Enrique's Madrid Concert & our adventure: May 2012

If you had your pic taken, those pics are ready to view now!!! I love mine : ) It's cute if I do say so myself ...lol

My Madrid adventure & Enrique's concert!!! 

Ok, I am still extremely tired & overwhelmed from my experience in Madrid as a tourist  & also having the greatest moments of my life at Enrique's concert!! I am probably going to leave out a few things as I am still coming down from the Euphoria!!

 

Part 1

I arrived at Sydney Mascot Airport hours before the plane was ready to board as I was so excited to get my trip underway- I boarded a large Airbus 380 and it was enormous having upstairs (1st class) and downstairs for business class and economy (That's me) The flight made a stop at Singapore Airport for approx an hr so I went with a girl I met on the flight to an outside patio area where you could have a drink and get some fresh air - (It's really a patio area for smokers) but I just wanted to feel the air on my face as the air conditioning on the plane gets to you after a while..To my surprise there was no cool air to freshen my face and wake me a little, good grief!! It must have been at least 40 degrees celcius, I was like an ice cream melting from top to bottom -The heat was so unexpected, and quite frankly as much as I love warm weather this was simply aweful to bare - It took just 6 hrs & 20 minutes to arrive at Singapore airport - Then we left there and headed for Frankfurt making that our 2nd stop for re fuelling and change of flights for some, that flight took 13 hrs and was only mean't to take 12hrs so we arrived late at Frankfurt giving me just 5 minutes to catch my next flight to Madrid -

I ran from the plane and was asking ground staff which way do I go?? Frankfurt Airport is sooooo large and I didn't know where to go so I asked the ground staff and they did not understand any English - Then after what was a perfect journey so far quickly turned into a nightmare with me having tears whelling up in my eyes as I was starting to feel frustrated and stressed - Finally, I enter this room where there was a receptionist behind a desk who understood me and was so very helpfull - She explained I had to go through security and Imigration again (Frankfurt is weird) and told me to jump the line so I could run to the gate for my flight - She also called the gate to let them know I was on my way - All of a sudden a grounds man yelled out my name, took my bags from me and told me to run as fast as I can (That's what I think he said anyway) as he was running very fast ahead of me and It was a little difficult for me as I am still recovering from a major hip surgery I had a little while back, we ran past what easily must have been 15 gate entrances - I had to then board a bus where there was another girl who had got lost too so I didn't feel so bad then...lol - We reached the plane, ran up the stairs and as I was still breathing very fast and trying to catch my breath we were given a very angry look from the flight attendant who then told us she gave our booked seats away and we had to sit somewhere else because we were late (Gosh, it wasn't our fault our main flight came in late) Anyway, finally on the way to Madrid, one big sigh of relief....Phew!!!

 

We landed in Madrid and I was awe struck as to how clean and beautiful it smelled - (Not that Sydney isn't clean, it is, but everything at Madrid looked like new - It was a great feeling to arrive at such a beautiful Airport after such a long journey -  Including stops to re fuel it was all up I think 22 hrs - I went to the bathroom while I was waiting for the luggage to come through and when I got back it was just starting to come through then -

Everyone had taken there luggage but mine was no where to be seen, I waited and waited and still no luggage for me - Sigh - I went to the desk to sort it out and it turns out it was left in Frankfurt (How wonderful) - Grrr - I guess it was taken off the plane because they didn't think I was going to make the Madrid flight, that's the only conclusion I could come up with - The receptionist told me it would come in on the late flight that night, but, It didn't -

 

I had arrived in Madrid at 10 - 20am (flight time: 2hrs & 20 Minutes) and reached the hotel  by about 11-45am - Pretty good timimg considering I had to fill out missing luggage forms and all. First thing I did when I got to my room was to have a very loooooooong hot shower and wash my hair - It felt so great to feel fresh and clean again  but horrible at the same time  that I had to put the same clothes back on. I decided to leave the hotel for a short period of time to see If I could buy a few pieces of necessary clothing but all the shops were closed!!!!!! 'Bummer'

 

The Airport emailed me to say my luggage would come the next morning, but again, It didn't - Trudie was arriving late that night and we had made arrangements to meet for breakfast the next morning but I just could'nt because I had no clean clothes - I had been in the same clothes for 24 hrs so I was going no where like that...lol - Madrid airport had given me a bathroom pack with PJs to sleep in but you just dont feel good after a shower and no clean clothes of your own to put on - I left Trudie a note at reception to say what had happened and I just could not meet her for breaky in the same clothes - I layed down to rest but must have fallen asleep as apparently Trudie knocked on my door late that night but I did not hear her - The next morning there was a knock on my door! It was Trudie!! I did not even say Hi to her...lol.. I knew straight away who it was but all I could say is Noooooooo, I look aweful Trudie, I have no make up on, no clean fresh clothes...lol...I didn't want to meet you like this for the first time...lol - Trudie said, it does'nt matter, dont worry about that..Sweet words from a person I was meeting in person for the very first time : )) Then we hugged each other and away we went into my room sitting and chatting away to each other like we had known each other  and been friends forever -  : )) Straight away I knew we were going to have the time of our lives together - I told Trudie to go on with her day as I did not want to hold her up waiting for my clothes - In the end, I decided I was not going to waste a day sitting at the hotel waiting for my clothes as my time in Madrid was only a week so I decided to go out in my sweats that I had been living in for 24 hrs but I made Trudie promise not to take any pics of me dressed like that!!! and she agreed...........lol -

 

Part 2

Now, I feel rather silly because I did not know Madrid was having public holidays, Trudie did not realise either that, that day (Tuesday was one) and nearly everything was closed...We did however keep our eyes open for a El Corte Ingles to be open as we so desperately wanted to have those golden EI tickets in our hands as soon as possible...lol ...We decided to catch the Metro (Is that how you say it in Spain??) Anyway, we went to buy our tickets from the machine and thought it best and probably cheapest to buy 10 trips worth as we knew we would be travelling into Madrid city often - Oh wow, what a surprise, all it cost was a few Euro for a 10 trip pass, in Aus it would cost you approx $6 Aus for each trip - Still cant get over that!!...lol - The Metro system (Trains in Aus) were beautiful and looked so new and sparkly - In Aus we have some of the newer trains but still have some of what we Ozzies call the old rattlers..lol -  We spent the day looking around Madrid city and I have to say without even entering any buildings I had a smile on my dial and felt like I was glowing - It truly is a beautiful city and I can't emphasize that enough - We walked and talked and took everything in plus we walked and talked and took in some more sights...lmao and we took in everything we possibly could seeing it was a public holiday - In some parts of the city small area's were closed off with Police (Policia) tape as there was protesting happening and also later there was what appeared to be a military march going to happen - There were without a doubt hundreds of Police, Army emergency services there and at one stage we asked someone what was happeing and we were told a festival - Trudie and I kept walking and sight seeing, even the small streets in Madrid are gorgeous with large buildings (Units in Aus)  with sweet french doors and little balcony's with plant boxes which contained beautiful colourful flowers in them sitting on the balcony's - I think that afternoon we had a little rain but nothing worth mentioning really - In actual fact I was expecting a horrible week full of rain because that's what my internet search told me before I left Aus. Thank goodness the weather people were MOSTLY wrong!! He, hee (You will understand later why I laugh)

