December 2007 Archives
Today, 28 December, is Día de los Santos Inocentes in Spain and Latin America.
It's also Friday. In short, it somewhat historically commemorates a Christian just-after-the-death-of-Christ legend in which King Herodes ordered the deaths of all children younger than 2 years old which were born in Bethlehem. Gruesome. Later in this entry I'll explain what this means to Spaniards today.
Today I slept late. Too late - having stayed up WAY past my bedtime (as if I had one). The sun was shining and I could hear the nearby works of a building being constructed across the street. I went about my morning routine, did some work after breakfast, and decided to go get my hair cut.
Got dressed and walked through the buzzing neighborhood to my local Peluquería, walked in, said hello to the barber and had a seat in the waiting-area as the finishing touches were put on a female client's hair. I said good morning and "How are we doing today?" to the old woman sitting in the waiting-area seat next to me. She looked me over as if I was an spotted elephant, nodded politely and said simply, "Fine".
This is a small, two-chair unisex barber shop. The barber owns it. He's a slick, now slightly paunched in the middle, one-time ponytail wearing, late 50s Spaniard who always dresses very very nicely - and likes to smoke while cutting hair. He's a super nice, super talkative guy who's been cutting hair since he was 18 years old. I found the place accidentally. When I first moved here someone had told me about a very historical barber shop in the neighborhood which had 5 seats, had old mirrors and early 20th century decor. Cool! I walked around looking for the place - and apparently walked right past it to the one I now faithfully patronize. The barber was so cool, nice, and VERY upfront. We liked either other immediately. He asked where I was from, I told him, and then he had all kinds of questions about me and life in the USA and WHY I'd come to live in Spain.
Whenever it's time for a haircut and just before I walk out the door and on my way there I always have a few moments of anxiety because I know this will be a 30-45 minute block of time when I'll ONLY be speaking Spanish - AND OFTEN. This occasion was no exception.
Today I sit in the hair-washing chair and lean back as the previous two ladies are leaving, kissing the barber and wishing him a wonderful New Year and exchanging small talk on their way out the door. They also throw a "And Happy New Year to you too!" as my neck is bent back in the wash basin and I give a smile, a wave, and a "Same to you!" as they leave.
I think the barber always enjoys the days I come to get my haircut. Maybe I'm simply being self-centered and imperialistic but this guy is always all smiles when I come in. Maybe it's just because he cuts Spaniards' hair day after day and has the same Spanish-discussions. With me he knows it'll be something different. Maybe I'm wrong.
Today we talked mainly about Spanish topics like what we did for Christmas. He pointed to his decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the barber shop and said he and his family had been celebrating "Papa Noel" at home for about the last 20 years - long before it was fashionable. FYI: "Papa Noel" - or Santa Claus - in Spain is a recent observance, coming several years after the dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975. But he also asked me about our Thanksgiving Day in the United States, what it meant, on what day it fell, and how we celebrate it. He already knew about the turkey feast, no doubt from seeing it portrayed in movies.
I'd told him, jokingly, that this year I didn't really celebrate the "Santa Claus" form of Christmas "Now that I'm nearly totally Spanish" and that no one I know here really does, so no presents for/from me this year except among my biological family. My parents really enjoyed the Tienda.com gift basket with Spanish goods and my sister was happy to receive the Amazon.com gift certificate. All were ONLINE ordered and shipped goods this year.
Between puffs from his cigarette, he and I also discussed how we were spending our New Years Eve. I told him that unlike last year when I spent part of the post-midnight playing cards & dominoes - the typical evening events on New Years Eve in Spain - that I was thinking of going to the Puerta del Sol to be with the other immigrants, tourists, and the 2 or 3 Madrileños celebrating the the New Year and eating the 12-grapes at midnight -- or, actually, eating them AFTER midnight because it's impossible to hear the 12-chimes of midnight over the din of the crowd.
The barber found it interesting and said that he had gone ONE TIME to the Puerta del Sol just to have the experience but never expects to return because A) there are too many people, B) the plaza party stops 10 minutes after midnight (and the police force you out of the square too), and C) it's impossible to get a taxi after partying downtown and there's no bus or metro service if you stay too late. I told him that by my going to the Puerta del Sol for New Years Eve - Nochevieja - I'm fortifying my community standing as being "more Spanish". hehehe... He laughed. He said he plans to spend the evening at home with family singing karaoke and playing games.
He finished my hair, brushed me off, I paid him and gave a tip. After helping me on with my coat - as he does with all his clients - I gave him a small box of chocolates and wished him a happy holidays. With that he opened the door for me and I stopped in the doorway, spotting a 2 Euro coin on the ground just outside the door.
I said to him, "Wow! Look at the luck I have today! There's a 2 Euro coin down there." I stepped out to the sidewalk, leaned down to pick up the coin and couldn't get it. ! I said, "Wow. This is really stuck!" And with that, the barber, now standing in front of me, laughing loudly and said, "I GOT YOU! I GOT YOU!"
I stood up and asked him what was so funny. He asked me if I knew what day it was. I answered, confused, that it was the 28th of December. He then put his hand on my shoulder having lost his smile and said to me in all seriousness, "You see, my friend, you're not as Spanish as you might think. Today is Día de los Santos Inocentes", the day we play tricks on each other. No matter how long you live here and no matter how much you learn about Spain there will always be things you will never totally understand." How true that is.
But my question is, how does a Christian myth about killing babies in Bethlehem become a joyous, trick-playing holiday in Spain and Latin America?It seems that in the Middle Ages, Christian writers speculated that between 3,000 and 15,000 Bethlehem babies were murdered by King Herodes just after the death of Jesus Christ. But according to the official census for the town of Bethlehem there were no more than 800 total inhabitants at the time. So in the mathematical reality, it is now presumed that no more than 20 births would take place each year at that time and 50% of them would die of natural causes before reaching their second birthday. So according to calculations, no more than 10 should have been murdered in any given year. So where does the 3,000 and 15,000 figure come from?
Answer: It's a lie. A trick. And now these tricks are played on unsuspecting suckers like me who don't know any better. The media often publishes false headlines in their newspapers, radio stations broadcast false or shocking "news items", and friends trick one another.
So how Spanish am I REALLY? Okay. I'm not THAT Spanish.
By the way, if anyone would like to buy MadridMan.com it's for sale. I'm moving to Mars with my recent lottery winnings, establishing a colony called "Mayberry", and planning to change my name to Andy Taylor. I'll be the Sheriff and will need a reliable deputy. Any volunteers?
It's not Christmas in Spain until people start lining up to buy their lottery tickets!
The "Loteria de Navidad" is Spain's Christmas Lottery. The drawing takes place on the morning of December 22nd with children singing out the numbers stamped on small balls which roll out of a gigantic bingo-style ball. There are literally hundreds of winning numbers for the Christmas lottery in Spain. Some are BIG winners and some are small winners but I don't know how the winning amount is assigned to any given number.
