Not sure what day it is, but I´m guessing Saturday. Day two of My Big Trip to Spain. After finding this computer at an internet cafe, I was naive eoough to be surprised that the live journal menus are in Spanish! My handy translator is taking a nap, so I´m on my own, here. Fed three Euros into the little slot, and I´ll type until my time runs out.
Madrid is fabulous. The cab trip down the Gran Via to the hotel was stunning. The line of ornate, balconied, collonaded buildings is a feast. Take your eyes from the main street and each avenue is a winding, beautiful small passageway. We have wandered the old secton of the town for hours, entranced. I ask myself, why on earth can´t we build cities like this anymore! The Prado Museum was marvelous, but when we went to the Museum del Reina, we saw the best of all the art so far, a stunning collection of Picasso, including the Guernica, where we stood transfixed. That is the anti war representation for all time.
Tom and I are traveling with friends fluent in Spanish. That has made everything wonderfully smooth. Still, the few times I used my halting Spanish, people here seemed pleased that I tried. When they discovered my companions, being Americans, after all, spoke Spanish for real, they were delighted with us. Imagine when something so simple is seen as such a credit to Americans!
I am rather beside myself wtth this city. The plazas, the culture, the city scapes, make me feel a sharp sense of cultural inferiority. Maybe it´s jet lag.
New favorite things: limon chello and Real Madrid futbol!. To Salamanca tomorrow.