Puerto de Toledo

The main reason that I do not blog more often is that my Iphone and blogger seem to be having a fight. It takes 3 unnecessary steps that sometime I refuse to do and try to out stubborn the computer program. I am going to try and get over this self made hurdle.

Exploring Madrid continues with time in the area around the Puerta de Toledo which is Central South in the city.  Today is a picture post. It looks like a nice neighborhood to live in, see tomorrows post if you crave more pictures of the area.

A cool sun clock

Puerta De Toledo

A side street offers up views of this amazing mision style church

Real Basilica de San Francisco el Grande

Statues on the Basilica

The wall of the Basilica

The flower garden at the foot of the Basilica

Fall

Things are in a limbo here in Madrid for me. Sometimes I enjoy the peace of it, sometimes it drives me crazy. But the temperatures are changing into my favorite season and in between the madness of the days I find comfort in my half of the hemisphere getting ready for winter.

A new wall sculpture in front of a bar. I want it passionately

A quest for Indian Food

Saturday we were determined to get out and see some more of the city. Our plan was simple. We had heard of "Foodland" - an Indian grocery store down in the center of town. The Lavapies area is known for it's ethnic food scores, and let me tell you there were a lot of stores that we need to explore down there! I passed one store that said "African, Latin American, Asian, and Mediterranean food". 

Getting there was a bit of an adventure. Unknown to us (through lack of the foresight to check) there was a big protest going on downtown. It is hard to wrap my head around Spanish protests because I believe they do it differently. You see, they arrange to protest in advance. This means that the city can arrange parking areas and re-route traffic and have extra policemen on duty. Now I am not sure but I think the in the US the whole point of a protest is to cause an inconvenience to get your point across. Somehow this way seems to me it would have less impact? I could be wrong about US protests, never having been effected by one there.

Anyway our bus had to go way off the regular route and so we ended up having to walk more then we had planned. Which, was not a hardship, because it was through Retiro, and our path took us right by the Rosaleda. Sorry the shoots are a little overexposed, there is a shortage of shade in the Rosaleda.

The scent in there was heavenly.

 As we were walking away from the Rose garden we saw a squirrel! Now I realize that the North Americans among you will not care, but a squirrel in Spain is something everyone stops and stares at. There he is on the tree trunk, he then ran across a busy path causing rollerbladers, runners, walkers, and cyclists to point and exclaim. 

I like the Spanish appreciation for the Squirrel as I have always liked them myself. It is a red squirrel, and this was the closest shot I could get of him because squirrels are hard to photograph.

My favorite fountain in the park with the goblin's heads that look straight out of the movie Labyrinth (although they are older).

They have been reconstruction is mill structure for some time. It is looking good! I have no information about it, because as yet there are no signs or running water.

The Almond groves of Retiro, people go to sunbath and do yoga here.

As we walked past the Museo de Renia Sofía, we noticed some kind of basketball fair going on. This was the coolest part. (Click to enlarge.) Kids were put into harness and then suspended moving up and down,  and back and forth in the air. Their parents would throw different size (lightweight) basketballs to them to see if they could score. It was fascinating.

 We saw this cool building on our walk to Foodland.

And here is a sample picture I took for a-new-to-Madrid friend who was looking for a good source of Nann here in Madrid. It was a small store, but it seemed to have everything you would need to make  Indian dish.

Since there are a lot of Indian restaurants in this area we asked what place the owner of Foodland would go and eat. He recommend Budha saying that the other restaurants in the area were not very authentic. Wow! Budha was the best Indian I have ever had, anywhere. The service was good, the restaurant was lovely, the music not too loud it was perfect. I highly recommend going there if you live in the area.

We then decided to go to the Museo de Reina Sofía because it was nearby. I have never been. This is the museum of modern art here in Madrid, and named after the current Queen.

We went to pay for our tickets and we told that Saturday afternoon were free!

This is a photo of the back of museum as we walked by it the first time. You should definitely go up to the terrace if you ever visit too see some fabulous views of the city. I would have photos of the views but I left my phone in the locker at the entrance. I wish I hadn't, there seemed to be no problem with taking pictures inside the museum.

We just saw the special expositions, the museum is a big one and we will come back to see the regular collection another day. The exposition I found most intriguing was the Rosemarie Trockel one. She is very diverse and apparently was the one to put together the collection using art from different artists as well. My favorite part is what she did with textile art. I do not think my descriptions would do the pieces justice, you will have to go and see for yourself, or do a Google search on her artwork.

Prosperidad

Prosperidad is a neighborhood very close to mine, within easy walking distance. Today I will take you on a little walk through this neighborhood.

When I moved to Madrid the largest city that I had ever lived in was Memphis, TN. I know because I just checked it's size. But Memphis is nowhere near the estimated population of the almost 5 million people of Madrid. I am finally admitting to myself that a good portion of the culture shock that I am still experiencing with this move has to do with suddenly living next to so, many, people. I try very hard not to think very much of the mountains and wide open spaces, because I do not want the claustrophobic feeling to set in.