By the time the Christmas lottery tickets are available is about the same time LONG LINES begin to form to buy them. Puerta del Sol and Gran Via lottery offices are the busiest, probably because they're in the downtown. But also, theses locations are considered to be considered "Lucky" because that's where patrons have been buying their Christmas lottery tickets for years and years.
Apparently it's a custom in Spain to buy Christmas lottery tickets whenever visiting another city or town. It's another custom to buy and gift lottery tickets as Christmas gifts to your friends and family.
This year is the first time I've bought Christmas Lottery Tickets here in Spain. Why not join in the tradition? I realize lotteries are a total waste of money and the odds against winning are worse than getting hit by lightning on a sunny day. But why not? It's tradition and I'm a new-ish Spanish resident. I'd seen the lines going down the street at Gran Via outside of Madrid's most famous and oldest lottery offices; "Doña Manolita" - founded in 1931. It seems to be a pretty festive atmosphere for those waiting, many of whom are smiling and talking with other patrons about what they'd do with the money should they win.
The Christmas lottery tickets are sold in "Decimos". Each lottery ticket carries FIVE NUMBERS. And each individual lottery ticket is sold as ONE TENTH of the whole ticket. Confused? I'll explain - if I can. Each Christmas Lottery Ticket has one number. But each NUMBER carries a total of 10 INDIVIDUAL tickets. Each ticket costs 20 Euros. To buy the ENTIRE set of 10 tickets for any given lottery number you'll pay 200 Euros. That's 10 Tickets X 20 Euros = 200 Euros. I don't think they print out the tickets with your chosen number but they do have stacks of different of numbers from which to choose. Often people will choose a ticket which ends in "7" because it's their lucky number. Or they'll choose "65" because it was the year they were born.
Knowing the lines were long downtown I instead chose one of the lottery commission offices here in my neighborhood. I got there at about 5:45pm, hoping the line wouldn't too long after re-opening after the lunchtime break. IT WASN'T! In fact, there was ONLY one person at the window when I arrived! What luck! LUCK!?!?!? Hmmm.. That MIGHT have been a sign. hehehe... So I tell the name behind the plexiglass window that I wanted to buy a lottery ticket. He asked, in Spanish, "For Christmas?" "Yes." So I chose the ending numbers which I felt where "lucky", the man zipped them off of their perforation and handed them to me in exchange for my 40 Euros. 40 Euros thrown out the window! Well, we'll see.
Stepping away from the window I took a longer look at my chosen numbers. Hmmm.. I'm not happy with them, but fine. Maybe I've made a bad choice. Well, I've bought them and it's over and done. Surely I can't get a refund. Ha! So I leave the lottery office and walk up the hill towards home. 100 meters later I pass ANOTHER lottery ticket office and there's no waiting customers. Hmmm.. ANOTHER SIGN, MAYBE?! Doubt it. So I step in and buy ONE MORE ticket, choosing a GOOD ticket with GOOD numbers this time. Surely this one's a winner. (crossing fingers and toes)
But remember that since I bought only a "Decimo" - or one-tenth of one ticket, say if my number wins and the jackpot for that particular number is, for example, 20,000 Euros. One-tenth of that is, of course, 2,000 Euros and that's what I'd win. There are people who buy the entire 10-set-tickets for 200 Euros but not me. I'm not that well off!
I bought 3 tickets total. And like a good friend, I GIFTED one ticket to 2 different friends with the understanding that if any of the three tickets win we three would share the winnings. I've already made photocopies of the three tickets so we can all be sure that no one will be skipping the country with a big jackpot without telling the others. hehehe... OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE LET US WIN!! I'VE BEEN A GOOD BOY THIS YEAR!! "Calgon, Take Me Away!!!"
The following Blog entry includes:
I met my good English buddy Steve at the newsstand kiosk outside the famous and historical Café Comercial (historical: founded 1887) on the Glorieta de Bilbao at roughly 1:30pm. This kiosk is fantastic for finding cheap DVDs of all varieties. They have hundreds arranged by category and cost 4.50€ to about 11€. They also have entire movie sets (like Star Wars, Rocky, or Alien) as well as lots of TV series. The DVDs are brand new, plastic wrapped, and are leftover no-nonsense DVDs usually sold, for example, for 2€ when you buy the Saturday XYZ Newspaper. I bought the following movies: "Halloween", "Scarface", "Hotel Rwanda", and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" All totaled: 22.50€
Done with DVD Shopping so we step into the Café Comercial for a stool at the bar. Coffee for Steve. Non-alcholic beer for me - and a free tapa of a plate of potato chip.
We're talking away in the nearly empty bar. It's nearly lunch hour afterall. Someone enters in the far revolving door and I pay no attention. That person leans over the bar behind me I hear him ask the bartender something. Steve's eyes dart over my shoulder to the person there. I spin my head around just to take a glance, for a moment thinking the person is speaking to me.....And WHO IS IT?????
IT'S FREAKIN' PEDRO ALMODÓVAR NOT 12 INCHES AWAY! I didn't stare. I was nice and respectful, and quickly turned back to Steve, slightly nodding to him without words asking, "Do you see who's over my shoulder?" And he oh-so-casually nodded "Yes. So what?" I say he said "So What?" without words because he had JUST seen Pedro Almodóvar in El Corte Inglés in SOL just the week before!!! So then the bartender answered matter-of-factly to the WORLD FAMOUS DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODÓVAR and he then disappeared through the doors to the dining area...... and returned not 5 minutes later, out the door again he went to the street. Seems he just stopped in for a quick "Pit Stop". hehehe... In fact, he didn't leave the area immediately. He stopped at the SAME newsstand kiosk where Steve and I were just browsing not 15 minutes before. He lingered there, asked the news guy something, looked around, and then left. I, sitting at the bar, then looked around at the other bartenders at their stations who were chatting when Pedro walked in - but they didn't even stop talking, just as if it was ME who had asked that question. NO BIG DEAL! My goodness! The locals don't seem to bother "the stars" much here in Madrid. Steve as telling a story about something or other and I was totally distracted and had to sheepishly ask him to repeat his last 4 sentences or so, not hearing a word, stunned with my "Brush With Fame" - HISTORICAL for me..
Calming down, we headed out of Café Comercial, heading west about 7 blocks and reach the Casa Ananías (Calle de Galileo, 9 in the Barrio de Chamberi) a little early for our 2:30pm reservations. Good thing we had reservations too because the place was FULL by the time we left. We walked in and took a moment to peruse the bullfight photos, BULL HEAD, and bullfighting memorabilia in the bar area. Passing through to the dining area we were seated immediately at a nice, 4-person table in the near-center of the restaurant. Perfect. We could see everything. No bullfight-theme here in the dining room, just wrought iron chandeliers, stained glass windows, and a very comfortable, traditional Spanish decor. HISTORICAL - Founded in 1930!
