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| Almudena Cathedral |
May 20-22 Madrid
In Madrid we enjoyed a tour of the opulent Royal Palace, modeled after Versailles. It's got over 2000 rooms. The current royal family lives in a different palace, but this one is still used for ceremonies of state. We
wandered through the plaza del Sol, plaza Oriente, Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Cebiles,
and were awed by the gorgeous architecture as the sun was setting. We split up to each savor the Prado, each
at our own pace, and made a visit to see Picasso’s “Guernica” in the Reina Sofia Museum.
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| Now the City Hall (Palacio de Communicaciones) built early 20th century in gothic neoclassical style as postal service offices |
We stayed between Plaza del Sol and Plaza de Angeles, which was a perfect location to see the sites on our plan, and we had easy access to
lots of fun bars and restaurants, metro, and Atoche train station.
A few events stand out.
My friend and I went to a “Pulperia” with a local Spanish friend and
aside from the fact that the guy behind me barfed his brains out after falling
off his stool, we had a delicious Galician specialty of octopus and
potatoes. We also went to a bar
that serves “gambas,” or shrimp, in lots and lots of different ways. Shrimp tails and napkins littered the
floor, as they have for well over 100 years at this elaborately tiled gamba establishment.
On one of our sunset walks we apparently were on the pedestrian
street where hookers vie for business. A dozen very young, very beautiful girls, who all
looked under 22, wore what appeared to be the “uniform” for their occupation...very
short shorts, worn with nylons and very high heels…and any kind of revealing
top will do. It made me wonder
about their individual stories, and what the prostitution laws are here in
Spain. I read that it’s not
illegal to prostitute, but it is to pimp, though penalties are pretty weak. There is a growing number of Eastern
European women, and human trafficking issues in which family members back home
may be under threat if the girl refuses prostitution.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spain-the-world-capital-of-prostitution-2151581.html
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| Royal Palace |
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| Royal Palace |
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| Inside of Almadena Cathedral |
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| Atoche train station |
As we were crossing a wide street with a group of pedestrians (2 of
whom had dogs) an adult skate boarder flew by at warp speed just in front of
us, nearly taking out a dog while going through the red light. One guy with a dog ran after the skate
boarder while hollering at him for almost hitting his dog. The skateboarder
stopped, showing a cocky “yeah, so what’cha gonna do about it” kind of a attitude…only
to be backed up by the second guy with his dog, and a bunch of other people who
had been crossing the street in the crosswalk at the same time (I’m sure they
all had places to be, but this was far more interesting). The shouting match didn’t last long, as
the police were there within 5 minutes.
I’m pretty sure it was about to come to blows…Spanish people can be very
tolerant, but don’t mess with their “perros” (dogs)! As one Basque friend told me, “They are family!”
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| Another guy on a horse! |
As we were crossing a wide street with a group of pedestrians (2 of
whom had dogs) an adult skate boarder flew by at warp speed just in front of
us, nearly taking out a dog while going through the red light. One guy with a dog ran after the skate
boarder while hollering at him for almost hitting his dog. The skateboarder
stopped, showing a cocky “yeah, so what’cha gonna do about it” kind of a attitude…only
to be backed up by the second guy with his dog, and a bunch of other people who
had been crossing the street in the crosswalk at the same time (I’m sure they
all had places to be, but this was far more interesting). The shouting match didn’t last long, as
the police were there within 5 minutes.
I’m pretty sure it was about to come to blows…Spanish people can be very
tolerant, but don’t mess with their “perros” (dogs)! As one Basque friend told me, “They are family!”
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