An American in Madrid
A sampler of Spanish coast and mountains from this fall’s trips:
September in the Picos de Europa, with a stunning view of el Naranjo de Bulnes.
October on the Asturian coast after another good hike in Picos
and a week later further east to Cantabria, also gorgeous.
November brought an autumnal hike in the Sierra de la Demanda, with a stop at the cascadas de Altuzarra.
The bad news is that Madrid has never looked uglier than now. The streets are strewn with trash thanks to a nearly 10-day strike by the city street cleaners and garden maintenance staff to protest planned layoffs of more than a sixth of the current staff and salary reductions for the rest. The whole thing started with a demonstration on the 4th of this month, which was followed by some of the workers deliberately throwing trash (opening trash bags waiting to be collected) on the streets to call attention to something they, understandably, find completely objectionable. While I don’t agree with the tactic of pouring our carrot peels, bags of dog poop, onion skins, and chicken bones all over the place, I empathize with their outrage. Somehow the whole thing is very symbolic of what’s happening in Madrid and Spain at large—lots and lots of rubbish.
On the bright side of things, we have the peonza, the spinning tops that are driving kids crazy all over Madrid. Somehow it’s refreshing to see kids gathered around to see a top spin, trying to balance it on their noses or throw it the air. At school, the primary-age boys and girls have all got one, and I’ve seen them spinning in metro stations and on street corners in Lavapiés. Yes, these kids are the smartphone and tablet generation, but it’s comforting to see such a relatively old-fashioned thing take hold, however briefly.
Lest you think I’ve abandoned ship, I’m coming back to you with a photographic representation of 2013 so far on the Iberian peninsula. The crisis is deepening, but life goes on.
Winter holidays were in Portugal. We ate incredibly well, thanks in no small part to places like Cervejaria Ramiro and the generally amazing seafood and sweets the country has to offer.
Lisboa continues to enchant me.
And there are so many other parts of the country to explore. We spent time in the hills and villages of the Serra da Estrela before heading back to España.
This winter was cold and snowy, to my complete delight. There’s nothing like being in the Parador de Gredos during a good snowfall
and exploring the surrounding area without even getting in the car.
Hiking trips in Madrid were frequently foiled by bad weather (not for lack of snow!), but trips elsewhere proved successful. The Sierra de Aralar was in full splendor before the rains of March set in (and we escaped the continent!).
A nearby Navarran village provided an unexpected lesson in cheese-making at the hands of an artisan.
We were also rewarded with a spectacular weekend in the Montaña Palentina, where we could see over the whole expanse of the Picos de Europa from the top of Peña Prieta
and even got a bit of culture with an excellent guided tour at the ruins of a Roman villa in Saldaña.
Here’s to spring.
We saw this documentary a couple weekends ago and, if you’re in Spain and near a place where it’s being shown, see it. You don’t have to like mountains, you don’t have to know the story. I went to a talk with the director tonight and he said they’ve just gotten word that it’s going to be shown in a bunch more countries, and at some point will make its way to New York. Keep your eyes out!
Mountains: The central massif and the Naranjo de Bulnes from the Puerto de Pandébano in Picos de Europa.
Food: Fabada asturiana. And that’s not to fill this post with pictures of everything we ate.
Coast: Playa de Torimbia, west of Llanes.
These photos are from a four-day trip we took to Asturias at the beginning of the month.
This is Bolonia, a small town with a stunning beach and a fantastic view of Morocco on the Costa de la Luz. It was formerly a Roman settlement called Baelo Claudia, and has the ruins to prove it. We swam, explored the dunes, and ate fish there this month during a long weekend in Cádiz. We spent the rest of the time in Cádiz capital, where we were happy sleeping at Pensión España, breakfasting with churros and the locals at La Marina, and tapeando in the Barrio de la Viña, especially at El Faro.
This weekend I had a strong hankering to hang around Madrid, get stuff done, and do some madrileño things. Above you can see nine images from the two mornings I spent out and about in the barrio. (I mean morning in the Spanish sense, that is from when you get up [pretty late] until when you have lunch [earliest 2 p.m.]).
A number of those are taken in the Mercado de San Fernando, where we enjoyed cañas and tapas and window shopping Saturday morning before heading, via the gone but not forgotten Centro Social Okupado Casablanca to Bar Benteveo for their delicious lomito.
Sunday morning included an errand at the Rastro, where I spotted a banner citing the current fight over public education, and a walk through nearby streets before some tapas at one of Madrid’s oldest tabernas.
My bike had been feeling a little rough lately, so on Monday I took it over to the friendly folks at Otero to let them have a look at it. I had a feeling it was due for a tune-up, and it was. In fact, it was way overdue. I had no brakes left, front or rear, according to the mechanic on duty. The headset was a bit loose and the chain needed tension. It had been nearly a year since I’d done anything to the bike, so I guess that explains it.* The shop was quite busy, so I left the bike for them to work on and walked home.
Maybe it was because it was a sunny afternoon after a week of clouds and rain, perhaps it was the time of day (about 5 p.m., just after siesta), it was probably just that I hadn’t taken a walk on those streets in a while, but I got home feeling really happy; I’d passed new businesses and people about enjoying the afternoon, running errands, going home. In my quick walk home I came across a newish bike coop on calle Embajadores and a cute natural-looking café next door. Then I decided I might as well dip into the recently renovated Mercado de San Fernando to see what everyone’s been talking about.
Among the things I saw in my quick vuelta around the mercado were a craft beer shop, a vegetarian prepared foods stall, a delicious-looking panadería, and an organic fruit and veg shop, all mixed among the traditional bars (see above photo) and non-perishable goods shops.
Yes we’re in crisis, but life goes on!
*And, as I’ve now confirmed, brake shoes wear out incredibly quickly in this town, mainly because of the extreme dirtiness of the city. Add rain and it’s even worse—I guess like giving your brakes a chemical wash. Cyclists beware!
Metro de Madrid has closed any number of bocas de metro, including one that’s very convenient to my house, with no notice of reopening. While I’m no longer a daily metro user, I depend on it on days I don’t use my bike. This measure comes on the heels of several ticket-price hikes and apparently is another cost-saving measure that serves to make life just a little bit worse for everyday people. You can complain here.
And by that I mean in the continent I’m from. I wrote a post for en bici por madrid about city riding in the Pacific Northwest with a few comparisons to riding in my adopted city. Enjoy!
España Profunda 
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