We arrived in Madrid on May 17th around 11:00 AM and made our way to the Historic District to hunt for our VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner). The owner, Richard, was there waiting for us  We walked down the street and he led us to this.  We were pretty disconcerted but followed him in.

After explaining the ins and outs of our apartment, he stayed and chatted for a bit directing us to the nearby markets and telling us about the area – very friendly and helpful.

Our building is over 200 years old as are most of the buildings in this district. Being that old it has no elevator and the stairs are narrow and steep with sharp bends.

Trying to haul heavy suitcases up them was not fun! – and did I mention that we’re on the fourth floor?  But hey, it has character and it’s home for the next four days.

Our place is tiny, about 300sqft. total, but the bedroom is tucked in the middle and so it is dark and quiet at night making sleeping good. The place is small but has everything we need (a small kitchen, lots of little markets close by, a teeny washer and even our own designated section of clothesline,

 

plus WIFI) what more could you ask?

We spent the first day settling in and exploring our neighborhood. The streets are cobbled, narrow, busy and  lined with long buildings which house shops and businesses below and floor after floor of small apartments above.

 

Richard used the word Bohemian to describe the people and the area and that certainly is an apt description. People from everywhere, all walks of life, and of all ages call this area home and the mix is wonderful! By the way, we quickly learned that our door was not singled out by the painters. It seem that no surface is safe from graffiti in the area even the beautiful, 200 year old, wooden doors.

There is a small square half a block from our place with an open market selling everything from old records (45s and LPs) to piñatas and, as there seems to be everywhere, street entertainers.

 

We open our window and listen to the local talent – very fun. Oh and about opening the window, we can do that and leave it open because there don’t seem to be any bugs -no flies, no mosquitos, no gnats zip, zilch, nada – which is lovely.

On Sunday we hopped on the subway heading for the Puerta de Sol (Gate of the Sun) to embark on a walking tour outlined in our guidebook. The tour took us to around the area pointing out statues and points of interest. The first statue was of King Charles III

an enlightened king who ruled Madrid in the late 1700s. According to the guidebook, Charles “had the city decorated with fountains and statues, got the meddlesome Jesuits out of city government, established the public school system, mandated underground sewers, made Retiro a public park rather than a royal retreat, and generally cleaned up Madrid.” He is still honored as the Best  Mayor of Madrid, for good reason it would seem. From there we followed the tour around the busy Puerta de Sol square taking in the sights, sounds, smells of the area. I won’t go into lots of detail, but will share with you some of the beautiful statuary and architecture that is Old Madrid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After leaving Plaza de Mayor, we were led to an old convent. The sign outside stated that it was closed on Sundays which makes sense, but a woman sitting just down from us in the alley approached us and speaking in rapid Spanish

pointed at the door. We nodded and she pressed a button and spoke into an intercom. There was a buzzing sound and she pushed open the door and pointed inside.

We had no idea what we were doing or where we were going but we followed along the narrow hallways until we came to a dead-end.  We heard a sound next to us and there was what appeared to be an empty wooden cabinet.

Suddenly a box of cookies came into view on what seemed to be a lazy-Susan in the cupboard accompanied by a bodiless voice speaking again rapidly in Spanish. Tom asked, “How much?” To which the voice answered 8 Euro. and the cookies disappeared. Tom put the money on the platform and it too disappeared. A minute later our cookies reappeared in a plastic bag and we made our way back to the entrance.

Pretty strange but we had cookies for dessert the whole time we were in Madrid.