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Road Diary:
Day 3, 7/9: Walking
off jetlag
Written at 5 Calle Relatores, Madrid, Spain.
Hot and sunny 88. Woke up with effort and got
cash for our apartment's owner and our host and fell in
love with city's liveliness on the way to the ATM. Then
Andrew and I went to get groceries but first walked to
Tirso de Molina where there was a
communist/punk flea market. At Plaza Mayor
was a completely different scene where we found old men
selling ancient coins and stamps in the shady porticos
and hallways. We got a mixto and o.j. to strengthen up
and got groceries at Lidl, which were
very cheap. Back home where we found Ana sick and
heaving and listless. Andrew and I went to Plaza
del Sol and got her knockoff Gatorade to
hydrate her and tried to find umbrella stroller at Corte
Inglis, but these seem illegal as they are impossible to
find. This plaza was full of street performers and was
surrounded by the most modern deaprtment stores. It is
kind of like the Times Square of the city. The ghosts of
Franco's victims cannot be heard in all the commotion.
As evening came, we took Ana out because she was
finally holding liquid. She perked up as we walked and
really came alive at Plaza Mayor and near the
Palace Real where there was a playground. Soent
a beautiful evening near the palace. Walked back to Sol
enjoying street opera and a chocolateria on the way.
Walked around Sol area and then got helado and came back
in dark. Stayed up way too late unable to sleep in heat
and city noise for long time. There is no AC in Spain.
Day 4, 7/10:
Museums and culture
Written at 5 Calle Relatores, Madrid, Spain.
Hot and sunny 95. Decided to hit museums
despite the extreme heat. First walked along Prado to
the Thyssen Museum stopping at a square
with Cervantes statue and the capitol. Then enjoyed
Thyssen and its interesting and wide-ranging collection,
but kids were predictably antsy. Afterward went to
Parque Retiro and enjoyed lush grounds,
playground, and lake. The sun and heat was building, so
we went to small sandwich place, 101 Montaditos,
and enjoyed cheap beers and sandwiches while a
life-size Glockenspiel clock went off and captured the
attention of everyone. After satisfying our hunger and
thirst we headed to Prado for its free
day, but there was a line of thousands around the
building. Amazing. So we headed toward the Reina
Sofia Museum and saw the vertical grass wall at
Calixa Forum. Sofia was confusing and
full of hard to find exhibits. Eventually we managed to
figure it out and simply saw a Picasso exhibit and a few
other things. The Picasso exhibit included the famous
and inspiring protest against war with his masterpiece
Guernica. We walked up Atocha
to our neighborhood where we relaxed a bit until the sun
went down. We were inspired to walk to busy
Plaza Mayor where we just lounged and played
with cheap glow in th dark toys go before walking to get
some chocolate at San Gines. Soon it
was midnight so we came back to watch the garbage men
come by. We didn't sleep much again. This whole restless
city doesn't sleep much.
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