Changes and Challenges

After a fabulous week with Nick and Jolene, Nick has just left for the airport! The past week was a whirlwind back into Madrid to show Nick everything he wanted to see. We did a lot during the 5 days that we had to tour- jetlag be damned! Throughout the week, palacios, alcazars, cathedrals and numerous parks were visited. A slight tension overshadowed, as Nick and I travel oppositely- I could care less if I see any museums, art or the inside of cathedrals, while Nick could (and did) spend hours carefully surveying every paint stroke and detail of paintings and architecture. Other than that difference we had fun taking walks, drinking wine/beer and enjoying the food.

We were lucky to have a Spanish guide this time- Jolene's boyfriend, Alberto aka Alby. With his help we learned to make tortilla española and found a great marketplace that on weekend nights has specialty shops that have wine, cheese, jamon, seafood, etc. All of which you can buy and then enjoy together with 100s of people you don't know in a table area with standing room only. Very delicious food!

I have also had the chance to shop again is Madrid. Every store in Colorado seems like walmart in comparison to the cornucopia of choices offered here. Things I looked for months in the US for I found within minutes. Shirts that are long enough to cover your butt with leggings, great layering pieces, cute cardigans and jackets. And they are all made for people my size- smaller built people. I have missed Spanish shopping. Why did I bring any clothes again?

Palacio Real with Nick, Jolene and I

Coming back to Madrid 2.5 years later has shown me how much a city can change and develop in such a short time. The construction is gone from Sol and thus the city center feels much more safe than it did in 2007 and definitely more safe than in 2003 where we watched 20 people get pick-pocketed! Some of the metro lines have been replaced with new cars and they seem to come more often, with the longest wait for a train less than six minutes and the llegar sign not changing to add more time. More people seem to speak english as well this time, I have many memories of when Lindsay (novia) and I would talk about people all the time in english with no notable flicker of the eyes that told us they knew what we were saying!

The changes make the city feel slightly easier to live in and I do not feel like I am constantly on guard for being pick-pocketed- now I'm on guard for someone hearing and understanding what I am saying!

There are several things that have not changed as well, and those feel like the most frustrating. Nothing is on time or specified exactly. Case in point, I had to go to the Indian Embassy- way on the opposite end of town twice! The website did not clearly state what the hours are for dropping off your visa, so I went after siesta and they "only do visas in the morning". Ugh. So on the third try of trying to submit my visa (the first being online in the USA) I finally dropped it off monday, with far less paperwork than required in the USA. I have faith that the third time is the charm, though I am hoping it gets done in a timely manner as semana santa is coming up and everything important will be closed in Madrid for a week! Very typical of Spain, very difficult for my american self to understand.

The other challenge has been the smoking and pollution. People are infatuated with cigarettes here and for me that means problems. I am ridiculously allergic to them, quite inconvenient I know. The past few days I have had the worst allergies since, well last time I was here. I forgot how bad it was and how bad I felt before losing my voice entirely. Thus I have found the chemical compound of my allergy medicine and will go to the farmacia to try and get some without a prescription. We'll see what happens... I think it depends on the day, when and where you go. Why can't they all just follow the same rules?!?

My suitcase broke today as well, so I will be off to buy a new one somewhere and then drag it home via the metro- an annoyance shared with any big city. At least it broke on a morning that I had no plane ride or place to travel!

I am sitting here after re-organizing my clothes for what feels like the millionth time and waiting until an hour when things are actually open for business (10-2, 5-9ish, nothing during siesta) and scared to go out because Jolene's door is impossible to open....

Wish me luck!

Mmmm homemade tortilla- how I missed you!