An I-NFL-ux

Sunday, November 16, 2025

When we first arrived in Madrid, I noticed a few people walking around wearing shirts with a large “W” on them. These people were obviously Americans. I was trying to figure out what college they went to. I knew it was not University of Washington or Washington State. Every day we were here, I noticed more people with “W” shirts. 

Then I began to notice a surprising number of people wearing Miami Dolphins fan gear. It is unmistakeable, with bright turquoise blue and orange colors. 

After a couple of days I mentioned it to Ken and he said an NFL game would be played in Madrid on Sunday (today), between Miami and the Washington Commanders. This would be a regular game that would count as part of the regular season and would count toward the playoffs, etc. (I have now written everything I know about football.)

By Saturday, people from the US had arrived en masse for the game. We saw them everywhere we went on Saturday and on Sunday morning and early afternoon. They were all over our hotel. A whole family came to breakfast this morning wearing Miami Dolphins one-piece pajamas. So much fan gear.

Stealth photography at breakfast

It surprised us to see so many football fans come to Spain for what amounts to a long weekend. But, Spain is closer to the East Coast than Alaska is, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. The game was played at the big “soccer” stadium used by Real Madrid. (ICYMI, Miami won, 16-13 in “historic overtime thriller” says miamidolphins.com.)

And there you have it. Everyone in our paella group, other than our family and the two Italians, had come to Madrid from the US for the NFL game.

This morning we walked around and took in some of the sights on Rick Steves’ Gran Vía Walk. This area grew up between 1910 and the 1930’s. The reasons to come here include architecture, shopping, and a trendy vibe. In addition to the Art Deco buildings, you can see a bit of the ugly Brutalist architecture from Spain’s Fascist period.

Banco Bilbao

Centro Canalejas

Circulo de Bellas Artes

Metropolis Building

Plaza de Cibeles

Edificio Grassy

This is called the Royal Oratory of the Knight of Grace (Real Oratoria del Caballero de Gracia) but I don’t really understand what it is or why it looks like this

Gran Via Metro Station

Cine Callao

The Schweppes Building is is an Art Deco classic

Hotel Mayorazgo

We took a break to do laundry and rest. Scott and Keisha had some free time, and walked around on their own for a while.

We had dinner at a hip little place with a fusion menu called Lola Sí Mola in the Barrio de las Letras behind our hotel. Good place. 

Pan bao de carne mechada

Today’s fabric is Art Deco Scallop by whimsical_brush for Spoonflower.

Personal Note:

It is December 7 and I have now been sick for six weeks with an epic sinus infection. A couple of times I was almost better and then took a turn for the worse. Last week I felt quite good, but I started to lose ground about five days ago and have had a couple of days of very bad sinus congestion. For logistical reasons, I did not go to a doctor until yesterday. I am now taking antibiotics (again) and starting to improve. We just went through the Straits of Gibraltar, so I have some easy, restful days ahead.  I haven’t felt like blogging for several days, but I am still planning on it.