Limited internet access...

Just a brief post to let everyone know that I won't be posting anymore until the beginning of October. My laptop's virus protection has expired and I no longer have free wireless connections easily accessible. So it's the internet cafe for me...but just to check emails...

The posts will have to wait...so stay tuned...I will be back...next month.

Madrid...Visiting El Rastro.

Madrid’s best known flea market, El Rastro, is located right in the heart of the city. Run every Sunday and feast days, this market features over 1,000 stalls spread over numerous streets, alleys, and plazas. Popular with both locals and tourists, this is not the place to go if you dislike crowds. It starts out quietly at 9 am but within two hours the streets are packed with people, all seeking bargains.



Everything and anything is sold at El Rastro - clothes, paintings, household fixtures, books, stamps, etc. But don’t expect to make the find of the century. Most of the stuff being sold is quite ordinary. In fact, it’s kinda hard to find anything authentically Spanish. Most of the products for sale seem to have been imported from somewhere else. Pictures from Italy and Africa, clothes from China and Korea, and home decorations from around the world. The market really is a demonstration in the effects of globalization.

Fieria de Libros - Madrid's Open Air Book Market

This unique open air book market is located along the Cuesta de Moyano. Named after Claudia Moyano, the politician who reformed the Spanish education system in the mid 1800s, it has been a favorite with locals for generations. Wooden stalls, piled high with old and rare books, sit along the Cuesto de Moyano from the Atocha end of the Paseo del Prado heading uphill to the southwestern corner of the Retiro Park.

The market is open daily from 10 am to 7 pm but Sunday morning is the liveliest time to visit.

Leaving Madrid...

I’m leaving Madrid this morning heading for La Alberca in the province of Salamanca. La Alberca is one of the first rural villages in Spain to be awarded National Historic Heritage. It is also the venue for the Pueblo Ingles program that I am participating in for a week. Pueblo Ingles is a an emersion program for Spaniards looking to improve their conversational English. Volunteers, such as myself, are recruited from all over world to help maintain an ‘English only’ environment.

It sounds like fun…and perhaps hard work…

I’ll let you know…

Art around Plaza Mayor...

Artists




Performance Artist

Weekly Top 3 Posts for Writers...

1. 10 Years, No Freebies

2. Interview: Matt Gross Talks Travel Writing On the Web

3. The 9 Commandments of Travel Writing

Riding the buses…the Madrid Vision

With only a few days in Madrid, it makes sense to look for a way to see as much of Madrid as possible. I usually try to ride the local buses around a new city to get a feel of the place and observe and interactive with local people. But this time, with such limited time, I opted for a tourist bus - the Madrid Vision. This highly visible red double-decker bus travels two routes - the historic and the modern - around the city. Each trip takes around 45 minutes and provides an great overall of places and sights around Madrid. And you can hop on and off as often as you wish.

On boarding the bus, you are given a red headset that provide access to a running commentary in the language of your choice. Be warned, though, not all plugs seem to work. It took me three seat changes before I found my commentator. As the bus wasn’t very full, this wasn’t a problem.

The Madrid Vision made sightseeing around the city easy, allowing me to discover the location of places that I had previously only seen in pictures. The bus travelled down the Calle Mayor to the Plaza Puerto del Sol, then on to the Atocha Train Station, stopping briefly at The Prado, skirting the Parque del Retiro and heading back toward the Palacio Real. I saw brief glimpses of the many monuments and statues around the city and was enthralled by the ornate windows, doors, and roofs of the buildings.



Sitting up in the open air top level of the bus, it was easy to look down onto the street and observe the locals and other tourists. It’s a bit voyeuristic really. I could watch people as they wandered along the streets, stopping at lights, and shopping for food and drink.



And from such an elevated location, there was also a much clear view of the buildings, and in particular the monuments and murals that seem to be common place along the streets of Madrid.



Along the way, I also learned some interesting things about buses and sightseeing…

- trying to get a good photography when the bus is moving is impossible.

- there’s never a good shot when the bus is stopped- the view is either blocked, shadowed, none existent…

- standing up when the bus is moving is not always a good idea.

- sun burn and heat stroke is a good possibility when sitting in an open air bus.

Surviving Jetlag...

Three days and four flights later, I am finally in Madrid trying to survive the 'jetlag'. I guess you could say I’m slightly worn out.

I tried to follow all the usual advice. Drink plenty of water, avoid (or at least minimize the alcohol and coffee). Eat healthy foods. Exercise as much as possible (which is easy to do at Heathrow and Madrid airports where you have to walk a marathon to get from A to B). Stay awake until night time at the new location. But I am still very, very weary.

But that’s okay cause I’m where I want to be - in Madrid. Soon I’ll be walking the streets, looking for the Plaza Mayor once the location of beatifications, autos da fe, and public executions as well bullfights, festivals and tournaments. Today, of course, the Plaza Mayor maintains a much more tamed existence, with the Madrid Tourist Center now one of the it’s main attractions.

So the adventures begin…but first I may just take a little siesta.