K & L's Travel Blog

Madrid, February 5-7. 2024

Our pattern of daily rhythms from our last post continues as we move into our fifth week here in Madrid. We are settling into routines punctuated by errands and less by monuments, but are still encountering wonderful & surprising spaces and people.

On Sunday we decide to walk from Chamberí down to the Gran Via, and are happy to find Calle Fuencarral closed to traffic, filled with families enjoying the sunny day. We join in the stream and watch the children learning to roller skate. As we walk south, the local families drop off and tourists begin to fill the spaces along with familiar store brands: Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, North Face. It starts to feel like an American mall.

Museums are free, and the Madrid History Museum is just off the road. We’re surprised to recognize the square is one we’d frequented a couple of weeks ago. From the history museum we go to the telephone company where I’d hoped to learn more about the history of women telephone operators (“Cable Girls” is a Spanish serial that covers this history). The exhibit was closed, but it was fun to see the building and work through the exhibits they had going.

We made our way home on back streets, again criss-crossing previous paths and building our familiarity with Malasaña. The next day we headed back down to the neighborhood to find a store that actually sold greeting cards. This is a rarity in Spain, where people prefer to make their own cards from supplies purchased at paper/art stores. Again, this is a basic shopping errand, but it is elevated by the novel sights we take in along the way.

Yesterday we spent our morning wandering & shopping in Chamberí before headed north to Chamartín Station to buy our tickets for our day trip to Segovia. The Metro station was amazing, though the train station was under construction and a challenge to navigate. We made our way and are relieved to have had the chance to scope out our route for Thursday morning.

Today we finished our trio of big museums with Reina Sophia. The big draw there is Picasso’s Guernica, though they also have an amazing holding of other modernist and surrealists. They had lots of school children there of all ages. Five-year olds seated below the violent canvas taking it all in. Kitty enjoyed all the historical and cultural elements they provided: film, clippings, etc. that helped to put the art into a the broader context of modernism. We had a coffee break with pancakes at their fancy restaurant. It was my favorite museum of the three, though it was the most challenging to navigate.

Our final errand today was going to the post office to mail our cards. Again, what sounds mundane is really pretty extraordinary, as the Madrid PO is a far cry from Merrimon Avenue. We ride the now-familiar bus #2 back to our neighborhood where we enjoy a late lunch at a Chinese around the corner. A quick trip to our grocery store and then home where Kitty puzzles and I work photos. Tomorrow to Segovia.