"Hey Scott! I think we're the ONLY non-Spaniards in this place!" "I do believe you're right! Including the wait staff!"
We
already knew what we were going to order before arriving but hey, let's
look over the menu anyway. They have all the typical Madrid and Spanish dishes here. Steven and I ordered the same thing for the entire meal. For starters we had the Asturian "Fabes con Almejas"
- large white beans with small clams. OH! Man! OH-MAN! DELICIOUS! The
creamy sauce was so tasty that I sopped it up with the wonderful bread
after finishing. The second course was the "Cochinillo Frito de Avila". At first I thought this was cochinillo - and didn't notice the "frito" part on the menu but it was still good. Cochinillo is roasted suckling pig but cochinillo frito - or more commonly called "cochifrito"
- is actually a slightly older pig, but cut and fried in small,
quarter-sized balls of meat and bone. Tasty but not what I was
expecting. I asked the waiter upon serving us if THIS was cochinillo. He paused and then
kindly explained that this IS cochinillo but made in the Ávila way. That is, cut into sections and then fried. I stand corrected.
All this and we'd ordered a half-bottle of the house red wine which turned out to be a Rioja Crianza. Good, basic Spanish red wine and the perfect wine for the hearty meal we were eating.
While we were digging in, I was having quite a bit of trouble getting the meat off the bone with my knife and fork. Noticing this, the waiter passed by and said, with a smile, that it's perfectly acceptable to pick up the smaller pieces and eat them with my fingers. Thank goodness!
For dessert we both chose the Crema Catalana and coffee afterwards. As a nice details - as they do in most nice restaurants at the end of a meal - the waiter offered us a free chupito - a kind of shot glass full of cold liqueur of several varieties. They always claim when they offer it to you, "....in order to aid digestion." Ha! A very handy excuse to drink more alcohol. Does it REALLY aid in digestion?? I'd like to see the scientific studies on that one! Anyway, we were given the standard chupito, the Orujo de Hierbas, which is a yellow-ish green color and slightly sweet. Oh, and it's quite strong and TOO EASY to drink.
As I said before, the place was FULL. The long table next to us were occupied by older Spanish ladies wearing furs and dressed for a special lunch. They were CERTAINLY enjoying themselves, drinking wine, having lunch, singing songs, and speaking quite loudly by the end. Other customers were business people, several tie-wearing men and couples, and even some families. It was obvious to me this was a place KNOWN to local Spaniards as a good place to eat a good meal with good service.
Total price for 2 persons... 71€. Gulp! THAT'S NOT your average, casual lunch tab!! Wow! They DO have a menú del día bit I don't recall what was included nor how much it cost. But for a special lunch in a VERY SPANISH Madrid restaurant slightly outside but still accessible from the tourist center it's a definite MUST try if your pocket book can take it.
We're finally done eating. And we ate EVERYTHING! The bread was really great too. I love good Spanish bread. There's nothing worse than having a good meal in a good restaurant but the bread sucks. HOW can a restaurant skimp on BAD BREAD when they're charging you a lot of money for the meal??!! And with the price of decent bread being next to nothing there's NO excuse for ANY restaurant to go-cheap on the bread. Spaniards know good bread and if they get bad bread - even if the meal is great - they're less likely to return to that restaurant. HAPPILY, in Casa Ananías, this was not the case. Their bread was really first-rate!!!
Steve and I walk back to the historical Café Comercial on the Glorieta de Bilbao because they have comfortable tables in a large space and we want to relax. We take a table against the far wall under the mirror-covered walls. Upon ordering two cerveza sin alcohol (alcohol-free beer - plus free tapa of nuts and crackers), a small group of old ladies in their 70s and 80s came and sat at the two tables next to us. Oddly, they all put themselves side-by-side with their backs against the wall, looking towards the open space. It wasn't quite the hour for "merienda", 4:45pm or thereabouts, but maybe they were getting together now before the early sunset. One woman ordered milk. One woman ordered coffee. And two of the women ordered water. Likely total tab for the waiter: 3.50€ - and probably no tip. Poor waiter. They were there as long as we and presumably simply gathering to talk and have an excuse to leave the house in the afternoon. The woman sitting closest to us took out a bag and began knitting!! How sweet.
We finished our beers and took to the street, walking downhill towards the center on Calle Fuencarral. We stopped here and there and looked in a few windows but Steve finally broke off near Chueca where he gets the metro. I continued on to Gran Vía and on to Puerta del Sol, down Calle Arenal to Opera where I got my bus home. At this hour, now 5:30pm or so, there weren't SO many people on the streets as there were last weekend in the evening but still a good number.
What a day filled with good company, GREAT food, (nearly) rubbing elbows with famous people, and a good long walk through downtown Madrid - a TRULY HISTORICAL city.
- CHEAP DVD shopping
- my brush-with-fame
- a FANTASTIC restaurant review
- a relaxing non-alcoholic beer at a famous café
Today was a HISTORICAL day.
I met my good English buddy Steve at the newsstand kiosk outside the famous and historical Café Comercial (historical: founded 1887) on the Glorieta de Bilbao at roughly 1:30pm. This kiosk is fantastic for finding cheap DVDs of all varieties. They have hundreds arranged by category and cost 4.50€ to about 11€. They also have entire movie sets (like Star Wars, Rocky, or Alien) as well as lots of TV series. The DVDs are brand new, plastic wrapped, and are leftover no-nonsense DVDs usually sold, for example, for 2€ when you buy the Saturday XYZ Newspaper. I bought the following movies: "Halloween", "Scarface", "Hotel Rwanda", and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" All totaled: 22.50€
Done with DVD Shopping so we step into the Café Comercial for a stool at the bar. Coffee for Steve. Non-alcholic beer for me - and a free tapa of a plate of potato chip.
We're talking away in the nearly empty bar. It's nearly lunch hour afterall. Someone enters in the far revolving door and I pay no attention. That person leans over the bar behind me I hear him ask the bartender something. Steve's eyes dart over my shoulder to the person there. I spin my head around just to take a glance, for a moment thinking the person is speaking to me.....And WHO IS IT?????
