infamous Madrid dining spot, '100 Montaditos'.

It's like Marmite; you either love it or you hate it. Some people have whole-heartedly recommended eating here and have given looks of shock at my response of not having been, whilst others advise steering clear as it can be extremely busy and force you to stand up in the middle of a crowded restaurant whilst enjoying your 1? glass of beer and montadito. 'Montadito' translates as something like 'little sandwich', and the idea is that you select one of the 100 sandwich fillings from the menu, order and then wait a little while before someone murmurs your name over a microphone, followed by 'por favor'. It's speedy, cheap (around 1-1.50? for what really is a small sandwich) and you can even get a jarra or pint of beer or tinto de verano for 2? to accompany your feast. All in all, apart from some stresses of mishearing the caller and a wrong order, I enjoyed the experience. For feeding six at a good price, it's preeeeetty good.

Full of sandwiches, Kat, Heather, Andrew, Ivan, Gerhardt and I then headed to the cinema to see the new James Bond film, 'Skyfall'. Although I can't claim to be a die-hard Bond fan, or have an extensive knowledge and opinion about the other Bond films, I really enjoyed this one. Cue some fantastic special effects, a ludic computer hacking villain played by Javier Bardem, a dramatic motorbike chase, numerous shots of London and you're on to a winner. The one thing I think the film lacked was the presence of John Cleese who I don't think can quite be replaced by a fresh faced, computer savvy youngster despite the actor's clear skill and efforts to make his mark in the Bond world. All in all, it's definitely worth the watch, particularly for the dramatic moment where Bond's old housekeeper shoots someone, followed by the line 'Welcome to Scotland', and the point where the film seems to merge into something rather 'Home Alone' -esque as Bond, M and Kincaid prepare a house for attack by the villain.

Leaving the cinema, feeling rather full of the winning combination of sweet and salty popcorn (something the UK should pick up on asap), the journey home included a pitstop at 'llaollao', a frozen yogurt place near Sol for some fruity, yogurty goodness...topped with some salsa de chocolate.

Great day with great people! Now feeling very full and ready for some sleep...

Peace n blessings, peace n blessings.