 

We went back to the hotel approx 4pm to freshen up and Trudie and I made a time to meet up again and sight see some more and have dinner a bit later - But before we went to our rooms we asked the desk clerk if my luggage had been delivered to which he replied 'Sorry, but no it has not' Grrrrrrrrrrrr, So it's 4pm I  reach my room and still no luggage - At this point after being very calm about the situation  I'm beginning to become quite annoyed as it had been 29 hrs since I landed in Madrid and still no clean clothes : (

I picked up the phone called the Airport, put on my annoyed voice and tried to find out what was happening, at this point I felt it had been lost and would have to go and buy some new clothes the next day - I was told it was there at the Airport and I would have it within an hr - Next thing, knock at the door, oh my god, clean clothes, phone charger, camera charger June's story and gifts I had brought along with me - I was over the moon with happiness : D How wonderful, another hot shower was in order, clean fresh clothes to put on, make up, perfume, ahhhh complete bliss....lol - It felt good to be human again and go out feeling so good within myself, inside and out...lol

 

I'm a bit muddled up as to what day we did certain things on so I will just go with what we actually achieved in our sight seeing of Madrid, Trudie has a good memory so she will be able to put dates to these places I'm sure.. :P @ Trudie

 

One of the very first things I wanted to see and go inside of in Madrid was The Spanish Royal Palace! So I think it was Wednesday that we went there but firstly something awesome was not long about to happen -

We actually went there on the best day ever as it was the day once a month that the Royal Guards do the full change of guards (clap clap) We had a little time to fill so we went looking around in that area and Madrid seems so high that when you look out from where we were near the palace you could practically see the whole of Madrid - All the houses were made of cement from what I could tell and mostly white, again from what I could tell - It was a beautiful vantage point to see all the housing and quite breath taking - I kept saying to Trudie through out the whole trip how everything was so beautiful - So anyway, we went back to take up a good spot for the change of guard and what a super spot we had. Front row and centre. (In Aus that means we couldn't have done better with the position we had) The change of guard went for about 2 hrs, The old guards going out were wering a dark blue uniform with red stripe on the pants and the in coming fresh guards were wearing this beautiful light blue uniform with red stripes on the legs.

 

There were hundreds of them, guards, different breeds of horses gun carraiges - They paraded for 2 hrs even some coming outside and the horses just trotting right in front of us so close that you could just reach out and touch them - The parade was very detailed inside the palace grounds and they put on quite a wonderful show - It's a sight not to be missed if you ever go to Madrid - When the change of guard had finished they all came out through the main gate, oh my, it was so beautiful to see and they have a Royal guard band playing as well - Quite a catchy tune as well : ) It had all but finished and I asked a remaining fresh guard If I could have my pic taken with him and he was very obliging in doing so : ) It's a great pic I will treasure always : ) Then, It's Cuppachino and time to eat something at a nearby cafe - Yum, finally something that does'nt look too dangerous for me to eat ...lol...A toasted ham and cheese sandwich...lol...

 

Part 3

 

Well, after we had something to eat and drink (Trudie will correct me if I am wrong as at this point I had a little Jet Lag setting in) we headed off to line up to go inside the Royal Palace – Unfortunately NO pictures were allowed to be taken inside the Palace, only on the outside which is such a shame because I would love to have shown friends and family the detail of all the beautiful things that are inside the Palace –Ranging from carpets, cutlery that is used on special Royal occasions, crockery, paintings and all these things in the Palace are hundreds of years old, we even got to see the the Royal chairs – Just beautiful, I can honestly say this was a one of the highlights of the trip for me as I love Royalty – There was sweeping marble stair cases and Trudie was ahead of me at one point and reached the bottom first so I thought I would have some fun and pretended to be the queen in a long flowing gown with a tiara on my head and I slowly walked down the staircase holding up the trail of my gown and then I put out my hand out calling for the King (Enrique, Enrique) take my hand and help me with the last few steps of the marble stair case….lmao ...It was a bit of  fun and we giggled like we were in our late teens …LMAO – There was so much to see, we saw the old Royal kitchen that I imagine would not be used anymore even if the Queen was in residence ..At least I wouldn’t think they would anyway, I’m sure there are rooms not available for public view that are more modern and are used when the Palace is occupied… It was a very dreamy experience, one could only walk through the rooms and wonder what the life of a royal would be like…After we left there Trudie wanted to go and see the gardens right near the Palace, This was one time I sat out and waited for her to come back – I sat on a grassed area and off she went – The reason I sat that one out was because I had worked up a bad blister on my left foot and it became quite painful to walk…I have a picture somewhere where I am sitting with this person who had this unusual outfit on, quite clever actually, it’s hard to explain but I do have a pic with him or her, not sure of the gender as their head was gone …lol…There were lot’s of people like this around the city of Madrid doing themselves up and putting themselves ( a work of art) on display to make some money… In this pic I have no shoe on and am holding the shoe in my hand as I couldn’t bare to put that shoe on again but later had to as I didn’t want to walk bare foot either so I was a toughie and put up with the pain…: ( I have a picture of what I considered the best persons get up, it was unreal, she looked like a statue until after a bit she straightened her body to have a little stretch, then she went back down into her pose again. I gave money often to people less fortunate, and some parts of Madrid are quite sad really when you have people begging for money, it just breaks your heart but obviously you cant give to everyone as much as you would like to…We popped into shops here and there, lots of little trinkets' and such you could buy quite cheaply –I have no Idea how many kilometres we would have walked in Madrid but it was a lot and we saw so much and got a lot of pleasure from what we saw and did.