IT'S FREAKIN' PEDRO ALMODÓVAR NOT 12 INCHES AWAY! I didn't stare. I was nice and respectful, and quickly turned back to Steve, slightly nodding to him without words asking, "Do you see who's over my shoulder?" And he oh-so-casually nodded "Yes. So what?" I say he said "So What?" without words because he had JUST seen Pedro Almodóvar in El Corte Inglés in SOL just the week before!!! So then the bartender answered matter-of-factly to the WORLD FAMOUS DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODÓVAR and he then disappeared through the doors to the dining area...... and returned not 5 minutes later, out the door again he went to the street. Seems he just stopped in for a quick "Pit Stop". hehehe... In fact, he didn't leave the area immediately. He stopped at the SAME newsstand kiosk where Steve and I were just browsing not 15 minutes before. He lingered there, asked the news guy something, looked around, and then left. I, sitting at the bar, then looked around at the other bartenders at their stations who were chatting when Pedro walked in - but they didn't even stop talking, just as if it was ME who had asked that question. NO BIG DEAL! My goodness! The locals don't seem to bother "the stars" much here in Madrid. Steve as telling a story about something or other and I was totally distracted and had to sheepishly ask him to repeat his last 4 sentences or so, not hearing a word, stunned with my "Brush With Fame" - HISTORICAL for me..
Calming down, we headed out of Café Comercial, heading west about 7 blocks and reach the Casa Ananías (Calle de Galileo, 9 in the Barrio de Chamberi) a little early for our 2:30pm reservations. Good thing we had reservations too because the place was FULL by the time we left. We walked in and took a moment to peruse the bullfight photos, BULL HEAD, and bullfighting memorabilia in the bar area. Passing through to the dining area we were seated immediately at a nice, 4-person table in the near-center of the restaurant. Perfect. We could see everything. No bullfight-theme here in the dining room, just wrought iron chandeliers, stained glass windows, and a very comfortable, traditional Spanish decor. HISTORICAL - Founded in 1930!"Hey Scott! I think we're the ONLY non-Spaniards in this place!" "I do believe you're right! Including the wait staff!"
We
already knew what we were going to order before arriving but hey, let's
look over the menu anyway. They have all the typical Madrid and Spanish dishes here. Steven and I ordered the same thing for the entire meal. For starters we had the Asturian "Fabes con Almejas"
- large white beans with small clams. OH! Man! OH-MAN! DELICIOUS! The
creamy sauce was so tasty that I sopped it up with the wonderful bread
after finishing. The second course was the "Cochinillo Frito de Avila". At first I thought this was cochinillo - and didn't notice the "frito" part on the menu but it was still good. Cochinillo is roasted suckling pig but cochinillo frito - or more commonly called "cochifrito"
- is actually a slightly older pig, but cut and fried in small,
quarter-sized balls of meat and bone. Tasty but not what I was
expecting. I asked the waiter upon serving us if THIS was cochinillo. He paused and then kindly explained that this IS cochinillo but made in the Ávila way. That is, cut into sections and then fried. I stand corrected.
All this and we'd ordered a half-bottle of the house red wine which turned out to be a Rioja Crianza. Good, basic Spanish red wine and the perfect wine for the hearty meal we were eating.
While we were digging in, I was having quite a bit of trouble getting the meat off the bone with my knife and fork. Noticing this, the waiter passed by and said, with a smile, that it's perfectly acceptable to pick up the smaller pieces and eat them with my fingers. Thank goodness!
For dessert we both chose the Crema Catalana and coffee afterwards. As a nice details - as they do in most nice restaurants at the end of a meal - the waiter offered us a free chupito - a kind of shot glass full of cold liqueur of several varieties. They always claim when they offer it to you, "....in order to aid digestion." Ha! A very handy excuse to drink more alcohol. Does it REALLY aid in digestion?? I'd like to see the scientific studies on that one! Anyway, we were given the standard chupito, the Orujo de Hierbas, which is a yellow-ish green color and slightly sweet. Oh, and it's quite strong and TOO EASY to drink.
As I said before, the place was FULL. The long table next to us were occupied by older Spanish ladies wearing furs and dressed for a special lunch. They were CERTAINLY enjoying themselves, drinking wine, having lunch, singing songs, and speaking quite loudly by the end. Other customers were business people, several tie-wearing men and couples, and even some families. It was obvious to me this was a place KNOWN to local Spaniards as a good place to eat a good meal with good service.
Total price for 2 persons... 71€. Gulp! THAT'S NOT your average, casual lunch tab!! Wow! They DO have a menú del día bit I don't recall what was included nor how much it cost. But for a special lunch in a VERY SPANISH Madrid restaurant slightly outside but still accessible from the tourist center it's a definite MUST try if your pocket book can take it.
We're finally done eating. And we ate EVERYTHING! The bread was really great too. I love good Spanish bread. There's nothing worse than having a good meal in a good restaurant but the bread sucks. HOW can a restaurant skimp on BAD BREAD when they're charging you a lot of money for the meal??!! And with the price of decent bread being next to nothing there's NO excuse for ANY restaurant to go-cheap on the bread. Spaniards know good bread and if they get bad bread - even if the meal is great - they're less likely to return to that restaurant. HAPPILY, in Casa Ananías, this was not the case. Their bread was really first-rate!!!
Steve and I walk back to the historical Café Comercial on the Glorieta de Bilbao because they have comfortable tables in a large space and we want to relax. We take a table against the far wall under the mirror-covered walls. Upon ordering two cerveza sin alcohol (alcohol-free beer - plus free tapa of nuts and crackers), a small group of old ladies in their 70s and 80s came and sat at the two tables next to us. Oddly, they all put themselves side-by-side with their backs against the wall, looking towards the open space. It wasn't quite the hour for "merienda", 4:45pm or thereabouts, but maybe they were getting together now before the early sunset. One woman ordered milk. One woman ordered coffee. And two of the women ordered water. Likely total tab for the waiter: 3.50€ - and probably no tip. Poor waiter. They were there as long as we and presumably simply gathering to talk and have an excuse to leave the house in the afternoon. The woman sitting closest to us took out a bag and began knitting!! How sweet.We finished our beers and took to the street, walking downhill towards the center on Calle Fuencarral. We stopped here and there and looked in a few windows but Steve finally broke off near Chueca where he gets the metro. I continued on to Gran Vía and on to Puerta del Sol, down Calle Arenal to Opera where I got my bus home. At this hour, now 5:30pm or so, there weren't SO many people on the streets as there were last weekend in the evening but still a good number.
What a day filled with good company, GREAT food, (nearly) rubbing elbows with famous people, and a good long walk through downtown Madrid - a TRULY HISTORICAL city.
Funny how we accidentally find things on the internet which interest us or make us laugh. This is what happened just a couple minutes ago and felt it was an appropriate, relative thing about which to make a posting.
I happened upon a specific, Madrid Christmas-related posting on a technology Spanish blog (i.e. "WebLog") called Clipset.net entitled "Árbol de Navidad Comecocos, oseasé Pac-Man Xmas Tree". In English that's "Coconut-Eating Christmas Tree, or Pac-Man Xmas Tree".
