M A D R I D

M is for METRO: The Metro is a wonderful system for traversing the city. It is affordable and easy. There are always some interesting shoulder to shoulder and butt to groin situations at popular times of the day! One must always be prepared for gusts of putrid breath while facing strangers. An overworked, underwashed armpit might linger in the vicinity of one’s nose while overhead straps are clutched for balance.  Nevertheless, it is an economical way to go many places. It is an entertaining puzzle to study the routes designated by brightly colored lines on the maps. The reward for success is to arrive at the place where your anticipated stop is printed on the wall! Then comes the twisting and turning down bleak passages…and escalators where you would be wise to stay to the right so you will be out of the way of those in a hurry! Once a person reaches street level they magically emerge into a new portion of the city with its unique character, its own personality.

A is for ART and ARCHITECTURE: The art and architecture all around has many antiquated aspects. In residential areas there are awnings and avenidas full of autos…although the avenues ambled and expanded and contracted it was actually agreeable to drive. Road rage here would surprise me…Actitud…attitude=BE SERENE, ENJOY ALL OF EACH DAY! 

D is for doors: doors of all ages and all colors of many shapes with numbers and names often displayed decorously… they are truly adorable

R is for restaurants: Side by side by side by side…sometimes two different types shoulder to shoulder but mostly “el típico”… cheap, easy-to-wipe tables and chairs (usually plastic) augmenting whatever wooden furnishings had stayed with the place throughout the years, the centuries maybe…substantial, priceless cabinetry topped off with a blaring TV. Anywhere you chose to dine, you could count on a few things: there would be good, fresh, crusty bread. There would be an item on the menu that included both chicken and eggs. You could order Orange Fanta. And, finally, there would be ice cream novelties for dessert (the kind wrapped in paper but it tasted so good served on a pretty dish!)

I is for ignorance and intolerance: From time to time both visitors and citizens displayed these. There will always be the ignorant tourist preferring and looking for their own culture’s traits in each place they come to explore. They insult the culture, people and practices until they create a ripple of scowling madrileños who tell stories about the ugly Americans they have met. Transversely, there is the madrileño who eyes the interloping tourist with disdain…they will not attempt to understand a question asked in imperfect Spanish or return a well-meant smile.

I is also for inviting: It is the feeling coming from Spain, herself, and the feeling coming from most of her people. It is the feeling of being cared for and valued and included in the lives of the people whose paths you cross

D is for Downtown: …or lots of little downtowns… the downtown with the museums and high-priced shops… the downtown with glittering discos and dark bars… the downtown with a clean sunny plaza and old men in berets perched on benches… the downtown modeled on the retailers of the United States and Great Britain. The best thing about all these downtowns is that they felt safer than the downtowns I had walked in the United States. New York never embraced me in the manner of Madrid.