I am not entirely sure where to start with this, so I guess its obvious to start with my first night I arrived here last Summer.
I arrived at Barajas airport where my friends had met me to give me a lift to my new flat. When I greeted them I offered the very British handshake to which they replied "no no no, you are in Spain now you will greet as the Spanish do". So I was introduced to the traditional Spanish greeting of the two kisses on each cheek. Its not so uncommon and unusual for me, in Hungary they do the same, but only to friends you already know - not to people you meet for the first time. But I like it, I think it helps overcome a lot of awkwardness between new people when they meet and everything feels more open.
We dropped my stuff off at the apartment and drove downtown to a street Fiesta. Coming from the North of Madrid, you have to pass the Castellana which is a long main road running from the north to down-town as far as the
Prado and Atocha station. Madrid at night is really when the city is at its best. All the buildings are lit up beautifully and gives more detail to the delicate intricacies of the architecture, it has a more glamourous feel to it. I love Recoletos and the Paseo del Prado with its tree lined boulevards and its elegant prominades. Recoletos is filled with elegant, classy cafès which look like something out of the 1920s.
Then continued down to the Paseo del Prado passing Plaza Cibeles, until we came to the district of Lavapiès. This is an old part of the city, with old flakey townhouses (but I love this type of flakeyness - so much character!) It really has such a bohemian feel to it, I absolutely loved it. The street was filled with stalls to buy food and drink. The streets filled with people either sitting outside cafès or bars taking a beer or in the square making "botellòn" (taking their own drink and just drinkinig together one the square). The air was warm and musty, I love the feeling of the warm air in the summer's nights.
I arrived at Barajas airport where my friends had met me to give me a lift to my new flat. When I greeted them I offered the very British handshake to which they replied "no no no, you are in Spain now you will greet as the Spanish do". So I was introduced to the traditional Spanish greeting of the two kisses on each cheek. Its not so uncommon and unusual for me, in Hungary they do the same, but only to friends you already know - not to people you meet for the first time. But I like it, I think it helps overcome a lot of awkwardness between new people when they meet and everything feels more open.
We dropped my stuff off at the apartment and drove downtown to a street Fiesta. Coming from the North of Madrid, you have to pass the Castellana which is a long main road running from the north to down-town as far as the
Prado and Atocha station. Madrid at night is really when the city is at its best. All the buildings are lit up beautifully and gives more detail to the delicate intricacies of the architecture, it has a more glamourous feel to it. I love Recoletos and the Paseo del Prado with its tree lined boulevards and its elegant prominades. Recoletos is filled with elegant, classy cafès which look like something out of the 1920s.
Then continued down to the Paseo del Prado passing Plaza Cibeles, until we came to the district of Lavapiès. This is an old part of the city, with old flakey townhouses (but I love this type of flakeyness - so much character!) It really has such a bohemian feel to it, I absolutely loved it. The street was filled with stalls to buy food and drink. The streets filled with people either sitting outside cafès or bars taking a beer or in the square making "botellòn" (taking their own drink and just drinkinig together one the square). The air was warm and musty, I love the feeling of the warm air in the summer's nights.
1 comentario:
Hey, nice blog and great pics!! Glad you are doing it.
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