It seem that in Spain, "back in the day", the popular Pac-Man video game was instead lovingly called "Comecocos" or "Coconut Eaters". Cute, huh!
In the posting they said the Pac-Man Christmas Tree is apparently located in the Azca business district of Madrid. The tree is a 4-sided pyramid and shows the video game in lights complete with dot-eating ghosts and also a few stars and tiny Christmas trees thrown in to make it more Christmassy. Apparently the dot-eating ghosts are stationary and do not move around the Christmas tree. But wouldn't it be COOL if they did? Harder to make too, I'm sure.
Below I'm including the YouTube video which ClipSet.net posted in that particular blog entry. Enjoy!
I happened upon a specific, Madrid Christmas-related posting on a technology Spanish blog (i.e. "WebLog") called Clipset.net entitled "Árbol de Navidad Comecocos, oseasé Pac-Man Xmas Tree". In English that's "Coconut-Eating Christmas Tree, or Pac-Man Xmas Tree".It seem that in Spain, "back in the day", the popular Pac-Man video game was instead lovingly called "Comecocos" or "Coconut Eaters". Cute, huh!
In the posting they said the Pac-Man Christmas Tree is apparently located in the Azca business district of Madrid. The tree is a 4-sided pyramid and shows the video game in lights complete with dot-eating ghosts and also a few stars and tiny Christmas trees thrown in to make it more Christmassy. Apparently the dot-eating ghosts are stationary and do not move around the Christmas tree. But wouldn't it be COOL if they did? Harder to make too, I'm sure.
Below I'm including the YouTube video which ClipSet.net posted in that particular blog entry. Enjoy!
Christmas in Madrid is something to experience; Christmas lights are everywhere, holiday shoppers pack the streets, and the bars and restaurants are seemingly full ALL the time!
During Christmastime, getting from POINT A to POINT B in Madrid is generally calculated by using the following equation:
So if it once took you 4 minutes to casually walk from Opera to Puerta del Sol it NOW takes you 16 minutes. It could take even longer if you encounter more than 2 crowd-creating street performers/statues, more than 3 groups of families standing in the middle of the street, or more than 4 families of 5 walking shoulder to shoulder - or in the normal, meandering Spanish style.
The above is a real pet peve of mine - not only in Madrid but in the world. I think Spaniards have perfected the art of walking in a blind, snakelike patter without hitting anyone. Lots of walking and suddenly stopping in the middle of the flow of pedestrian traffic, lots of "looking right and pointing left" while talking to the person at your right, lots of baby stroller-pushing parents with no sense of direction.
Yesterday I was passing through the murky current of Calle de Arenal and passed a couple talking and walking casually. I was passing on woman's left. She was talking to her husband at her right. The woman was holding a lighted cigarette in her left hand and suddenly reached out with left hand at shoulder height and nearly put my eye out with her red-hot tobacco. Luckily, my football running-back instincts kicked in and I bobbed-and-weaved my head out of the way.
The bars are ABSOLUTELY FULL with holiday revelers, making drink-and-snack shopping stops. Friday night I was in one of the Las Bravas bars in old downtown Madrid - the brand new one - to get a quick order of Patatas Bravas and a beer and could barely squeeze myself a tiny space at the bar as there were not tables available. At one of the other Las Bravas bars the interior was so full that people were eating and drinking at the outdoor barrels and tables while wearing their winter coats. (see photo at left) Luckily there is more than one of these fantastic bars in the chain in Madrid - and oddly enough (or luckily enough) - they're all within 100 meters of one another.
Christmas shopping anywhere around Puerta del Sol area like, for example, along Calle Preciados or Gran Via is an experience. Be sure to wear your PATIENCE HAT before going out. The lines are long at the cash registers, the aisles are full of meandering shoppers with eyes pointing left and right but rarely straight ahead, and the store temperatures are HIGH.
Buses and metro trains are FULL. The bus I typically take to and from OPERA is now full at nearly any hour - but particularly from 5pm to 11:30pm any day of the week. Standing room only. And they're HOT too! All the windows steam up with all those sardine-squeezed bus riders, all front to back, shoulder to shoulder. The metro cars are the same. It's amazing how many people are moving to-and-fro these days in the nation's capital.
Madrid Christmas lights are nice - simple, but nice. There's not a lot of "frill" to this year's lights, mostly consisting of square sheets of hanging white lights, blob-like white light patterns, and an occasional angel or star. The tall, lacy white-light Christmas tree next to the Palacio Real is something special just as the SUPER TALL green and red Christmas tree next to the Rio Manzanares near the Puente de Segovia bridge.
I'd LOVE to take one of the double-decker buses, decorated and managed by the City of Madrid, which takes 1-Euro paying passengers around Madrid to see the Christmas lights. It must be a beautiful, although cold ride. I hear there are hours-long lines waiting for a chance to get on.
The 2007 El Corte Inglés CORTYLANDIA display is an annual family tradition - okay, it's just for kids but the parents have to take them along. I walked through the piles of families and baby strollers and took the below photo at the Puerta del Sol store location - all El Corte Inglés' have their own. I have to wonder why El Corte Inglés itself spells it CORTYLANDIA but everywhere on the internet everyone (Spaniards) spells it CORTILANDIA. I guess the latter is more Spanish-correct than the term with the Y in it - which is no-doubt more English-ized, hence the name of El Corte Inglés.
And below is a YouTube video of Cortylandia 2007 - not my video...
More Madrid Christmas Photos coming all this month!!! Be sure to check back often.
During Christmastime, getting from POINT A to POINT B in Madrid is generally calculated by using the following equation:
normal trajectory time X 4 = actual trajectory time
So if it once took you 4 minutes to casually walk from Opera to Puerta del Sol it NOW takes you 16 minutes. It could take even longer if you encounter more than 2 crowd-creating street performers/statues, more than 3 groups of families standing in the middle of the street, or more than 4 families of 5 walking shoulder to shoulder - or in the normal, meandering Spanish style.
The above is a real pet peve of mine - not only in Madrid but in the world. I think Spaniards have perfected the art of walking in a blind, snakelike patter without hitting anyone. Lots of walking and suddenly stopping in the middle of the flow of pedestrian traffic, lots of "looking right and pointing left" while talking to the person at your right, lots of baby stroller-pushing parents with no sense of direction.
Yesterday I was passing through the murky current of Calle de Arenal and passed a couple talking and walking casually. I was passing on woman's left. She was talking to her husband at her right. The woman was holding a lighted cigarette in her left hand and suddenly reached out with left hand at shoulder height and nearly put my eye out with her red-hot tobacco. Luckily, my football running-back instincts kicked in and I bobbed-and-weaved my head out of the way.
