Madrid: una vez mas!

Madrid, one more time!

Lilttle more than a year after our first trip to Madrid, we found ourselves returning for another week to what has become our favourite city on the Continent (to date). Thanks to the delicious food, abundant wine and laidback vibe, we had had our first-ever relaxing city break here the spring before. What he hadn't had much of was hot sunshine (the city was having a freak cold snap in June). Nor had we ventured much away from the city, which is surrounded by beautiful scenery and some of Spain's finest historic cities.

Two hours after jetting off from England, we stepped into blistering hot sunshine which assured us that our shorts, T-shirts and sandals would not go unworn this time. In fact, such was the heat that the first item on our agenda was a flop in front of the hotel's aircon until the scorching mid-afternoon sun eased off a bit. Even at 6 in the evening though it was 100F as we strolled the gardens in front of the royal palace with our ice creams. Later we had a few drinks and a meal, nothing memorable, but then we were wiped out from the day's travelling and unpacking.

Early Sunday morning and half the city manages to turn out for the infamous El Rastro street market, despite the excesses from the night before. El Rastro is depicted as the crack heroin of Madrid's sights: dirty, dangerous and addictive. Its name after all means 'the bloody trail', when these streets were smeared with the blood of slaughtered animals being dragged to the local tanneries. All the guidebooks are filled with stories of thieving gypsies and leprous pickpockets. Buyer beware, indeed!

In actuality, the street market turned out to be rather middlebrow and dull, at least along the upper reaches along Calle de Toledo near the La Latina metro stop. The stalls here sell staple items for the tourists like simple handmade jewellery, T-shirts, sunglasses, handbags and even pashmina scarves. The tall trees lining the steep avenue made it thoroughly pleasant, even.

Things became much more interesting at a plaza at the bottom end of the market which was filled with people young and old alike swapping sports cards, like kids in a playground during recess.

Huge volumes of cards were laid out on the walls and benches, with most people carrying a tick list so they could scour each other's offerings in order to complete their own collections.

Deeper down the back streets and things became even interesting (or chaotic, depending on your point of view). The crowds here were more local and the whiff of criminal activity more noticeable. During whispered conversations, vendors would produce bags from under their tables for quick perusal. A chap with a box full of books made himself scarce when policemen came around the corner. Amongst the rusty old keys, plumbing fixtures and dusty trinkets were a few electronics that had the appearance of being, shall we say, re-appropriated from one careless owner.

But there were also some lovely old antiques to admire and plenty of curiosities, so there were photo
opportunities galore. I've put some more photos on my Facebook page. Just keep a hand on your wallet!