A VERY LONG WALK (or two) in MADRID
Consuelo Mellado lives near Madrid and we have been friends since she translated my book, The Girl Immigrant, into Spanish with the title, Historia de una niña emigrante. My first full day (Monday) started with M&Ms and a convoluted walk along many, cobblestoned alleys that Madrid labels as streets. On the street corners, each street name is beautifully emblazoned with colorful tiles. Thank goodness I have my new glasses to see all of them.
After a traditional Spanish breakfast of tomato and toast with cafe con leche, she led me into a maze of those Spanish streets. She was born and raised here, so she took off at a trot. Her English was a bit rusty, but compared to my rusty Spanish, we did very well and thankfully, she spoke a lot of English.
Our first stop was a sweet shop called La Mallorquina. Her great grandfather was born in Mallorca and moved to Madrid when he was about 23. In 1894, he started a small sweet shop (pastelería) in Puerta del Sol and from there, it has grown over the many years into several shops. The shop is named for his birthplace; I loved watching the pride on Consuelo’s face with the telling.
My Monday continued through streets, traffic, people and cafes as we stopped along the way for drinks and later for lunch. Calamari and salad with wine. My feet and legs ached at the end of our day. I walked my feet flat… and arrived back in time to freshen up and meet my second date, a young cousin named Faith, who is studying in Madrid. She walked me (some more) to the Parque del Retiro, a huge park in the center of Madrid. She wanted to show me her pensive spots among the peacocks. Long day, but lovely.
TUESDAY (today) I let jet lag knock me out and then I was off and running again. The google maps have saved me several times since I arrived on my walking map. So, I felt very confident and I walked to the train station Atocha (20 minutes) I recognized the area near Reina Sofia Museum and knew I was close! After I made notes on where to catch my Saturday train to Malaga, I purchased a Spanish SIM card for my phone. That $10 a day international charge was not going to work for me. 100 GB for 20 euros a month. Yes! It was a constructive day after all…as I waited for my replacement luggage all day. Tomorrow…
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