The bars are ABSOLUTELY FULL with holiday revelers, making drink-and-snack shopping stops. Friday night I was in one of the Las Bravas bars in old downtown Madrid - the brand new one - to get a quick order of Patatas Bravas and a beer and could barely squeeze myself a tiny space at the bar as there were not tables available. At one of the other Las Bravas bars the interior was so full that people were eating and drinking at the outdoor barrels and tables while wearing their winter coats. (see photo at left) Luckily there is more than one of these fantastic bars in the chain in Madrid - and oddly enough (or luckily enough) - they're all within 100 meters of one another.
Christmas shopping anywhere around Puerta del Sol area like, for example, along Calle Preciados or Gran Via is an experience. Be sure to wear your PATIENCE HAT before going out. The lines are long at the cash registers, the aisles are full of meandering shoppers with eyes pointing left and right but rarely straight ahead, and the store temperatures are HIGH.
Buses and metro trains are FULL. The bus I typically take to and from OPERA is now full at nearly any hour - but particularly from 5pm to 11:30pm any day of the week. Standing room only. And they're HOT too! All the windows steam up with all those sardine-squeezed bus riders, all front to back, shoulder to shoulder. The metro cars are the same. It's amazing how many people are moving to-and-fro these days in the nation's capital.
Madrid Christmas lights are nice - simple, but nice. There's not a lot of "frill" to this year's lights, mostly consisting of square sheets of hanging white lights, blob-like white light patterns, and an occasional angel or star. The tall, lacy white-light Christmas tree next to the Palacio Real is something special just as the SUPER TALL green and red Christmas tree next to the Rio Manzanares near the Puente de Segovia bridge.
I'd LOVE to take one of the double-decker buses, decorated and managed by the City of Madrid, which takes 1-Euro paying passengers around Madrid to see the Christmas lights. It must be a beautiful, although cold ride. I hear there are hours-long lines waiting for a chance to get on.
The 2007 El Corte Inglés CORTYLANDIA display is an annual family tradition - okay, it's just for kids but the parents have to take them along. I walked through the piles of families and baby strollers and took the below photo at the Puerta del Sol store location - all El Corte Inglés' have their own. I have to wonder why El Corte Inglés itself spells it CORTYLANDIA but everywhere on the internet everyone (Spaniards) spells it CORTILANDIA. I guess the latter is more Spanish-correct than the term with the Y in it - which is no-doubt more English-ized, hence the name of El Corte Inglés.
And below is a YouTube video of Cortylandia 2007 - not my video...More Madrid Christmas Photos coming all this month!!! Be sure to check back often.
MadridMan joyfully witnessed yesterday's (Saturday, 6pm) Cirque du Soleil performance of DELIRIUM - created and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon - at Madrid's Palacio de Deportes, near the GOYA metro station in the Barrio de Salamanca.
The seats were perfect; 6th row up from the floor in the middle section, allowing perfect perspective of the middle stage and the full-length screens to the left and right.
What an Audio-Visual experience it was!! The strobe lights, the projections upon thin, see-through films behind and (sometimes) in front of the performance was nothing short of spectacular.
The performance lasted roughly one hour and 40 minutes. During that time I looked around the full arena to see many people staring with wide eyes and wider grins. Totally mesmerized. This event is one which overwhelms the senses like no other I've seen. It stimulates the eyes with not only the action on stage but also the lights, the images, the colors taking place on the adjacent floor-to-ceiling panels.
THE MUSIC is largely live (listen to music clips HERE), performed by live bands and professional singers - many times the vocal artists were suspended by wires and floating above the action below. From the African drummers to the Rock Bands and professional singers it is an audio experience worth owning on any CD - or better yet, on DVD!
This Cirque du Soleil performance is not like other Cirque du Soleil performances I've seen in the past. DELIRIUM is much more "Performance Art" than "Circus Acts" - although a good number of acrobatics, body-balancing-and-tossing, hula-hoop spinning, and suspended-rope-spinning spectacles took place, all meshed together with surrounding visuals and adjacent activity.
Unfortunately for us, due to copyright laws and pre-show request that no photos or video be taken by patrons, I am not able to post any photos of Cirque du Soleil's DELIRIUM show here. You may go to their website at www.CirqueduSoleil.com for more Delirium photos and information.
I CAN, however, embed the following brief video (see below) for your enjoyment and to get a small idea of the scale of the DELIRIUM expeience:
If you have an opportunity to see the Europe-only show DELIRIUM in Spain be sure to try - but try soon as tickets sellout fast! More DELIRIUM tour locations and dates HERE. 2007 Spain tours dates are as follows:
From their website the following quote.....:
The seats were perfect; 6th row up from the floor in the middle section, allowing perfect perspective of the middle stage and the full-length screens to the left and right.What an Audio-Visual experience it was!! The strobe lights, the projections upon thin, see-through films behind and (sometimes) in front of the performance was nothing short of spectacular.
The performance lasted roughly one hour and 40 minutes. During that time I looked around the full arena to see many people staring with wide eyes and wider grins. Totally mesmerized. This event is one which overwhelms the senses like no other I've seen. It stimulates the eyes with not only the action on stage but also the lights, the images, the colors taking place on the adjacent floor-to-ceiling panels.
THE MUSIC is largely live (listen to music clips HERE), performed by live bands and professional singers - many times the vocal artists were suspended by wires and floating above the action below. From the African drummers to the Rock Bands and professional singers it is an audio experience worth owning on any CD - or better yet, on DVD!
This Cirque du Soleil performance is not like other Cirque du Soleil performances I've seen in the past. DELIRIUM is much more "Performance Art" than "Circus Acts" - although a good number of acrobatics, body-balancing-and-tossing, hula-hoop spinning, and suspended-rope-spinning spectacles took place, all meshed together with surrounding visuals and adjacent activity.
Unfortunately for us, due to copyright laws and pre-show request that no photos or video be taken by patrons, I am not able to post any photos of Cirque du Soleil's DELIRIUM show here. You may go to their website at www.CirqueduSoleil.com for more Delirium photos and information.
I CAN, however, embed the following brief video (see below) for your enjoyment and to get a small idea of the scale of the DELIRIUM expeience:
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL - DELIRIUM VIDEO
(press PLAY):
(press PLAY):
If you have an opportunity to see the Europe-only show DELIRIUM in Spain be sure to try - but try soon as tickets sellout fast! More DELIRIUM tour locations and dates HERE. 2007 Spain tours dates are as follows:
| Valencia, ES Feria Valencia | 13 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. 14 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. 15 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. 16 Dec. - 9:00 p.m. | |
| Barcelona, ES PALAU SANT JORDI | 19 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. 20 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. 21 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. 22 Dec. - 6:00 p.m. 22 Dec. - 9:30 p.m. |
From their website the following quote.....:
About DELIRIUM
An urban tale
With visually stunning tableaux in which music and projections meld together seamlessly, DELIRIUM is a contemporary urban tale, a quest for balance in a world increasingly out of sync with reality. Bill - the main character - is an ordinary man living inside a bubble, more and more recluse in a society where even relationships are "virtual," and where television and computers have become ubiquitous devices that isolate us from one another.A delirious sensory folly
Everything in Bill's urban life further draws him into an imaginary, virtual world. On his journey he meets myriad characters that bring him little by little on the cusp of growth and change. He eventually learns to ground his energy into the real world. At the end of his voyage, Bill contaminates the people of his planet and enlists them in his quest for balance.DELIRIUM is a delirious sensory folly where music unites space, individual and society in a world marked by solitude and isolation. The subtext of DELIRIUM is the notion that, in life, we must join together--escape our solitary cocoons--to survive.
