Day 62
Location 14: Madrid
Jan. 1, 2023
Day 1 of 2023 and I'm really missing my hometown of Oyster Bay in Long Island, New York. So I consider a quick trip back home. It was–and this is 100% true–only a 45 minute bus ride to the location of these photos.
Let me explain: these were taken at Parque Warner, a Warner Brothers theme park outside of Madrid. Why the fuck they had two fake storefronts with these extremely specific names that coincidentally matched my hometown, I swear I don't know.
A few days prior to finding those fake storefronts, my roommate Yuval invited me on his trip to the park. His initial plan was to leave January 1st at 10am. In the morning. ON JANUARY 1ST! AT 10AM! Experienced in New Year's hangovers, I imparted that his plan was dumb, if not unhealthy and we should set our sights lower: leave by noon. With a smug confidence he refused to concede, and ungenerously offered for me to meet him there.
You might remember Yuval from yesterday, on New Year's Eve when he drunkenly passed out before we even made it into the club. Needless to say, my experience proved correct and we caught a 12:08pm bus to the park. Below are some photos from the day.
This makes Yuval seem like a prick. He's not. He's wonderful and we had an absolute blast riding the coasters and had some real conversations about friends and the pressure to make every moment of a vacation great.
Last Thing: During my three years in Boston, I accumulated over $821.40 in parking tickets and fees. In Parque Warner, they had fake streets with cute street things (like the fake storefronts above). They've created a fantasy world where all the houses are always beautiful and the music is always cheerful and Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are always your friend etc, etc. And so I'm perplexed. Because when they control every little detail, why in the fuck would they set up EXPIRED parking meters?!!?!? It was triggering and an affront to fun everyone.
