BANWEWE - The European Dream Comes True

Its been a while since I completed my "Dream Trip" to Spain or as they say "BANWEWE". A bunch of people who had heart filled with friendship, humanity and a bucket full of dedication managed to pull a trick out of the magic hat. This is only a tribute to their hard work or as they often use "Souvenir".

The Warm Welcome with "Cartoonoti"

Can you even imagine a free trip to Spain with a Champions League experience or watching a Real Madrid match from the left corner first row right beside the by-line watching Cristiano Ronaldo from 10 meters or even getting a Higuain training kit free? Can you imagine six people throwing out their hard-earned money for you to enjoy a dream trip to Europe with all the fun you can't even dream of? I was one such lucky guy to get the chance to have my first "European Dream" come true and Woah... How good it was can only be explained when you rip off my heart!

Something which I found really interesting on the central part of Madrid

First day and four back to back pubs for a guy who is never accustomed to night life not even in Pune ends up in a new culture. Well, that was just the start and what followed it got imprinted in the pages of my heart for ever. From the fantastic Madrid central to the outskirts in Segovia it was nothing less than a dream for a 24 year old, 5 ft 7 inch tall guy with his old-fashioned Specs turned on.

Something which caught my eye, very common in Europe as street performers charm the passing by travelers and citizens

After 14 hours of journey from Mumbai to Madrid(via Amman, Jordan), all the jet-lag vanished in one flash of genius from the "Fantastic 6 Spaniards". A dummy(or as they called it "Cartoonoti") of our mutual friend "Subhojit" a.k.a. Subhoti, standing at the queue caught my eye in the Arrivals area of the Madrid-Barajas Airport holding a poster written "Mr. Banerjee". From that moment, one could easily realize how fun-filled the one-week Madrid trip would be. For a moment I wondered, how did these guyz even think of such crazy idea.

A trip to Madrid is in itself a charm - Great. 
Hold on... Its an all-expense paid trip - You gotta be kidding me.
Wait a second.. You will have the company of 6 cool friends during the entire trip who are all fun-hungry! - Its gotta be a dream!

The beautiful city of Madrid slowly engulfed my heart with its lush green fields, modern buildings, busy streets, acts and dances, football crazy fans, new cultures, new people, smiling faces and greets all around. If someone could define "perfect", then Madrid would easily be the closest it could get.

I can talk lot about football because I was in Spain, but then this would never end, instead I would just write about the 10 most humble people in Spain - Six big Spaniards, two queens and two angels occupied my heart with their smiling faces and humorous nature.

After eating a huge Squid Sandwich, lots and lots of Sprite(which somewhere costs more than a beer) and a huge chunk of Madrid-night life, "abordon's" beautiful house was my next destination.

Mr and Mrs Boss and Gabi,
The Perfectionists

Greeted with a gorgeous smile, Mrs. Victoria gave me a small tour to their house painted in majestic white inspired by my boss's favorite brand - Apple. But there was something more beautiful waiting, it was none other than sweet "Gabi", the first angel whom I have only the chance to see pictures of was standing and playing right in front of my lucky eyes. her smile was as charming as you can ever imagine. While the charming angel was casting spells everywhere she went from the kitchen to the bed-room, I was given more company by the son of Mr. Boss, a small and naughty cat. The visit was made more memorable as I was gifted the Gonzalo Higuin training jersey by Mr. Boss.

Dani and Helen with Norah,
Such a cute family

If "Gabi" was the first angel I saw, "Norah" was the second angel I had the chance to meet. The big Dan with a bigger heart, who is a Barcelona fan wearing AC Milan slippers, alongside the charming "Mrs. Helen" welcomed me to their equally beautiful house, where the busy angel was showing her energy, running everywhere in the house with a pretty smile. From what I know of Dani it was no surprise to me how good Norah really was. While the angel went to bed, me and Dani shared some light moments and after that I was stunned to find that Dani is a "game-freak". His collection of play-station games made me awestruck. We played several rounds of Pro Evolution Soccer(PES), only to be embarrassed by him with tennis scorelines. I told him that the next time he would be on the other side of the result, provided I play with a keyboard.

The best part with abordon and the big dan is, everytime you can can feel from their words, the pride and happiness they have being a father.

If those two families were a joy to watch, there were other four specialist (lbenito,afnista,JL,james) who gave me company throughout the trip.

The Epic Dance on the Snow(from left to right: lbeniito3, me, James)

lbenito3 or shall I say "l benito tres" was the street-smart. Pulled off the small tricks wherever he went. Be it with the girls or be it with the boys...errr. He even managed to arrange a football match for me with his team mates in a local league which ended disastrously with 3 red cards for us in a 7 a side match. He was at the center of all, wherever we went.

Accompanying lbenito-tres was "James", the shy guy, who thought for one hour before speaking to a bunch of gorgeous American ladies for a picture. It was told to me by many as something else, but they were not sure. Anyway, the guy is a wonderful person, with a great Indian taste in terms of songs and good English accent. The best part with him is he has a huge appetite for fun powered by a king-size heart. A rocking time with "lbenito3" and "James" to the mountains where we shot a historic video. Please note: the official 4-step-dance was invented by we three - me, lbenito3 and James.


Following the above two are two Specialists - "afnista" and "jluis". If you need to do an impossible task within an impossible deadline, you should contact these two "Work-a-holics". While "afnista" is a girl-magnet, "jluis" is a work-magnet. While "afnista" concentrates more on work but attracts more girls, jluis concentrates more on girls but attracts more work. Both of them were a joy to travel with to the beautiful place called "Segovia". While me and afnista"the pasta boy" ate "Alfredo and Sofia" pastas, jluis kept on getting amazed looking after beautiful Spanish girls. I again re-iterate, I can put all my money on them to complete any work, no matter how big the work is and how small the deadline is, but please, keep the ladies away.

And now a little about Football....

First row, few meters from CR7, Santiago Bernabeu

The amazing view of the historic clash for Atletico Madrid vs AC Milan

After all this I can't resist myself from writing about football as my trip was centered on Football, which suited my taste. With one die hard Real Madrid Supporter(Mr. Boss) alongside the ever so "elegance" lbenito3(or shall I say lBROWNITO3), who is a true Atletico Madrid fan, I was sure to be sandwiched to choose only a single alias. I shall say that I was damn lucky to be the cheese between the bread, as I my life went "Zhingalala" after getting to witness both La-Liga(Real Madrid vs Levante) and Champions League(Atletico Madrid vs AC Milan).

It was a smash hit in Facebook with some top comments!

If I had to choose between both experience, I would stand right in the middle, as one experience(Santiago Bernabeu) was like watching a movie live while the other(Vicente Calderon) was more of a real life experience of what "craziness" means. Both had its positives to count for and I can't just make up my mind.."Lo Siento". What I can comment is that, I was present in two heavens and the best part was that I was alive both the times. For a football fan, watching those two games, watching those two teams of the same city, watching Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa scoring in front of my eyes, it was nothing less than a dream come true(if anyone ever dared to dream).

The "Adios" moment!

In the 7 days I spent, I only had my schedule filled with two words - Fun and Pride. Pride because of my mates who selflessly made a dream come true for me and fun part is self-explanatory. I can swear to god, that even if I had ever hoped of a trip to a foreign land, not Bangladesh, not Nepal, not Sri Lanka, not even Asia, but Spain, then it would not have been light years near what I experienced. Thanks to all of you who helped me get such an experience.

Muchas Gracias Amigos

Share on Google Plus

About Debraj Banerjee