I’m pretty sure that was Wednesday, most afternoons we went back to the hotel late in the afternoon after having early morning starts, each morning it became a ritual of our’s to have a cuppa chino across the road from the hotel at this very nice little café with very friendly staff – Most of the people in Madrid were nice but you would come across the occasional person who was not so nice like one man in particular came up to me begging for money and at this point I had to say I’m sorry but no…I felt kind of bad that I didn’t give him money but I had been giving money all week and unfortunately there comes a time one has to say sorry, but no ...He then abused me and that made me a little un settled : ( Wednesday night I decided not to go out for dinner as I was sooooo tired and had a sore foot, so off Trudie went and did what she wanted to do. When we were having our short down times (relaxing) we were usually in my room talking, laughing, going through EI fever which happened a lot…lol..Phew, where’s the ice bucket…lol…All week walking around Madrid we were keeping an eye out for any Enrique posters or any sign of him coming to perform in Madrid and after a week hitting the pavements all we came across was one poster that looked a little worst for ware but at the same time we were ecstatic that we actually found that gorgeous face of his : ))

We also visited the museum in Madrid and it was an unusual experience for me…At first I felt quite sad as a lot of the paintings which are hundreds of years old gave out sad images, it left me feeling a little down seeing woman, men and babies portraid in these sad settings – The museum is absolutely huge, I don’t think we covered the entire Museum there were literally hundreds of paintings…I can’t remember if it was the Palace or the museum were we had to be security checked before entering, I think it was the royal palace (Hmm, maybe)…Our bags had to be x rayed ect…As I said some things mostly the days of the week are a little blurry right now as I am still so tired – I don’t know how Enrique keeps up the pace with all the travelling he does, maybe once you get use to it, it becomes second nature, I dot know.. : ) Madrid has the most amazing, historical buildings and what caught my eye quite often is at the top of quite a few of these buildings they have like a tower (That's the only word that comes to mind right now) But at the top and around the outside of them it's like they are painted in real gold - Wow, amazing and beautiful!! One just couldn't put a price tag on the heritage and history imbedded in this city, it's just phenomenal...

 

Part 4 ----

Sorry about the colour of the writing & size, I don't know what happened & can't seem to be able to fix it!!

 

Thursday morning, we met a little late as I said because I over slept...We went across the road to have our normal Cuppachino - Yummy, I just loved having my morning Cuppachino at that little Cafe - I miss it already!! Trudie and I would discuss the day's events, and it was so unreal to think that both of us wanted to see and do the same things, we had much the same taste in things, particulary the same love of Historic buildings ect - Great minds think alike, lol...We knew we were going first thing to pick up our Golden Enrique tickets...We arrived at El Corte Ingles and the 1st thing we did was ask were do we collect our tickets...We were told the 5th floor so we had to take a few escalators to get up there...It was the longest few minutes of our lives to get our hot little hands on our tickets...lol..The receptionist was quite slow in serving people, only 2 ahead of us and it seemed the longest time ever!! Finally it's out turn, We were a little flustered with excitement when we gave her our reciepts.. : )) Then the receptionist asked for ID and our Passports...lol..I was so flustered digging deep into my handbag to produce my Australian passport and Trudie her's.. : )) Finally, we are given our Concert tickets, we looked at them with excitement and made the comment , yeah, we have our Golden tickets and we placed them in a safe place in our hanbags being careful not to bend or crinkle them at the same time... : )

We then took the escalators back down stairs and keeping a sharp eye for anything promotional for Enrique, but sadly nothing!! We went into the music section and searched endlesly for just one little Enrique thing, but again, nothing!! We were so surprised considering Enrique was about to perform in Madrid, his hometown, that they had not stocked up on his music ect..We looked & we looked and FINALLY one happy little bunny calls out to me that she found 2, just 2 Enrique cds which were Enrique's greatest hits... :)) Neither of us bought them as we both already had them in our Enrique cd collection already!! ... We then planned on doing more sight seeing..

 

Trudie & I had so many EI fever moments...We past a shop for instance and in the window there was a hat exactly the same as the one Enrique wore in his Atlantico Rum video and the one with all the posters of him advertising it -  It caught my eye and said to Trudie, there's Enrique's Atlantico Rum hat, I want one!!...lol..Well that was enough to get us into E fever once again, laughing out lowed and such...lol  ..It was just too funny and people around us must have though we were crazy!!

We then planned on doing more sight seeing..We went and popped into this Cathedral it was ever so beautiful we asked the Priest if we could take a pic and he said yes but no flash, so we did this and left as we didn't want to disturb people who were there praying..

 

We also went inside another Cathedral, it was the largest Catherdral I have ever seen in my life ...Australia has Cathedrals also but nothing as magnificant as this one...This Cathedral was definitely a tourist attraction with lot's of tourist inside taking in the breath taking couloured window glass, coulourful ceiling coulors and religous couloured glass...Many, many marble statues, a few of jesus nailed to the cross : ( It looked so real as if it was alive..Paintings of Nuns, there was angels, tall silver candle holders and I found it one of the most moving experiences in my life...Trudie and I were in there for quite some time...I looked around to see where Trudie was and she was sitting on a pew, I think she may of either been taking in the moments or praying herself..I did not pry as it was a pure moment she was having....Been inside there was the first time I had been before god since my fathers passing 7 months earlier so on a personal level it made my heart ache  that he had left us but also gave me a feeling of serenty knowing my dad was in a better place and was suffering no more!!

I decided to light some candles 1 for Trudie, 1 for Enrique that he be safe and his concert go well, 1 for my dad, and one for my mum and myself - I am not Roman catholic but am Church of England but I felt this need to to this for those in my life at that time for different reasons...I don't know what came over me, whether it was the beauty and the meanings of everything within the cathedral really touching my heart but I cried, it just all touched my soul deeply!!! I have a lot of pics from inside the cathedral and once I finish writing about my adventure I will endevour to post just a few from all our sight seeing that  we had in Madrid..

 

In all our travels at one point I said to Trudie I think we should go back that way as it looked like we were about to walk outside of Madrid city and onto the freeway...That's just shows you how much we walked and looked at the sights...lol...We then walked back to our rooms at the hotel for a little rest before meeting up again in the early evening...I found it a little hard adjusting sometimes as noone really eats dinner or gets the night life going until around 8-9pm, very different from Australia...We eat our main evening meal around 6pm...

 

Thursday Evening

 

We met up again approx 8pm and decided to take a walk and time how long it would take to walk to the Stadium for Enrique's concert the following night..We could pretty much see were the stadium was from near our hotel but we wanted to be sure how long it would take us to get there...Also as I think it was Thursday we walked past some of the elite hotels in Madrid as we were sight seeing, just out of interest and for fun we asked the doorman from 2 hotels if Enrique was staying there...Both told us no he wasn't, but one said he was at the RITZ hotel, we looked up at the balconies and the roof of the Ritz and took pics of people but we really have no idea if he was staying there or not so we continued on with our day's plan...

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Thursday Night's adventure at the Stadium where we found Enrique & Crew, coming up next!!!

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Part 5 ---I have asked Trudie to do Part 5 as she can tell this funny part of our Enrique adventure much better than I and it was after all, OUR ADVENTURE!!!

