Settling in.

As I´ve started running out of Museums to visit, pictures to take and history to see, I've been settling in and more or less just living here. I have a route I run/walk every morning that takes me through the royal gardens (how many Americans get to jog around a royal palace every morning?) where I have been stalking a very elusive peacock. I found a favorite street of restaurants I hit up almost every night (Barcelona street). I located a movie theater that plays films un-dubbed (Spain has a huge film dubbing industry) and have seen the Prince of Persia and the Crazies thus far (both were decent). I do laundry, have a favorite ice cream place and even catch up on the Real World/Road Rules Challenge online.

One troubling thing is that I've ran out of books to read and I cant find a book store in all of Madrid that sells books in English. Iḿ going to keep looking but I may have to resort to just ordering one online and having it shipped to me. The book I just finished that Dave gave to me, "How to be Alone" was pretty good but not the dark kind of fiction I love. Ironically enough I was in a cafe reading the last chapter of that book, which was about the American cigarette industry, while a woman was blowing smoke literally right in my face. Bitch. That's one thing I really miss about Chicago: The right to breathe in public places.

I have to say I´m loving the food here. Its kind of an adventure every time I go out to eat. I think I know exactly what I'm ordering but it seldom comes to the table as expected. That's a good thing though. Keeps me on my toes. Chorizo is more like venison, the goat cheese is like swiss, and Italian food is way cheesier and pretty amazing and all the various sauces I love are unavailable so I'm going to take this as the perfect time to kick my condiment addiction.

Madrid really reminds me of a older, hotter NYC. There is buzz and excitement in the air at all times and the streets are just as lively at 4 pm as they are at 4 am. I almost get hit by one kind of vehicle or another on a daily basis and you never know when a marching band will come barreling down the street for no discernible reason (I have pictures of this). How can you not love a place where you can see a bum fight, have a delicious meal, get propositioned by a hooker and see a Goya exhibit all in a one block radius.

Well, time to go. Its time to go meet my new Spanish friend for a beer. I promised him he could practice his English on me.

Ciao!
-JB