tbaroundtheworld

When we were getting close to moving from Valencia to Madrid, I asked the rental agent at our destination if there would be any problem finding a taxi on the day we packed up to head home. I didn’t get an answer so we spent part of our wandering time assessing the cab situation in the streets around our place. There were two options – try to flag one down on Calle Mayor or to take advantage of the taxi stand that was located in the opposite direction across the plaza in front of the Teatro Real. When you don’t live in a city, the regular workings of the taxi culture are an alien scheme. Taxis are just not part of our lives here in New Mexico, and I’ve pretty much forgotten what it was like in China. So you worry about urban things like this a bit, but a couple of times out walking suggested that the either of our options would work, so what we planned to use the option that involved walking down hill instead of climbing. There was plenty of time before our check out so we went off in s...

El Rastro is Europe's largest and most diverse flea market and it's held each Sunday in Madrid's La Latina barrio. The notes in the guidebooks are not favorable, varying from "you're going to be kidnapped into white slavery" to "don't bring a wallet, don't bring a camera, expect to have your pockets picked" to "tourists are the target and it's a spectacle of them being mauled by gangs while the police stand by and watch." We found it none of those things, but we did find it amazing, entertaining, crushing and a cool place to spend the morning gawking equally at the shoppers and the goods. We came down on the side of modest caution and left our bags and my fancy camera at home, choosing instead to bring some loose money and a smaller camera that could stay in my coat pocket. My phone was tucked into an inner pocket in my jacket and My Lovely Wife zipped the apartment keys (which unfortunately had the address on them) into a pocke...

Toledo was on my list of day trips when I had first planned this trip. We got sidetracked though when we arrived in Madrid on our first day and had a conversation with our cabbie about Segovia. He told us that it was the finest city in Spain and so when we had the chance, we went. But Toledo remained in the back of my mind and when we were done wandering the streets of Madrid with a couple of days remaining, we took the chance. The weather on this trip has been “unsettled.” We’ve been threatened with inundation a couple of times and actually watered once or twice; the skies of Segovia were particularly intent on teaching us a springtime lesson. As we packed up to leave for this next outing, the sky spoke volumes – big, wet gray clouds in all directions so the umbrellas were once again included. We got sprinkled on as we walked up Calle Arenal to the Sol Metro station, a portent of things to come. This being Saturday, the subway was much busier, but still nothing compared to China. And ...