K & L's Travel Blog

Madrid, February 2-3

We’ve had a quiet two days sticking close to the neighborhood and centering our days around lunch and housekeeping. We seem to have adapted to Spanish time: we are sleeping later (9:00), eating toast for breakfast, lunch at 2:00 or 2:30 and then dinner at 9:00. 

Even though our pace has slowed and our attention shifted from tourist sites to the everyday, things are far from boring. All I have to do is walk around the block. I finally stepped into the camera store around the corner. It’s really a camera museum. The owner had been an astronomic photographer in his day and is now a collector of film cameras with hundreds piled up on display. He proudly showed me his old Hasselbad and sent me off with a print of one of his photos. I told him about the camera museum we’d visited in Staunton, Virginia, and wished I had the wherewithal to introduce these two men. 

On Friday we circled back to a highly rated Japanese restaurant, Sakana. We had planned to go there on our first day here, but filled up on bocadillos. They offer a wide-ranging menu with varied preparations. We ordered fish, dumplings and shrimp tempura. We were somewhat awkwardly seated in red, plush chairs so deep I could almost rest my chin on the table. We relaxed and settled in. We enjoyed our meal, though the raw fish was a bit too raw for me. The service was good and the dumplings were delicious.

From there we walked more of the neighborhood, stopping for expresso at a local café. I continue to discover photos at every turn.

Yesterday we did much the same. We had lunch in a local Lebanese restaurant, Gyro Gourmet. Again, very local. I was hoping for a lamb gyro, but they only had chicken, so Kitty ended up with a chicken Gyro plate and I a chicken shawarma sandwich. The food was very good and cheap. 

We finished the afternoon with a walk in the Western Park. The day was warm so there were lots of people out. The paseo was in full display: that slow-paced, deliberate stroll. Kitty and I lock arms and joined the stream. 

For dinner, I dropped down to Pizza Morso for a carry out. They are literally in our apartment building just adjacent to the lobby and make excellent pizza. The streets below come alive at night: steady flow of pedestrians and a single row of cafe tables set up in casual style. Everyone is reveling in the warmer temperatures, and the cascading buzz of conversation brightens the mood. Rowdy drunks holler in the wee hours, bellowing in exuberance between 5:00 and 7:00 before the street cleaners take over before dawn. I’m glad we have the insulation of the sixth floor, but we are also enjoying all the action and the daily rhythms.