Traveling to Madrid

I decided to go into Madrid today, which will give me a full day there tomorrow. I’m going to make a point of visiting some of the “less popular“ places, some of which I’ve never been to.

I decided that since it was a beautiful day, I would walk from the train station to the Plaza Santa Bárbara, where I’ve booked a hotel for two nights. It’s one of my favorite areas of the city.

First order of business. Buying bubble wrap. As a creature of habit, I always bring home as many liters of olive oil as I can squeeze into my pack and a little duffel bag. For at least the last 15 years, it’s been a point of pride of mine to be the sole supplier of my daughter’s family’s olive oil. They cook a lot! I think there has only been one time since I started bringing it home when they ran out. Pretty good record. And I’ve never had any breakage or spillage, so fingers crossed that the trend continues.

All in all, I walked about 20 K today. Just visiting different plazas and parks. And all the grocery stores within a 10 minute walk. The whole area near Tribunal and Noviciado is a maze of little streets and all sorts of small businesses run by all sorts of different people. I love wandering around there.

One of the special stops of the day was at the Café Comercial. Back in the 70s it was where “el viejo profesor” went for coffee and to read the newspapers that were hanging on those long sticks. He was a professor of political science and spent some time in jail as a political prisoner. He later became the first Socialist mayor of Madrid, and I remember him as a very kind, humble man.Read more