Umbrellas, Hailstorms & Phone #

Hola todos! It has been a wild week in the weather department. Last Friday was so cold and raw we had coats on. It rained for the 1st time in 2 months on Saturday. Yesterday, it was warm & humid, so we went for a long walk. As always, we found a new Chinese Euro store, and as we were about to leave empty handed (that would have been a 1st) the owner tells Ingrid there's a basement. So we head down below and voila, there are some things we actually need: a rolling pin and apple pie dish. After looking around for 20 minutes, I heard a strange noise. I go back up the stairs, and there is a tremendous thunderstorm in progress. Now we have to buy an umbrella! So we get a nice one for 8 euro and head out into the tempest to the metro. 3 blocks away, the umbrella breaks, so we turn back and ask for another. We start walking again, and the new one has a hole in the top and leaks. So, we return once again. By now the rain has stopped, but the woman was so helpful (not common here) and since we needed one anyway, we got a 3rd one & left. Around 9pm, I noticed huge cumulonimbus clouds on the horizon. I said to Ingrid, "Wow, some place is going to get nailed tonite." (Once a weatherman, always a weatherman.) Check out the video! http://es.noticias.yahoo.com/vocento/20080910/video/ves-la-tormenta-de-granizo-en-madrid-pro-238f6cf.html
oh, and our home # is 011-91-533-4100; work 91-554-5858 ext 242