Plaza Mayor & other things

School is taxing on this old brain o’ mine, so I haven’t been out too much to see Madrid. But Chris is coming on Saturday and that’s going to change. We’re going to get out and see some of the places that I’ve been saving for his arrival.

I live on the Calle Mayor, which is across the street from the famous Plaza Mayor. Being the big tourist trap that it is, I have avoided going there or writing about it. However it is a beautiful, huge plaza with a centuries old history. It is in the heart of the old city and was built at the juncture of two arterial caminos coming into Madrid. It was originally a marketplace, was later a major staging ground for the Spanish Inquisition, but now it is used for free outdoor concerts and extracting euros from the pockets of international tourists … and sometimes legally. Pickpockets are rampant in Madrid where the tourists gather, and one thing I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is that men never carry wallets in their back pockets. After having my wallet lifted here years ago, I am hyper-vigilant about protecting it this time.

But speaking of the Spanish Inquisition and things of the bizarre Catholic variety, I’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot of Catholic goods stores around this part of town. I don’t mean bibles, rosaries and scapulas; I mean priests vestments, large crucifixes, and tabernacles for hosts. This city has more Catholic churches than the Midwest has Dairy Queens, and church attendance here is quite low, so I would imagine that the church vestries are well-stocked with ecclesiastical wares from centuries of accumulation. So who’s buying this stuff? I’m sure it’s wrapped up in the complicated relationship that Spain has with Catholicism, but I can’t figure this one out.

And since I’m on the subject of Spain and Catholicism, I thought I’d throw in another photo of Spray Painted Jesus taking a break with his buddies two days ago in the Puerta del Sol. Note the irony of the near-naked image of Madonna (mumsie?) on the movie poster behind them. Can this get any weirder?

While on the way home from school today, I saw my first graffiti in the Metro. There was a sign on the train platform touting that Madrid’s metro gives you “mas por menos” (more for less), showing that their fares are less than other major cities in Europe, and New York City. But the graffiti on the sign said: “compare the salaries”, “the metro thinks that you’re an imbecile”, and “although you erase the graffiti every day, you leave the shame”. At 23% unemployment in Spain, there is understandably a lot of anger and frustration here. And yet, the metro is very modern and clean, as are the city buses.

One last note: I was walking around Chueca district yesterday and noticed this waiting room for a dentist’s office. When have you ever felt this stylish getting your teeth cleaned?