OK, here it is, added by Trudie:

Anyway, we had the time of our lives when we went over to the venue, which was very close to our hotel, and only a 5 minutes' walk, just to kill time after an early dinner.

When we got there, Jenni said: Hey, I hear music. We couldn't see a thing, but there definitely was music, and it sounded so familiar! So we tried to get into the building. First we tried the parking lot, the elevator and all. But to no avail. We ended up walking in deserted corridors two stairs down in the parking lot, and then OMG we could see feet moving and we heard noise through a small fence higher up in the corridor. We were actually somewhere near the stage area where they were setting up the stage. Once a female security came, but we walked on as if we had real business down there. OMG Jenni almost peed her pants from laughing, we were like two naughty kids in a forbidden paradise.

The corridors led us nowhere, so out we went. Then around the building, and at the front doors we  saw blue light shining from the inside, and we could actually see them building the stage. And what was more: by the way he moved we could discern Enrique too! Now that left us with a heartbeat that was above the average, I am telling you. We stood there for ages, taking pics with the lenses at maximum distance, and everytime we thought he looked our way we waved like crazy!! Now and then people came by and asked what was going on, or they just stared at two ladies behaving like teens. After quite some time the music stopped, and we saw Enrique go awa, at least that was what we thought. So we went over to the parking lot again, but to a different side this time. We walked down, and saw more corridors, but there was no way of going in. We walked up again, and waited a bit outside for what might happen. Then a dark SUV stopped on the ramp of the parking garage, a metal door was opened, and WE LOOKED RIGHT INTO THE BACKSTAGE AREA! the door closed again and the car went down. We went after it, and ventured to ask the man in the car if he was from E's team, or if he knew anything about it. He only spoke Spanish, but somehow we conveyed what we wanted, and he offered to show us how to get into the building. Jenni was wearing her Enrique Iglesias Hoodie, which may have helped us at that moment. But we were stopped at the final hurdle, just feet away from the entrance to the backstage area; there was a guard who said he wanted to let us in, but he would be in big trouble because there were cameras everywhere. Maybe that night all personnel in the building had the time of their lives watching on screen two ladies hunting for prey. ROTFLOL

We just had to wait, and so we did, at the end of the ramp. It had become quite chilly, and now and then it started to rain. We went back and forth to the front doors, and saw they were still working and E was there too.

Later, standing at the ramp of the garage again, a black SUV arrived, and the metal door opened. The car got inside, so we knew it had come to fetch Enrique and maybe some more of the crew. By that time we had got company of Diana, a girl from the forum as well and she was from Russia. So funny,  We waited and waited, the door opened again, a white car came out, and we could see there were two black SUV's inside.

How can you leave, realising he could come out in the SUV any minute, and even 5 minutes after we left? So we waited until 1.15 am, but it had started to rain, and it became very cold. We had to decide to leave, give up, no more chance to see E there and then.

The good thing, apart from the amazing fun we had, was that some fans may have thought E was in his hotel that night, and that they were posting there for him, but we KNEW we had him to ourselves (hmm, more or less) the whole night: from 9 pm till 1.15 am.

It was funny too when Diana arrived at the venue. She heard us talk, and immediately she said: hey, from Australia, so you must be Jennifer and then you are Trudie. Awesome! We were world famous without even knowing. LOL

Thanx Trudie you made me laugh out lowed all over again!!
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Part 6-- To be written by Trudie !! ---The long awaited Fan Meeting!!

Jennifer asked me to write part 6, which was about the fan meeting on Friday 2 pm. The idea is that we were in this trip together, and by telling the story in turns everybody will see that we enjoyed it so much.

On Friday morning we slept in a bit, because we had been hanging out really late the night before, waiting for Enrique to show up. And it was hard to catch sleep, speaking for myself I was way too excited to sleep right away. After we returned to the hotel, at abt 1.30 am, we got to Jennis room, and used her hotel lap top to post some of our adventures on this site and on FB. LOL we had so much fun, laughing until our cheeks hurt.

So the late morning coffee and a roll in the nice little cafe across the street were a good idea. We got ready for the fan meeting, discussing should we already dress up for the concert, or not. We decided not to, because the venue was just across the corner from our hotel, and we would have plenty of time to change before the concert. We took June's book, and our presents, just in case.... Took the metro (subway) to the city center, and we walked up to the 40Cafe, which is related to the radio channel 40Principale. The cafe looks a bit like Planet Hollywood, so that you can relate to that. We asked the waiter if they expected us, and indeed, he showed us into a part where two young ladies were waiting: Monica (Sy_Monyta) and Sonia -- (I am not really sure about her name or how it's written), both very nice girls, so sweet and we hugged when we met. They were happy to see the first fans arriving, at around 2 pm, the agreed time. They looked so stunning, beautiful girls, and very sweet and gentle too. We had to talk in a creative way, they didn't really speak English very well, or so they said, and my Spanish is not a high level either. I mix it up with Italian words, which must have sounded funny. But we managed to communicate, and that's the most important part. Next a group of 5 or 6 girls from Russia showed up. It was nice to see some of the familiar faces from the forum, or to see the faces that came with the familiar names: Ketty, Irinka, Svetlana, are three of the names I remember. They didn't speak English and only 'tres palabras' of Spanish, but it was good to be there.

In the meantime Monica told us, that she had won a photo contest, and she had an appointment for a meet and greet with Enrique! Wow, the lucky girl! She was so excited, and nervous too, which we could all understand. Just think of it! She had been contacted by the team for the appointment, and it had become clear to the team that we were having the fan meeting. She got a text message from the video team asking if they could come along and film the meeting and do some interviews for a documentary.....

OMG that was a surprise, we were all waiting for them to show up. At 3 pm they arrived, Yasha, Diego and another guy, and they told us what they intended to do. They told us they work together with Enrique very closely, Yasha's name is on the titles of the "I like how it feels" video. He's also from the company that recorded in Rotterdam for the Euphoria tour DVD. So I decided I was going to ask him, on behalf of all the fans, whether or not the DVD was going to be released. The other guy, whose name I don't know, said: well, it's going to take a long time, because you know, Enrique is very vain, and he thinks he's becoming old. Now he wants us to edit the whole film and to remove the wrinkles from his face, which we have to do in each image/shot .. whatever it is called in English. LOL For a second we both looked at the guy, and then we thought: this is just the kind of joke Enrique would make, and of course, it wasn't true. Then he added, they were still working on it, adding footage from other concerts, like MSG (LUANN---> ???), London and Mexico, to avoid it being a predictable video. I don't know if he said that the documentary they were working on would also be added, maybe he did say it. It was a bit awkward that we were only 11 people at that moment, and for the video team it could have been a disappointment: after all they had taken the trouble of coming to see us, and most girls weren't there, not even 1,5 hours after the appointed moment.