I am probably freshly re-realizing this now because of the population of Madrid pouring back into the city from Summer vacation. In the first part of August it is spooky. There is a significant cut in the population. You start wondering if the apocalypse has happened and that you did not notice because you were not watching the news. Gradually you get used to the lack of people and business hours. Then September comes and, BOOM, there are people everywhere.

There is no where to go where there are not a lot of people.

This is not a bad thing, per say. It is just going to be something that I might never get used to, and to feel comfortable around. I think that I could be perfectly happy living in the country with no one around. But maybe I am just thinking that because it is the opposite of what I have now.

So today I present my"dream neighborhood" of Madrid. I so wish that I coud live here. This neighborhood is right in the middle of the Madrid area, but it is a quiet, cute little neighborhood filled with adorable houses that all have gardens.

I know that I am not adequately capturing the peace and beauty of this area. For one thing I was shy about taking pictures of peoples houses while they were standing there.

 But there are flowers everywhere, most of the houses are different, and house sized (not tall apartment buildings). 

There are little alley ways to the houses that cars are not allowed in.

There are tiny little plazas.

There are quiet, shaded side streets.

At the price tag of about 1 million per house, this is not a dream to come true any time soon, but a girl can walk and dream, and for a little while escape the hustle of the city to pretend that she is in a little pueblo in the countryside. 

Parque de Dehesa de la Villa

It is official we are going to move to a new apartment in Madrid at the end of November! We have not found a place yet but are actively looking. Our current place is too small, has no balcony, and the smallest  kitchen imaginable. Now that the weather is cooling down, it is more important then ever to explore the city to see which neighborhoods we might like to live in. Since we also have to be able to afford to live there, we need several options.

A good way to explore the city is to see the various parks and glimpse the neighborhoods surrounding them. The park, Parque de Dehesa de la Villa, we saw this past weekend was definitely off the tourist's beaten track. From the people we saw running, playing squash, walking, and biking, it was a very Spanish neighbor and got more then my usual stares. I am beginning not to mind much anymore, thank goodness!

Cool wall art, metal strips against a whitewashed wall.

 This park is only one bus ride away from us, and I am smitten. 

A nice, typical (old), Spanish University building.

 It is a gorgeous park. The first part is just umbrella pines with dirt paths criss-crossing underneath them. The whole park smells of pines and when I hear the pine needles crunch underfoot I am reminded of home. I love to small that sweet vanilla-y scent of a pine trunk.

This was odd. It was sitting in the middle of a path. It can not mean "exit" because that is Salida  in Spanish.

 Then you start seeing a sprinkling of other trees planted here and there, most of which are not doing to well this year because of the drought. The Eucalyptus was doing well, and I found a nice branch to hopefully whittle into a support spindle.

In this part of the park there was not a lot of people, and if you carefully did not look towards the street it felt like you where hiking in the country.

Madrid is a city that is full of surprise hills. When you are walking you generally do not notice that the city is built on a series of hills, until you come to a vista like this. 

Looking at the South-West of the city

Ahh, pine trees and mountains, what could be better?

My photos are probably making Madrid look deceptively green, it has not rained a drop in months. If you need proof chick on the picture below to see the fact that that cactus is in severe need of water.

Looking toward Moncloa and a university

The Southern part of the park has a bike/jogging trail and sees a lot more activity. It would be a very nice park to live near.

It was a nice park and we hope to go again.

Faunia

The other day I got the chance to go to Faunia. A "different" type zoo in the South-East of the city. It was a new area of the city for me, and very different looking from the other areas of Madrid.

 I am still not used to the fact that I live in a place where palm trees can flourish.

At first my Husband and I could not figure out what made Faunia such a different zoo. To our eyes it was a very artfully arranged, but small zoo. It is a zoo where you can "experience" a lot of the animals habitats. You have a butterfly house, a monkey house, a tropical area where parrots fly, a "cave of silent shadows" where you can see the night animals.

This is all well and good, but how is it different? Finally I think I might have found the answer. This zoo was very simular to the zoos that I have seen all over North America (yes, I am including the two I have seen in Canada).

They display the animals in a natural habitat that offers the animals a pace to hide, if they want it, but a clear view for the spectators.

I am starting to be worried as to what a standard European zoo is like. I have only ever seen the Barcelona zoo, and lets just say that it could do with a lot of remodeling. When I saw it it more resembled a jail for some of the animals.

The weather is cooling off, so we had a nice day outside and Faunia was a pleasant way to sped the day. I would warn people to go with a discount of some kind, like we did, because at €25 a person the ticket price is a little steep. Also the line took forever so get there with plenty of time.

There is also soothing music play at all times in parts of the park, which does makes this zoo unique to me, at least in that sense.

The coolest part, that should NOT be missed is deep below the "Tropical Jungle" exibit, where you can see Manatees and giant fish swim above you as you walk through a tunnel under the water.