Madrid: Siesta is Real!

Hola. I kiss you all on both cheeks, of course. I believe I’ve finally come to the point where I’m ready to leave Barcelona, in about a week or so. However, let me not get ahead of myself. After a fulfilling and eye opening two weeks in Ireland I’d arrived in sunny Madrid where I was to be staying with my friend Vicente and his family. Due to the fact that he is indeed a working man, there was plenty of time to wander the city alone.

One doesn’t truly feel like he is traveling until he hit’s the brick wall that is a language barrier. Madrid, outside of the very touristy center, is not a city for non-Spanish speakers. Unlike NYC, you will find that most of the people inhabiting Madrid have lived there their whole lives. This both enriched and complicated my experience with Madrid. The complications are the fun part.

Walking the elegant streets one noticed the regal air to the city. Each window in every apartment building had the proper Spanish exterior shutters. The cobble stone streets were surprisingly clean. Aside from the obvious royal structures of days past, the true spirit of the city lies in its people. The beautiful women, men & children walking the streets to and from their daily activities were the final piece to the puzzle. Of course, just about the only language heard on the streets, outside of the tourist area, is Spanish. Spanish, Spanish, Spanish. Never having studied the language, I suddenly found myself trying to remember every word in the language overheard, borrowed or stolen in NYC.

Unfortunately, the crude kitchen slang and rudimentary tourist jargon would be of no use in conversation with locals, thus I hit my wall. Despite this, great pleasure was taken in one of my favorite pastimes while traveling. Drinking in dark, smokey bars frequented by old men. Madrid you did not disappoint

The streets were littered with these little Cervecerias or Cafeterias as they are sometimes called. These are wonderful little places where you could get a beer, a café con leche, a sandwhich, some tapas and a face full of smoke. The best thing, is with every drink you are always served a piece of food! Though I couldn’t quite converse with my fellow bar patrons, I took great pleasure in trying to guess exactly what their conversations were about and just soaking in the atmosphere.

After wandering around the streets, bars, historical structures, gigantic parks and what seems to be a million and one hills I found myself quite glad that I didn’t hear a word of English. Madrid is perfect the way it is. I’m told other parts of Spain are often questioning the domineering role Madrid chooses to play in the decisions made around the country. For it’s part the, city truly aims to play the role of a capital city. Ones mind can easily imagine a time when it was a capital offence to kill a Spanish rat! Anyone saw that movie?

Other than the wandering, there was of course bossa jamming, attendance of Rock en Espanol concerts and of course Oktoberfest. That’s right there was a little Oktoberfest action in Madrid as well. The whole thing took place in a Church (Hey! Monks brewed the first beers) and was replete with a beer, brats, dessert und a German band. Somehow this event drew just about all of the German speakers in Madrid, allowing one to imagine himself to be in Munich. Only for a second though. The beer was Estrella and served ridiculously cold, another standard in Spain.

Barcelona next....

As usual more fotos @ http://public.fotki.com/Dimakay/travel/madrid/