Here is my corner of Madrid. It’s a little peninsula of the Argüelles neighborhood that juts down along the west side of Calle de la Princesa from Moncloa to Plaza España. A modern, quiet residential neighborhood populated largely by rich old ladies in fur coats and hipster-yuppies in jazzy tennis shoes.
This is the stained glass I see as I rush down the stairs every morning. I like it; it reminds me of my family’s church in Crystal Lake.
Heading down Martin de los Heros we come to the neighborhood teashop, Lfont Tea Mountain. The proprietor is super friendly, and fills the akward pauses as I waffle about my tea choice with pleasant conversation.
Club Low is the coolest discoteca I’ve been to around these parts.
At the end of Martin de los Heros near Plaza España there are two or three little theaters that play movies in their original languages (most foreign flicks are dubbed here). I went here to see My Name is Harvey Milk two weekends ago. It was pretty great.
Those theaters are in, around and under the Plaza de Cubos, named for these cubes, which also features a VIPs (pronounced “beeps” of course) a Spanish attempt at Shake’n’Steak.
Across the street, behind this sphinx and the overgrown hedge lives the eccentric cradling-robbing Duquesa de Alba. She holds more titles than any other noble in Europe.
Calle de la Princesa. Hotel Melia Madrid is the beacon that guides me home at night.
Don Quijote, Sancho Panza and a man I assume is Cervantes in Plaza España
I think this is the tallest building in the Centro. I forget what it’s called.
A peek of the peak of the Royal Palace from Plaza España.
El Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple saved piece by piece from the floodwaters of the Aswan High Dam.
The southwest of Madrid as seen from the temple. I used to live out there.
The sidewalk along Parque del Oeste. Prime strolling ground.
Looking west from Parque del Oeste. This place is really nice as the sun goes down. The picture doesn't do it justice.
The Renfe Railroad tracks.
Parque del Oeste is a really nice green space, but not really an escape from the city. There's a big street through the middle complete with buses.
This is el Faro de Moncloa (The Moncloa Light House) built to commemorate the 500th of Columbus's arrival in"the Indies." A light house in a landlocked city is a fitting tribute to such a profoundly lost man.
One of the spire of the Spanish Air Force headquarters.
Entrance to the bus station where I catch the bus to work. Basically the reason I live here.
I tried to furtively take a picture of one of the old ladies in a fur coat and got the sidewalk instead.
The Air Force headquarters from the front. It's right next to the bus station.
The other end of Calle de la Princesa is a shopping district.
"I'm from the tribe of the cute-purses!" Princesa has pricey boutiques...
currently featuring big discounts.
The main building of the Corte Inglés. There are two annexes one for books and music and one for furniture. All in all it sprawls across three blocks.
My metro stop.
The mural inside.
The Corte Inglés is the one thing open Sunday afternoons.
Well, Corte Inglés and church.
My bank.
The bread shop I go to. I like it because the proprietress teaches me bread words without making me feel dumb. I go in there and point at a loaf of bread and say, "That one, please," and then she says, "Oh, the gallega, good choice."
The discount grocery store I normally use for most things.
The library. It's small and always packed, but it has a decent selection .
This is the corner nearest my house. There is a lot of road and sidewalk construction in Madrid.
The corner bar I would hang out in if I were a Spanish man age 50-70.
A typical Madrid sidewalk.
Okay I exagerate, but not that much.
