Bettler Living Through Reading
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2006
1
33
110
Trip End
Apr 01, 2008
Madrid,
Spain
Monday, August 14, 2006
I mostly just wandered around eating random tapas and drinking Rioja reservas. I also spent a lot of time reading in the Retiro, Madrid´s Central Park-esque, central park because it was so damn hot during the day (mid 90s at least) and everything is closed for three hours for siesta. One thing that is open, though, are museums, so I actually went to my first museums in a long while. The Prado, Spain´s primary museum for classic works has a lot of Velasquez, El Greco, Rubens and Goya. Eh, although I was glad to see Velasquez´ original Las Meninas because I have seen so many of Picasso and Dali´s deconstructions of it
Bad Public Art
. ( http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu/~nenadm/Artists/Velazquez%20Diego,%201599-1660/Las%20Meninas%20(Maids%20of%20Honor),%201656-57.jpg ). And I discovered that Bosch (El Bosco) did some very surrealist shit in the early sixteenth century. My favorite was a three part screen depicting dozens of little scenes in heaven and hell. ( http://www.culturageneral.net/pintura/cuadros/jpg/triptico_del_jardin_de_las_delicias.jpg ). There was also a nice temporary Picasso exhibit. Another afternoon I went to the Sofia Reina, the modern art museum, which had, as you might imagine, a great collection of Picassos, Miros, and Dalis, and a lot of shite.As for Madrid itself, it is a big sprawling city, but you can walk most of what you want to see (although the subway is airconditioned, a big plus), with plazas, churches and cafes. The same Spanish lifestyle and timetable applies. One night, I finished dinner at 11:30 and went to one of the numerous Irish pubs (although only some of them have actual Irish bartenders), where I met a guy from St. Louis who was visiting his former host from when he studied Spanish in Madrid. We must not have left the pub (to go looking for chicks) until after 2:00, and I don´t think I got back to my hotel until near 6:00 a.m. And, and, and, the chick who picked me up ended the night by insisting that she was "a traditional girl." I took that to be the same as "a rules girl" and cut my losses
Blurry Palacio Real At Night
. Another night, I ended up getting a temporary tattoo at some obscene hour of the morning, which I forgot about when I went to sleep, and I would like to apologize to the hotel for what must have looked like I sacrificed a lamb on my pillow. Yet another night, I stumbled across a local barrio festival with food and drink tents, bands, and carny booths. You could even win liquor by knocking mini bottles down with a cork from an air gun (see picture). But the highlight was a bookstore - J&J´s Books and Coffee, althought they also had a bar. I went there to buy used English language books (the widest selection I have seen so far - thousands) and ended up staying. I met the staff, the owners, and the regulars. The place was a gathering place for English speaking expats (teachers and others), and Madridlenos wanting to practice their English on ïntercambio" nights. I hung out here three nights, on the third night getting taken down the street by Dave (one of the bartenders) and a few of the regulars to another bar, where Dave and I were locked in after hours with the three bartenders of that bar for a night and day (I left at 8:30 a.m.) of Texas Hold Ém. I lost a few Euros, but they waved off my attempt to pay for my drinks, so it was all good. And, I have arranged to meet Dave and a group of the regulars at Tomatina, which should be fun to be with some people I know who speak English and Spanish, and they are making t-shirts.
So, with that, I started off for:
Malaga, Spain (Feria Malaga)
