Well i could regret saying this when im lost first thing sunday morning somewhere in the metro....but i think ive got enough information to ensure that doesnt happen. Though questioning whether i would of perferred remaining ignorant to the 'ghosts'....!! What if i come face to face and they only speak Spanish...?!!? Im still trying to come to grips with the language! Im thinking i will wait for the morning rather then use it late at night...even though im very curious about this 'underworld' , i wouldnt want to miss out on any experiences in Madrid.
Oh just a question that im puzzled about, if anyone knows the answer.....how come in a place where the lifestyle 'norm' is to stay up till the break of dawn... theres loads of people around in the morning...??! What keeps everyone going......

Gracias
Jodi

One very nice thing about Madrid and Spain in general is that at night in the weekend there are many people around the streets till 3 a.m at least. I suppose previous siestas :z: really help us be up till 7 a.m when we go out at night (at least it works with me)
In Spain, working time tables are "slightly" different than in the U.K: We leave 2/3 hours between 2 p.m and 4/5p.m. for lunch, which allows many people to eat their 2 courses and dessert and have a siesta or to go to a bar to have a coffee and play cards before returning to work, which, in turn, won�t end till 7 or 8 p.m. As regards shops, they close at 8 p.m (some even at 9/ 9:30 p.m in summer timetable), so there is a very lively atmosphere in commercial streets, supermarkets and shopping centers till 9, at least. Then people go home and have dinner (between 9 and 10:30, normally). Then (Friday and Saturday nights normally) they have a second shower and get ready to go out. By the time you are meeting your friends at a bar, cafeter�a or pub (which, fortunately, don�t get closed at 11 p.m after a kicking-out "last orders" loud shout, as it is in Britain), it�s already 11 or even 12 (if not later). Then you go to pubs (which in Spain are a bit different than in the UK: half way between a bar and a disco) and after that (it might be 3 a.m "bien a gusto") you can go to a disco (what u call a night club "up there" ) where u get charged to get in, but the price includes a drink (unlike in "la p�rfida Albion" )
All this may give u an idea of how different the lifestyle is here and why people in Spain stay up till so late, why the underground ghosts can�t sleep till 1:30 a.m, and why it is so frequent to get home with the first rays of sun everytime you go on a spree, to paint the town red, (or whatever the right expression is)
You find so many people in the morning because you meet those who have been the whole night out, clubbing, and those who went to bed early and got up to work first thing in the morning. There are also many people who get up early to go to work in this country, since many morning jobs start at 8 or 9 a.m, and shops open at 10 a.m).
Spanish life is the product af a wide range of different timetables, I reckon.

Besides, madrem�a, have you noticed you don�t find so many people around between 3 and 5 p.m??
Lunch and siesta time, fundamental for getting some extra energy to go on till late at night.
:cheers:

yeh i had noticed....im aware that the spanish like to take a siesta which after experiencing the heat i cant blame you for!! I was just always really suprised to see people walking round so early knowing they had probally be out itll day break the night before! :z: Though im diffently favouring the 'siesta' lifestyle to one adopted in the uk! Get 3hours sleep then work through out the day till 6 with an 1hr for lunch!! crazy!!
j

When I was at the UK, I found it very depressing that commercial streets were empty after 6 p.m. Some of the most beautiful central streets in Glasgow looked like dead and abandoned Thank God in Spain they keep alive till much later. At least I like it better.