Sharing Spain

 "The fundamental things apply as time goes by." 

- Casablanca

When I make discoveries about Madrid, they are usually for utilitarian purposes.  Where and what do I like to eat, for example.  Where are the nicest parks and the coolest sights.  How do you get to the aforementioned places.  Such discoveries streamline my existence.

Sharing those discoveries with other people, however, makes them so much sweeter and so much more enjoyable... especially with Patrick :)

Top 10 to Share:


10.  Getting turned around.  Chuckle because the other person is getting a little uncomfortable and/or frustrated with the situation - one that is now commonplace for you and actually lends itself to adventure.  On that note, ask a stranger for directions and get yet another free ride out of it.  (Mothers of the world - yes, yes, I know... I promise not to make a habit out of this...)

9.  Point out various differences in Spanish culture... the policemen who stand on corners and laugh together, how well-dressed Spaniards are, the graffiti everywhere, the old people who are constantly out and about and active.

8.   People watching in La Puerta del Sol.  Try to spot the Americans based on clothing and behavior.  Also, watch the street performers - Mariachi bands, string quartets, gypsy xylophonists, Chewbacca, etc.

7.  Sit outside at a cafe and enjoy a plate of olives.  Enjoy the fact that Spanish servers don't get tipped so they don't care how long you stay; in fact, they almost encourage it... sobremesa, it's called.

6.   Walk through the enormous Retiro Park on your way anywhere, notice the number and assortment of people enjoying the atmosphere, and wonder how the royal family could have kept it solely for themselves for so many years.

5.  Go tapa-ing at La Blanca Paloma... or anywhere else for that matter.  Fight your way through the door, pounce on the table that just became available, buy a glass or two of Tinto de Verano and enjoy the free dishes that accompany it... and be amazed at how full you are afterwards, all for about 12E total.

4.  Introduce (with some selectivity) the best Spanish dishes (croquettas, torrijas, neopolitanas, tortilla española, queso de tertilla, etc) and feel gratified when the other person orders them on their own a second time.

3.  Eat at Botin's, the world's oldest restaurant.  Ask to see the basement (the oldest part of the restaurant) and watch as the server's eyes light up as he offers to show you their world-famous oven as well.

2.  Paddle around Retiro's lake in a row boat as you soak up the sun and enjoy the live jazz music drifting across the water.

1. Take a break to recharge on the 9th floor cafe of El Corte Inglés and enjoy the spectacular view of Madrid.

Madrid

Madrid, a buzzing metropolis, has 6.000.000 inhabitants.

Pause right there. Did you register that, or did you skim over it and keep reading?

Six million, in case you missed it.

Six million people. That's a lot of lives. A lot of stories. Realistically, it's a lot of misery, too, as well as some triumphs here and there.

Honestly, I have no idea what to do with this number.

I suppose it's the Oklahoman in me, but even the endless apartment buildings that I drive by every day, walk underneath and between and alongside, blow my mind. Most are at least 8 or 9 stories of sheer brick and uniform windows. While some are spacious, others - like the one I visited tonight, available for 375E/month - are smaller than your living room. No joke. Now then, eight or nine stories of such living rooms, at least eight wide... multiplied by thousands of such buildings... the number seems more accessible but is still incomprehensible.

There's no room for much of anything except disaster of epic proportions. With so many lives dependent on the system, there's a huge capacity for upheaval.

It's a miracle, then, that Madrid functions as well as it does. Buses and subways connect the whole city - bien comunicado is the technical term, I believe. It takes time, of course, but few places in the American Southwest can boast the same success with transportation. Think what you will about socialism, but it's working - more or less - for six million people. (There are certainly horror stories, yes, but by and large it functions as well as can be expected in such a situation; indeed few -isms can provide so much for so many people...) The majority have jobs and families and live buzzes on for them in a comfortable, predictable manner. Again, this is more than a lot of places can boast.

At the moment, Spain is facing an economic crisis of enormous proportions. Inundated with overenthusiastic Spanish news reports, most people at least have an opinion if asked, but usually they will just shrug and carry on with their normal lives. They only comment when one of their soccer teams, kneeling on the field, forfeits a match because they haven't been paid. "¡Hasta el fútbol, que crisis!" Juan Pedro cried. Even soccer... what a crisis! That said, the economic repercussions haven't seemed to affect his taxi business that much. Life goes on; after all, not too long ago, much of the country was without indoor plumbing, thanks for the Franco regime. They are, therefore, resourceful people, and so a few little news stories create a temporary, dramatic stir (for Spaniards, like Italians, are nothing if not dramatic!), but not much else.

Perhaps it is this resilience that keeps Madrid afloat, soccer or not. If that is the case, six million becomes infinitely more impressive.