Music in motion
The music of DELIRIUM--"urban tribal beats" that combine percussive driven pop and electronic music with melodious ballads and world rhythm sounds--take the audience on an incandescent journey into the musical realm of Cirque du Soleil and the aerial world of Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon.
Injecting new life into the 21 songs chosen among Cirque du Soleil's most memorable musical moments, DELIRIUM is based on a musical rather than an acrobatic structure--a first for Cirque du Soleil. Melodies, musicians and singers are the driving force of this show that features a series of tableaux made up of images ranging from prerecorded visuals to manipulated live feeds that create interactions between the artists and the audience. Featuring new texts in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, the 21 remixed melodies mark a significant departure from the music Cirque du Soleil fans have come to expect.
In short, DELIRIUM is an experience not to be missed.
It's GREAT entertainment for the entire family.
It's GREAT entertainment for the entire family.
MadridMan asks on his 42nd birthday, "Where is the Love?"
The following IS NOT a self-centered attempt to garner birthday well-wishes but rather to make all of us think about the world in which we live.
If the below video or its lyrics don't make you become teary eyed with thought-provoked sadness - like it does to me - then you may be breathin' but you sure ain't livin'.
"Where Is The Love" by the Black Eyed Peas
Lyrics of song "Where Is The Love" by the Black Eyed Peas
(Please read these song lyrics, carefully, slowly, mindfully...)
What's wrong with the world mama?
People living like ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world's addicted to the drama
Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma
Overseas yeah we tryin' to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And if you hatin' you're bound to get irate
Yeah madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
You gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all
People killing people dying
Children hurtin' you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the lovex3)(the love2x)
It just ain't the same all ways have changed
New days are strange is the world the insane?
If love and peace so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations dropping bombs
Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones
With ongoing suffering
As the youth die young
So ask yourself is the loving really strong?
So I can ask myself really what is going wrong
With this world that we living in
People keep on giving in
Makin' wrong decisions
Only visions of them livin' and
Not respecting each other
Deny thy brother
The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover
The truth is kept secret
Swept under the rug
If you never know truth
Then you never know love
Where's the love y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the truth y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the love y'all?
People killing people dying
Children hurtin' you hear them crying
Can practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father father father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?(where is the lovex3)(the lovex2)
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm getting older y'all people get colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what the see in the cinema
Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading anomosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I gotta keep my faith alive, until love is found
People killing people dying
Children hurtin' you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?
Sing wit me y'all:
One world, one world
(We only got) One world, one world
(That's all we got) One world, one world
And something's wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something's wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something's wrong wit the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got (One world, one world)
That's all we got (One world, one world)
Many times we don't even notice them - until they're gone. We walk by them day after day. On occasion we'll pop in to buy someone small. In other cases it's where we do our near-daily shopping.
I'm talking about the local shops where we buy our meats, the shops where we buy our chicken, the shops where we buy our fresh daily bread, and the shops where we buy our snacks. These shops are most often owned AND operated by the same person - or maybe operated by the son or daughter of the owner.
With the fast influx of foreigners into Spain from many different nations, the common ownership of cars, the prevalence of "Centros Comerciales" (i.e. Malls) on the outskirts of the city, and the sprouting "Los Chinos" (owned & operated by Chinese and selling China-made goods for cheap) throughout the neighborhood, the Spanish-owned individual shops are closing at an unsettling rate. I say it's unsettling because many Spaniards - and their families - are losing their livelihoods, and the friendly faces we've been seeing day after day are leaving us, replaced by new faces having unusual accents and many of whom have difficulty speaking Spanish.
Today I saw one of these store owners in the neighborhood as I was passing through. We stood on the street corner and talked for a few minutes. I thought it odd that she was on the street at this particular hour, an hour when she'd normally be working in her store. I asked her if she was working today and that's when she told me that TODAY was her last day with the store and it was closing. She said the recent break-ins, the cost of needed renovations, and the slacking business has made it difficult to make a living. She said she and her husband were leaving the neighborhood too.
Many days I'll walk by her tiny shop as it's on the main street where I live. And there she is, sitting on a small stool behind her counter, watching a tiny black and white TV. No business. She works 6-days per week and closes 3 hours for lunch/siesta. I mentioned to her once when buying some snacks that she carried so many (food) things. She said, "I carry a lot so that I might sell a little." Her shop is in the "old style" of Spanish shop where the customer walks in and waits at the counter, asking the clerk for this or that and the clerk retrieves the requested items from behind the counter on various shelves.
She's been in this neighborhood in her store for the last 20 years or so. Everyone knows her in the neighborhood. Everyone likes her. She's a short, squat Spanish woman who speaks her mind very directly but always has a smile on her face and always very talkative. She knows all of my "Spain family" by name and always asks about them. As far as I'm aware, she's the last Spanish-owned store of her kind in the neighborhood. All the (many) other stores in the neighborhood are run by Chinese people.
Maybe I've had a little something to do with the Spanish woman deciding to close. Her shop is farther from my house than the Chinese run store directly across the street so I tend to do my snack-and-drink-and-last-minute-necessity shopping there. This shop is a typical self-serve convenience-store-type place where you walk in and choose items on shelves. Plus, this place next door is open every day of the week, opens at 9am (or earlier) and closes at about 2am (or later) every night. It does NOT close for lunch/siesta. I sometimes see the clerks eating meals in the open store. The Chinese women who works the shop is there at ALL opening hours. God, that must be something. She's very very nice, always has a big smile for me when she sees me enter her shop happily waves at me while I'm waiting for the bus across the street. She always calls me "Mi amigo! Mi amigo!" but those are almost the only words of Spanish she knows apart from her numbers - and oftentimes I don't understand her, causing her to spin her calculator around to show me the total.
