A Fun Weekend in Madrid

The weather cooled off a bit, so we decided to venture out beyond the 2 streets we know. On Saturday, we took the very clean and brand new metro to Plaza Mayor, where we paid almost $40 US for scrambled eggs, bacon, 2 rolls and 2 OJ´s (which cost $7.25 US EACH!) Lesson learned: Eat at home. We also walked through the shopping district between Puerta del Sol and Gran Via, then took a break in Plaza España. We took the bus home, which gave us much better views and a sense of how close our apartment is to everything!
On Saturday, we took another metro to Ikea...WAY the hell outside the city. There are dozens of new apt bldgs in various stages of construction, but no one lives there. Talk about speculation. We bought some pots & pans and plants, then realized there are no cabs BACK to the metro stop, which is 15 minutes up a hill. When we asked a worker about a way to not have to walk, he snottily replied, "Well, all the EMPLOYEES have to walk." Ingrid replied, "Yeah, but you aren´t carrying bags (which, by the way, cost $1.50 EACH), and you're the one who chose to work here." You tell him, Ingrid! So we got annoyed and put down half of our stuff BEFORE we got to the register. I refused to let go of my 6 foot palm tree, so we looked like FOOLS riding the train back, but it was worth it.

On Sunday, we went to the world´s largest open air market, El Rastro.

There are more than 3,000 vendors (no, I didn´t actually count them) block after block in one of Madrid´s oldest neighborhoods. According to all the travel guides, it is supposed to be a dangerous place full of pickpockets, gypsies and thieves. I guess the people who write international travel guides need to re-visit the place. There were lots of families and elderly women and college age kids and not a threatening face in the crowd (which is more than I can say for the neighborhoods 2 or 3 streets north and east of our $1800 a month apt). Ingrid bought some cool Spanish ceramics for the kitchen & bathroom, and I bought more plants! Hey, I gotta have an herb garden on the windowsill!

I hope you are all enjoying reading these as much as I enjoy writing them. Miss you all a lot!

Robert & Ingrid

PS We have photos of us in some of these places, but I haven´t yet figured out how to attach them. Perhaps we are actually hiding in Tucson and made up this whole story of us moving to Spain! HA HA