It was nice talking to these guys, they were very friendly and open, and they told us all kinds of things from E's daily routine, which was very funny. They know Enrique well, which I found an amazing idea. And they took interest in us as well. At one point Yasha went over to a girl in the group, asked her: "Were you at his concert in Paris last year, because I know your face". Isn't that amazing? Enrique isn't only a great guy himself, but he also surrounds himself with people who are very professional and like himself, and have high ideas of connecting with people, and they enjoy what they're doing. That must be part of his success, I think.

Then at half past 3 more girls arrived, the Dutch and Belgian fans, and the place was getting full with people. We talked to each other, in various languages and settings, and we had something to eat and drink. I don't remember the exact order of things, and that's not too important either. At one point some girl started to dance, and Jenni joined her immediately. It was fun to watch, but not many others joined, so it ended quite soon again.

We sat in a circle, and started to sing "happy birthday" to Enrique, and Yasha filmed it, then we took turns saying "Feliz Cumpleaño, Enrique" in front of the camera. The guys went around, took shots of us taking pictures of each other, of the bar, from different angles. etc. You could see they were very professional, and thinking ahead which materials they could use to make an interesting video out of it. Then we were invited outside, in pairs or three at a time, to be interviewed. Jenni and I had plans for the rest of the afternoon, so we asked could we be interviewed early. The guys were amazed at Jenni being from Australia, and that was a good start for the interview. It was really nice, we were standing out in the street, they explained what they wanted: we were to tell what made us come to this concert, why we liked Enrique, what we thought of meeting other fans, and other things; they wanted to interview fans for this documentary that would be on Enrique and his fans, if I got it right. Imagine us, chatting in front of the camera, talking about our admiration for Enrique, his music, why we had come to Madrid, the amazing thing of how we met and how well we went along, Jenni from Australia and me from Holland. It took 10 or more minutes, and then, when I thought it was almost over, Yasha said: You know, Enrique likes to edit films as well, and he's very much connected to this project, so there's a real chance he might see this recording. So here's your opportunity to say something personal or special to him that you want him to know. I went like OMG!!! That was an exhillarating, no, thrilling moment. What do you say, it is really hard to get your thoughts organised in only a split second. So I said something like: he always thinks we love him because of his success, but for me it's him, his personality, his care, his sense of humor that made me like him (maybe I said LOVE him?) so much. And I must have said some more, but I can't remember. And Jenni I believe said it was so great that through his fan site people from all over the world have gotten in touch and feel connected, which is a great gift from him to us.

We had also brought our presents, in case the video team liked to see them in front of the camera, which they actually did. So Jenni showed her Australian Soccaroos shawl, and I showed the t-shirt from Madrid with the funny text. LOL So if ever Enrique is going to watch that footage, he will - hopefully - remember the presents (he took both of them later at the concert), and he can relate them to us, with our faces and our chit chat. ROTFLOL.

Then we left, and we met the other girls later that day, at the concert. But that has to be part 7 of this story, which we will tell in two versions: Jenni had her VIP, and I had a 'normal' ticket, so our evenings were different.

We highly appreciated the idea of a fan meeting, and here's the moment to thank Monica and Sonia for their efforts and organisation: Muchas gracias, Monica y Sonia, el fan meeting era muy divertente, bien organisado y en un lugar adecuado. Te queremos, amigas!

As Monica was going to meet Enrique, we asked her to take June's book and hand it over to him. We explained it wasn't us who had written it, but June and she wanted him to have it. I told Monica June was very eager to know if Enrique was aware of this story, but I didn't ask her explicitly to refer to it, because I realised the meet & greet was Monica's, her moment, and that shouldn't be mixed up with other people's interests. That may sound harsh, June, but I think you know what I mean. It's a once in a lifetime moment for most girls to meet Enrique, and you shouldn't have to bother about anything else than enjoying the moment yourself. Which must be pretty tough too, because of the encounter itself. It was so nice of Monica to take the book and I added a postcard of my own. Later she told Jenni about Enrique's reply: he was aware of the story. We told June through FB or this EI forum, and she was over the moon with the reply.

We were totally euphoric after all this excitement and the interview had put us on high too. We couldn't get over the thought of having spoken directly to the man, the idea of him seeing us and .... 'knowing' us afterwards..... can't wait to hear more about that project. LOL 

(part 6 written by Trudie)

Part 7: Enrique's Madrid Concert - Coming soon!!

 

 

 

 

 

PART 7, written by Trudie

The evening of the concert was not entirely the same for each of us, since Jenni had her VIP ticket, and I had an 'ordinary' ticket. 

After we returned from our fan meeting we walked another area in the city centre, and we had a coffee. When I was inside to order the coffee, Jenni was being attacked by a very strange man, he smelled, he looked awful, and he was agressive in that he wanted money for coffee, or a sigarette, and he shouted all kinds of nasty things at her. When I returned with the coffee, Jenni was really upset. I tried to calm her down, the man obviously was a bit retarded or so. He kept on harassing people in the street. Jenni relaxed, and we had our coffee, after which we walked on, saw a lot of mounted police, and finally we went back to the hotel. 

Of course we had to do everything we could to look as beautiful and radiant as we could, just in case E would invite any of us to be a Hero girl (LOL), and I had to prepare my present. Jenni had told me to buy him something, because if you get half the chance it's nice to give him a present. I bought a tourist t-shirt, saying in Spanish: "Somebody who loves me very much has brought this funny t-shirt for me from Madrid". It appealed to me the moment I saw it, I thought it was very appropriate. I went out again, and next to the hotel was the Corte Ingles, where I bought a birthday card. I looked through the whole collection, looking for the ultimate card, and finally I saw one that I thought was just made for him (and for me to give it to him): A Garfield card, saying (in Spanish, of course): Happy Birthday, Congrats for winning yet another ..... and then the inside text was: Premio de la Juventud. I thought it was too good to be true, the Premio de la Juventud being an award that he won twice before, and he's nominated for again. I took the foil of the card and folded the t-shirt in such a way that it fitted into the transparent paper with the text visible, I went to the Yves Rocher store next door to get a nice ribbon, and at the front desk I got tape. I made a lovely present, that means, one that I was very satisfied with; worthy of Enrique. LOL

Jenni was supposed to be at the venue at 8, and I decided to walk with her and wait in line until the venue would open. It was quite near our hotel, but in that short interval we got soaked: a very heavy rain and thunderstorm started, and we had to run to shelter in a shop first, then we ran to the next shelter, which was opposite the venue, and we waited for some time for the rain to stop. Jenni went on, she got to the VIP meeting.