Across the street from my building was a bar like no other bar in the neighborhood - and it was right there, across the street. It was very small but very very nicely decorated with a rustic, wooden decor. The owner/bartender was a 50-something Spanish man who expected to make this his "Retirement Bar" where he'd pass his last working years serving drinks to good neighborhood folks who appreciated a nice, friendly place with a friendly bartender. I liked him immediately upon our meeting. He and his wife served a wonderful, home-cooked, no-choice "Menu del Dia" every afternoon for 8 Euros in the tiny back room which only had five small, 2-person tables. The meal was always something hearty like Cocido Madrileño, Pork Chops and potatoes, or something similar. I ate lunch there about once a month and went in for drinks with about the same frequency. The free tapas offered with drinks were simple but good, plentiful, and always served with a genuine smile and a story to tell.
A couple months ago he closed his bar after being open only one year. I was there on his last night and bought a couple bottles of his leftover Rioja wine. He stated there just wasn't enough business to stay open although he did enjoy the quality of clientèle at his bar. Unfortunately, the bar didn't suit the neighborhood in which it was located. Across the street there is a wall-paper-pealing, loud-football-game showing, no-tapas-offering, terrible-coffee serving bar and it's doing just great! It's run by a Latino family whose bar tendress seems, from her facial expression when you walk in the door, to rather throw wet coffee grounds at you than serve you a beer. Some customers don't know quality when it punches them in the nose. In fact, many people would rather take a punch in the nose than pay 10 Eurocents more for the beer at the nice, friendly bar across the street - the one which closed.
So I'm sad to know the Spanish woman is closing her shop down the street and leaving the neighborhood. I could have patronized her shop more and probably should have. I could have been more of a "Regular" at the bar across the street too but I just don't drink that much and my Spanish wasn't good enough to feel 100% comfortable while surrounded by talkative Spaniards.
It's sad to lose the places and people we like, settling for things which simply serve a purpose with no added benefit of actually enriching our lives. Luckily, many of the "toda la vida" shops are still hanging on. But for how long?
The above are just a few case files for the "Changing Face" of Madrid - and Spain.
I'm talking about the local shops where we buy our meats, the shops where we buy our chicken, the shops where we buy our fresh daily bread, and the shops where we buy our snacks. These shops are most often owned AND operated by the same person - or maybe operated by the son or daughter of the owner.
With the fast influx of foreigners into Spain from many different nations, the common ownership of cars, the prevalence of "Centros Comerciales" (i.e. Malls) on the outskirts of the city, and the sprouting "Los Chinos" (owned & operated by Chinese and selling China-made goods for cheap) throughout the neighborhood, the Spanish-owned individual shops are closing at an unsettling rate. I say it's unsettling because many Spaniards - and their families - are losing their livelihoods, and the friendly faces we've been seeing day after day are leaving us, replaced by new faces having unusual accents and many of whom have difficulty speaking Spanish.
Today I saw one of these store owners in the neighborhood as I was passing through. We stood on the street corner and talked for a few minutes. I thought it odd that she was on the street at this particular hour, an hour when she'd normally be working in her store. I asked her if she was working today and that's when she told me that TODAY was her last day with the store and it was closing. She said the recent break-ins, the cost of needed renovations, and the slacking business has made it difficult to make a living. She said she and her husband were leaving the neighborhood too.
Many days I'll walk by her tiny shop as it's on the main street where I live. And there she is, sitting on a small stool behind her counter, watching a tiny black and white TV. No business. She works 6-days per week and closes 3 hours for lunch/siesta. I mentioned to her once when buying some snacks that she carried so many (food) things. She said, "I carry a lot so that I might sell a little." Her shop is in the "old style" of Spanish shop where the customer walks in and waits at the counter, asking the clerk for this or that and the clerk retrieves the requested items from behind the counter on various shelves.
She's been in this neighborhood in her store for the last 20 years or so. Everyone knows her in the neighborhood. Everyone likes her. She's a short, squat Spanish woman who speaks her mind very directly but always has a smile on her face and always very talkative. She knows all of my "Spain family" by name and always asks about them. As far as I'm aware, she's the last Spanish-owned store of her kind in the neighborhood. All the (many) other stores in the neighborhood are run by Chinese people.
Maybe I've had a little something to do with the Spanish woman deciding to close. Her shop is farther from my house than the Chinese run store directly across the street so I tend to do my snack-and-drink-and-last-minute-necessity shopping there. This shop is a typical self-serve convenience-store-type place where you walk in and choose items on shelves. Plus, this place next door is open every day of the week, opens at 9am (or earlier) and closes at about 2am (or later) every night. It does NOT close for lunch/siesta. I sometimes see the clerks eating meals in the open store. The Chinese women who works the shop is there at ALL opening hours. God, that must be something. She's very very nice, always has a big smile for me when she sees me enter her shop happily waves at me while I'm waiting for the bus across the street. She always calls me "Mi amigo! Mi amigo!" but those are almost the only words of Spanish she knows apart from her numbers - and oftentimes I don't understand her, causing her to spin her calculator around to show me the total.
Across the street from my building was a bar like no other bar in the neighborhood - and it was right there, across the street. It was very small but very very nicely decorated with a rustic, wooden decor. The owner/bartender was a 50-something Spanish man who expected to make this his "Retirement Bar" where he'd pass his last working years serving drinks to good neighborhood folks who appreciated a nice, friendly place with a friendly bartender. I liked him immediately upon our meeting. He and his wife served a wonderful, home-cooked, no-choice "Menu del Dia" every afternoon for 8 Euros in the tiny back room which only had five small, 2-person tables. The meal was always something hearty like Cocido Madrileño, Pork Chops and potatoes, or something similar. I ate lunch there about once a month and went in for drinks with about the same frequency. The free tapas offered with drinks were simple but good, plentiful, and always served with a genuine smile and a story to tell.
A couple months ago he closed his bar after being open only one year. I was there on his last night and bought a couple bottles of his leftover Rioja wine. He stated there just wasn't enough business to stay open although he did enjoy the quality of clientèle at his bar. Unfortunately, the bar didn't suit the neighborhood in which it was located. Across the street there is a wall-paper-pealing, loud-football-game showing, no-tapas-offering, terrible-coffee serving bar and it's doing just great! It's run by a Latino family whose bar tendress seems, from her facial expression when you walk in the door, to rather throw wet coffee grounds at you than serve you a beer. Some customers don't know quality when it punches them in the nose. In fact, many people would rather take a punch in the nose than pay 10 Eurocents more for the beer at the nice, friendly bar across the street - the one which closed.
So I'm sad to know the Spanish woman is closing her shop down the street and leaving the neighborhood. I could have patronized her shop more and probably should have. I could have been more of a "Regular" at the bar across the street too but I just don't drink that much and my Spanish wasn't good enough to feel 100% comfortable while surrounded by talkative Spaniards.
It's sad to lose the places and people we like, settling for things which simply serve a purpose with no added benefit of actually enriching our lives. Luckily, many of the "toda la vida" shops are still hanging on. But for how long?
The above are just a few case files for the "Changing Face" of Madrid - and Spain.
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