Sunday flaneur

I got up late, or as late as I could, and I went downstairs after a while just to get breakfast. Strangely, not only was Gran Vía already closed at 8:30 a.m., but you weren't even allowed to get to the street or cross it. I was able to reach the Banco de España metro station and just took a train out of the neighborhood. I got out at Goya station, where there was a very large plaza surrounded by some lovely buildings, including the one above. That color knocks me out.

Nearby I found a very big El Corte Inglés department store branch, and after I had coffee at one of the cafes, it was just opening. I went inside on my eternal quest to find a rain repellent lightweight jacket. I was sort of successful, i found a $200 Timberland jacket on sale for $140 and the saleslady offered to alter the sleeves herself, for free, to make them shorter. She really went to a lot of trouble, going downstairs into the back rooms somewhere to find the right size for me. So even though the jacket is still a little too heavy, it is very rain repellent and orange and should suffice for the remainder of my time here no matter how cold it gets. I always have a sweater i can put on underneath if it comes to that. I have to go back on Tursday to pick up the jacket.

It may seem like I'm buying a lot of clothes. It's the third jacket I've bought. Something about Madrid makes you buy clothes. One of the other students in my class, a young woman, constantly reports during the "what did you do yesterday" segment that she bought more clothes. Certainly the women here, from ages 12 to 50 at least, are very fashion-forward, as if the strong dollar doesn't seem to be hurting anyone who goes out on the Gran Via in the evening.

After leaving the store, I consulted Google Maps to figure out how it could get back without taking the subway, since I was concerned that they might not even let me out at the Gran Vía station close to my apartment. I got the number 146 bus, but the line truncated before it reached Gran Vía because of the closure.

So I wound up walking through the Chueca neighborhood and found my way, only consulting Google Maps once. The photo above shows Calle de Augusto Figueroa. It's a little askew but if you zoom in you can see that the cafe on the right is simply called "La Hambre" ("the hunger").

I came back to my apartment about 12:45 p.m. after having stopped at three or four different places for coffee and various things to eat -- at one point I got in a Desayuno Americano ("American breakfast") which included two small pancakes and two fried eggs, so my attempt to get breakfast was definitely successful.