At 7:45 yesterday I was watching a rehearsal for an opera in the plaza in front of Palacio Real (Royal Palace). We were all smushed together against those metal people barriers to get a good view of an empty stage and an interesting sounding band. I knew that they were practicing for a free show later that night at 10pm and apparently so did they (despite my assumptions that they were a bunch of tourists oggling at a spectacle) because all of a sudden there was a signal and the crowd pushed through the metal fences to get to the seats on the other side. I was slightly confused and stood my ground as an observer of the stampede.

Most of the people were crotchety old ladies who ran in and claimed seats with as many items as they could and then began flailing their arms to indicate their location to someone else on the either side of the seating section. They were yelling into their cellphones “Do you see me? I’m the one with the red jacket in the air. Are your seats better than mine?” and then there would be some shuffling around as they realize that they’ve each saved each other seats and can’t possibly occupy both sets. I walked up to one woman whose hand was firmly placed on the two seats next to her to ask to see the show’s pamphlet and she snapped at me “This seat’s taken. It’s taken.” I was just trying to check to see if my facts were right regarding the start time of the opera. Sheesh.

Because we normally have dinner around 10, I knew I wouldn’t be able to see the show so I waited around for a bit, hoping to catch more rehearsing and people watch. I was thinking that most of the people there had just stumbled upon the scene without realizing how early they were, but a woman I started chatting with told me otherwise. “They’re all here for the show. It’s free and outdoors, so of course we’re going to wait. We do it all the time.” Whoa. Who could possibly have 2 hours to sit here doing nothing before a show? I have enough trouble entertaining myself the 10 minutes before previews start at the movies, let alone for hours.

With the nice weather, I accidentally spent three more hours strolling around the plaza and its side streets. The Palace is on my running path, so I always see the stages go up and down for performances and hear the same accordion players. The past few days, though, I caught a snippet of a man playing crystal glasses and have always been bummed that I couldn’t stop myself to listen or have my camera to take pictures. Today I had both time and my camera so I marveled as he played Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and another famous song that I could hum to you but can’t remember the name. While people came and went, I stood in the middle of the sidewalk and stared, a result of which was a gathering of more people wondering what could be so interesting to me. The neatest part was how he could play chords with the glasses and I was impressed how quickly he could roll the notes out, especially without cutting his fingers. My gawking surely earned him a few euros.

I have a few more pictures here.