I stayed there for 15 minutes or so, until the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. We got in line, and waited for some time. I saw some of the Dutch fans, and I got to them to have a little chat while waiting. When the doors opened, we went in, and in the hallway we hesitated. There was this promotional wall, and so many photographers took their place in front of it, and there were ribbons around it and security: that could mean only one thing: our man was going to be there for a short interview. I decided to stay there while the others went to find their seats. They didn't think E would show up, and after a long time they proved right. Only some famous Spanish tv hosts were there, and I took a pic of a few young girls who wanted their pic taken with a young and attractive guy. Of course I don't know his name, but they were over the moon. I witnessed another tv host with dreadlocks doing quizzes with waiting people, the people had a great time.

Then I decided to look for my seat. I only knew row 28, seat 22, on the floor. It could be next to the main stage, or in front of the catwalk, near the Hero stage. It was neither. It was somewhere at the end of the catwalk, quite far from the Hero stage, and I had the seat right in the middle of the block. There would be no way out to go over to the stage or to throw my present on stage if I wanted to. I only sat there for 1 minute, when I decided to leave the place, and look for the other fans, or for Jenni. I didn't know where she was, but soon I found the other fan group. They were much closer to the stage and to the catwalk, and I asked, if they check our seats, can't I just sneak in between you guys and stay here? Maaike told me to relax, she said maybe if security wasn't very strict, I could just stay there. So I waited. First we had this dj, Juan Magan, he did a nice job, he also included parts of Enrique's music in his performance. But obviously I had not come all the way to see that man. LOL

When Enrique's music started to play, we all rushed to the catwalk, and I had a fabulous place, just against the fence, next to the catwalk and not far from the main stage.

And then there he was! I couldn't believe my eyes. Tracey once said to me that nothing can prepare you for seeing the man in the flesh, and OMG she was right! He looked stunning, he was there, just a few meters away from me. Pfff, need a cold shower now because it's all coming back very vividly, LOL.

Ok, I'm back. He wore the shirt that he wore at the Tonight show in NYC last year, I like that shirt a lot. He started to talk in Spanish, saying he was happy to be there after 12 years, that he was grateful his mom, his granny and his sisters were there, and the Spanish champion, Rafael Nadal. And he said he was proud to be Spanish. He sang Tonight, the decent version first, and then he apologised to his mom and granny and went on singing the explicit version. He's so funny.

When he finished Bailamos, he went to the end of the catwalk, and shook hands with fans over there, and somebody gave him a bunch of red flowers. Then I realised this might be my chance to throw my present onstage.  He came nearer and stopped at another group of fans, and then he bent down about 2 meters away from me. I tossed my present onstage, it hit his face, but it was soft and I don't think it hurt him. It landed between his feet or so, and he took it up. Then I made a very big mistake!

I was so thrilled at him picking up my present and taking it to the main stage, that I started to talk to girls next to me that he did it!!! They were not very much interested, I must say, and I shut up. BUT I SHOULD HAVE KEPT LOOKING AT HIM! because after my return home, I came across this video on youtube, dealing with that moment, and then I saw he thanked me when he walked away. I never saw that LIVE, only on youtube. Grrrr. I have shared that video more than once, but it should be here too, therefore once again, 'my' fragment. LOL  At 5.30 you can see my gift fly through the air ect.

 

During the concert a young girl next to me seemed to be very annoyed with me, she kept shouting at me in Spanish and she said all kinds of unfriendly things. She was very small, and when I moved she couldn't see, and she got angry with me. At a certain point I talked to her in Dutch, which made her shut up. To some extent she was right, because she had a VIP ribbon on her wrist, and she must have paid three times the amount of money I paid for the ticket, yet we were there next to each other. But I couldn't care less, I was not going to go away for any reason in the world.

I cought Enrique's eyes three times, and the third time he smiled back at me. OMG I thought I'd die there and then. Pfffff.  At some point I also looked at Alex, he was performing great as ever, and he saw me. He too smiled at me, he had so much fun being there. I love it when artists show that they are having fun together making music. And Alex and the other band members sure had a great time.

I won't elaborate on the songs and the music, everybody can see that on youtube. At one point after I like how it feels, the music changed, and I realised that might be the moment Enrique would go in his box to get to the Hero stage, but I decided to stay where I was. I wasn't going to make it in time, and I had such a great place where I was. I didn't want to end up having neither of them.

Somewhere during the show I say Yasha. He walked between the catwalk and the fence, his camera on his shoulder. He chatted with some fans at my left, and then he saw me, stopped by and talked a bit to me. I didn't realise he was filming, and most of all I didn't realise why he was filming. Only later, when Jenni said that I had been on teh big screens for quite a while, did I realise that was Yasha's job. LOL I haven't seen footage of myself on the big screen on youtube, so if anyone comes across my face, please let me know. (I'm being vain now, LOL).

One moment was very special. At the end of I like it, Enrique was at the end of the catwalk again, he turned, and I immediately saw he was going to cry. Aww, my heart broke for him, he touched his eyes a few times, and then all of a sudden there were tears on his face, my heart went out to him (it's still with him, I think, because I have this empty feeling, lol), and he lifted his tee to dry his face. That was another bonus, a closeup of his naked belly.  He walked by me, and I could have jumped onstage to hug him, but of course that was impossible. It must have been such a special show for him, it must have touched him deeply to be in Madrid and have his family and friends in the audience. I was happy to be part of that evening.

After the show I saw that Laura Jane came with a big shopper and she took the presents that were stacked near the drums, that was good to see. It makes you feel that they really appreciate the gifts. We had to wait before we could get out, and once again I met Yasha, and the other Dutch fans were there too. Yasha seemed to like the attention, he was talking, we were asking questions, and although he needed to go and interview some Spanish people, he stayed with us until somebody came to fetch him.

Security was being confused, they sent us from one locked door to the other, so it took a while before I was out on the street again, seeing Jenni standing there waiting for me. I was absolutely over the moon with all the luck I'd had standing so near to Enrique, and the idea that he actually took my present. I know he would read the card I included, and that made me very happy.

