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.
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