Thank you Enrique for this amazing concert and the great evening I had. xoxo

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Part 7 - Enrique Madrid Concert review by Jennifer!
So all freshened up and I finally get to wear the beautiful (In my opinion..lol) top I bought weeks earlier to wear to Enrique's Madrid concert - I have to say I was like a very young woman feeling all giddy and shaky in legs to be going to see Enrique in concert once again...lol...This just felt even more special if that's possible from when I saw him in Syd, Aus last year!! Maybe because Trudie & I had a huge work up to it that week, I'm not sure! But again, I felt somewhat nervous, overly excited and week in the knees...lol

 

So, Trudie & I are all ready, both looking very nice for the occasion, we approach the Hotel doors to exit & begin our Eurphoric experience. We step out the doors of the hotel and it's raining a little, I'm thinking, oh god not now we are both all prettied up and want to look good for Enriques concert (Not being vein) lol..We step down a few stairs and gosh, It starts to bucket down, so heavy was the rain we had to run and take as much under cover shelter  as we possibly could it was just so damn heavy - We keep running on and off stopping for shelter wherever we could find some (Which was not much around) By the time we reach just near the Stadium there was thunder & Lightening and my face must have told Trudie that I don't particulary like lightening as she said, are you ok, you don't like lightening?? I said No I dont much, thunder is ok, but I don't like to be outside when there is lightening ( I feel this way as about 10 yrs back I almost was hit with lightening whilst bringing in my bird when a bad storm struck, it actually hit my house & blew up our television & Air con) Anyway, we eventually were standing just across from the Stadium & I was not sure which entrance I take as the tickets gave you no information regarding that, not even on my reciept or the website when I purchased my ticket so it was run for it & ask along the way - I figured it was through a side entrance & asked police on horses what did they think - They told me around the other side - Good grief, by this time I was honestly soaked from head to toe and was freezing my ass off - When I arrived there was a bit of a line and amongst them was a few of the girls I had met earlier from the fan meet - I was so wet & cold I just wanted to get inside, water was dripping from my hair & I had nothing on me to wipe myself down - Finally at 8-30pm they opened the doors - I tell ya, I have never been so glad to step inside a building before as I was at that moment - I was shaking I was so cold, so I found the bathroom and hurray!!, I saw one of those hot drying hand blowers so I stood there for quite a few minutes drying my clothes & my hair...I was so soaked right through you could see right through to the red lace bra I was wearing as my top was just sticking to my body!!! - OMG, I felt so much better & warm again...lol...I went back out to the pre drinks party & had a few drinks & cheese & crackers and that's when I saw the professional photographer taking pics....As it turned out this was all part of the VIP package so I lined up to have my pic taken..I asked the photographer if he spoke English & he did..He said to me, are you Australian, I smiled  & said yes! He said have you come all the way from Australia to see Enrique?? I said YES, that is the main part of the reason why I am here...He said, you must be a great fan of his to come all this way?? I said yes I am otherwise I would not have come as far as this...lol...He asked if I had anything that would show I was Australian & all I had was the Australian Socceroos Scarf I had brought for Enrique from back home as a birthday gift & to thank him for his wonderful music...Along with that I had written on a postcard that was a pic of Australia with the Opera house, the bridge, wildlife ect ect...He convinced me to take it out of the bag I had placed it in  & had taped  together (Thanks to Trudie for the see thru bag) : ) I knew how much Enrique was into Soccer & had hoped he would keep it as a keepsake from me, I sure hope he liked it!! ...So, I had my pic taken the way the photographer had me stand leaning forward, he wanted me to put a Grrr look on my face, like I was at a game watching my country play Soccer but I just kept laughing at that suggestion and simply smiled!!..lmao...It was a bit of fun... It was at this point that Monica arrived with a huge smile on her face and she was surely glowing from her meet & Greet with Enrique - She mentioned that I think it was Fernando commented about her bag being so full, this was because she had so many gifts with her from the fans at the fan meet & possibly from others for her to pass onto Enrique....She managed to tell me Enrique had kissed her on the cheek, gave him all the fans prezzies as well as June's story which she said he already knew about : ) Monica said the time with Enrique went very fast, it was a very quick few minutes with E but I was so, so happy that she had met him, no matter how short the time may have been... (Awesome Monica)After that I decided to go and watch Juan Mugan do his thing - The crowd was jumping around having a great time, quite lowed in fact and the few times he mentioned 'Enrique Iglesias' The crowed screamed in delight!!! I looked around to see if I could wave to Trudie but I couldn't see her anywhere, I did see & wave to Maaike and I also saw Dana close by (The nice girl we had met on the Thursday night while waiting to see if we could catch Enrique) So, Juan leaves the stage, the music starts & we all knew it was EI time..Yaaaaay, I was in row 13, 3 seats in from the catwalk, what a fantastic seat that turned out to be - There was 3 other people along side of me next to the catwalk but as soon as Enrique hit the stage they ran down closer to the front...lol..I was so happy they did as I had all this free space and could either stay were I was or have open space to the catwalk...I would say I was approx 3/4 of the way along the cat walk, I truly was very happy with my seating arrangements and have no regrets whats so ever about my seating arrangement...Enrique In my opinion is so good at what position he takes up on the stage & Catwalk ...He really uses all his space & tries very hard to accomadate all his fans with running and standing right in the corners of the stage, standing in the middle of the stage and also making use of the Catwalk ..A few times he was directly in front of me and he stopped & I ran to the side as he put out his hand to touch and shake his fans hands..My hand was there but I can't honestly say he touched me as my hand was in there amongst other fans hands...lmao..Lovely to think he might have though.. : ) I had almost completely forgotten I had a prezzie for him until others walked up to the catwalk & tossed them onto the stage and I'm like Waaaaaaa, my present, I gotta get it to him...lmao...So I went back to my seat & reached into my bag to pull his gift out, I walk up to the catwalk, as I already said, so easy for me to access and whilst he was there in front of me I gently tossed my gift up...Enrique looked down & then out my way, like he was looking at me then he looked down at the gift again and picked it up..Ahhh, I did it, I got it to the man himself and can only hope my choice of gift was to his liking : )

During the concert I ended up standing on a chair waving to him, arms up in the air to the beat of the music, It's a wonder I did not fall off the chair as I was having the time of my life.. : ) People around me did not mind at all as I had a great crowd around me having so much fun to...I took some pics very fast without even focussing the camera as I really wanted to see him through my own eyes & not too much a camera lense this time, It looked as if he was looking straight at me & recognised me at one point even though we have never met, (I have a pic of it) - (maybe he was looking at one hundred other girls too..lol)  At one point I took this pic & I could read the brand  of his underwear ..lol... I have his Cute little sexy butt front row and centre in this pic...Ahh, nice!!!... : ))

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Continuation of my Review - Jennifer!!
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So , Great brand name and my fav colour Enrique, Blue Calvin Klein..He, heee - He sang a couple of songs in Spanish which I surprised myself with knowing the lyrics and singing along with him & everyone else in the stadium!! I think once you know a song and it is sung in a different language to your own you somehow know the words. : ))  At one point throughout the concert Enrique asked for all the lights to be turned down, wow, what a sight looking around the whole of the stadium and all you can see is little dots of bright lights, like little stars in the night sky - Sometimes you would see a flash, and I have to say something as simple is that is magical and breath taking.. I can only imagine what it felt to be Enrique looking out there into the stadium from his height of the stage: ) Enrique sang both versions of Tonite, which was totally awesome!! Throughout the concert one knew when it was time for Enrique to sneek up to his Hero stage - When he reached there even before the spot light hit him the crowd from up the back starting screaming!! - I felt it was such a sureal moment as I knew he was about to suss out the crowd to choose his Hero girl for the night - I knew I didn't have a chance in hell as I was very far away from the Hero stage, but finally he chooses the one, the very special & so lucky Madrid Hero girl - It was so sweet, they held each other through most of the song and it was weird, I did not know this girl but felt so overwhelmingly happy for her - At the end he gave her what seemed to be the longest kiss, it was beautiful - How lucky can one girl be : )) Enrique sang Hero in part English & part Spanish, how awesome is that! I loved it  : ) Enrique I'm sure reads some of what we post on here as we mention so often on here about his hot little butt & some of the actions he did with his butt were saying here you go Forum girls, here's my hot little butt (Maybe I imagined it or just hoped that's what he was doing, I'm not sure..lol ...) Throughout the night Enrique chose a young man to have drinks with, who also ended up bringing I think it was his mother up on stage with him...They had a few shots of Atlantico Rum, Enrique more than the others..lol...The young man sang ???really, really well & Enrique bowed to him for doing an exceptional cover of it (Bugger, I can't remember which song it was) TRUDIE???....... So, eventually it all came to an end : ( Enrique sang his last song raised his hand to the crowd to say goodbye and the stage lights went out ...There was just one problem, noone wanted to leave, everyone just stood around in the hope that Enrique may come back out with a couple more songs but it was'nt to be...Laura - Jane then came on stage with a tote bag to collect all of Enrique's gifts which was lovely to see and the band started to pack up... It was'nt until then that the crowd really started to accept that the concert was finished & it was time to leave ...The band was exceptional as always, I have a nice pick of Laura - Jane singing at the front of the stage while Enrique hit the cat walk ...So much more I could say guys but all great things must come to an end!!!

 

Summing it all up!!!

I had the time of my life the week I was in Madrid, especially meeting Trudie and sharing our adventure together...I felt like Trudie was my long lost twin and I miss her heaps already...I can't express enough what a wonderful woman I am now great friends with for a life time & I very much hope someday in the future our paths will cross again, I have Enrique's website to thank for that new & special friendship, until then, we always have EI's website where we first became friends and skype & so on...Madrid is a beautiful city and if anyone is able to take such a holiday, i totally reccomend Madrid, there is so much more I wish to explore there & hopefully, oneday when I save all over again I may be able to return, there is just so much more beauty to be seen there...

 

The next day both Trudie & I were flying home, Trudie came down to my room to chat & say goodbye, I then went up to her room with her to collect her luggage and to do a sweep of the room to make sure nothing was left behind...It was then that I decided to leave for the Airport earlier with Trudie as I did not want to get lost when It was my turn to leave so we went back to my room to collect my already packed luggage and do a sweep of my room...So glad I left when Trudie did as I'm sure I would have get lost...lol ..We were a tiny bit quite on some of the trip to the Airport (a first time during the entire trip) and I know it was because we had to shortly say goodbye as Trudie would leave the train for a domestic flight a couple of stops earlier than me as I was connecting to an International flight... 2 stops to go before Trudie had to leave the train and that was it for me, tears and sadness that we had to say goodbye not really knowing if we would ever meet again, but ever so grateful I met such a warm hearted and ever so friendly person that I could not have gotten along better with... : ))

 

I was at the Airport in plenty of time, I checked in my luggage. had something to eat & Drink, checked out the shops & then it was time to board the plane to Heathrow Airport London ... We arrived there with a little time on our hands so I just checked out the shops and low & behold I come across a big pic of Enrique and the advert for Azzaro so I snapped a quick pic as we didn't see much like this in our enventful weeks adventure...lol...I was so happy the first stop was London on the way back and not Frankfurt, I was a happy little bunny about that...I boarded the flight for home, Singapore being the next stop & then on to Sydney ... I had the best seats on the plane I have to say along with a few other travellers..Going to Madrid, the plane was full, going home it was only half full so I had the window seat I had booked plus 2 empty seats next to me (It was a side row of 3 seats) It was great, I could lay down across the 3 seats with my pillow they supply & blanket - I made it as cozy as I could & managed to get about 3 hrs sleep...Not much really but it passes 3hrs time flying anyway : )

 

We landed back in Sydney Australia at 5am, went through immigration & security then off to collect my luggage which I can happily say had arrived with me!!!

 

I had a couple of things go wrong on my trip there, nothing to be really upset about with the exception of my luggage problem when arriving in Madrid, but all up, the adventure in Madrid sight seeing, finding Enrique & crew by accident at the Stadium on the Thursday night, hanging out trying to get his attention through the glass doors, sneeking through the corridors of the stadium & waiting in the rain & cold to see if we could catch him when leaving the stadium and his Madrid concert was UNREAL & will never forget how much fun I/We had!! It truly was an adventure & concert that will be with me in my heart for a lifetime...

 

(Thank you) Muchas Gracias Enrique for the best time ever, what a huge performance you put on for your home crowd & me, all the way from Aus, it was without a doubt totally worth the long journey there to be at your hometown concert!!

 

Trudie, we will definitely have to save & visit each others countries some day if not meet up at another EI concert in some country, some time..

 

To all the girls & guys I met at the Fan meet, it was awesome to meet so many of you and from different countries...There was a bit of a language barrier, but none the less it was great to meet you in person!!

 

Well that's it from me, I will edit & try to clean up some of the few pics of took of the concert & post them as soon as I can..I will also post a few from sights of Madrid also, just to beautiful to keep to myself!!!!!!!!

 

Jennifer xo xo : )

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After reading the sweet and lovely words Jenni ended with, I just have to say thank you, not only to Enrique, as I did earlier, but also to Jenni for being such a sweet and good friend. Yes, it did feel as if we were sisters that had lost track of each other, and it was as if we continued talking where we had stopped some time ago. Amazing!
You're a wonderful friend too, Jen, and I am so happy I met you. Friends for life, that's beautiful! And of course our paths will cross again, don't they say: you always meet twice? Hey, let's save our money and think of another occasion. Who knows? LOL coming up next: Double Trouble Down Under?

Speaking for myself, this was the best trip I've done in a long long time, and I am very happy I took the risk of going there alone (Jenni decided to come too some days later). Taking my life into my own hands (and Jenni did the same) turned out to be the key to a great experience, and finding a lovely friend in Jenni.