Today, I decided to go to the end of one of the subway lines just to see what was there. I stopped first at the Atocha train station to buy a ticket for a trip to Toledo tomorrow.
I rode all the way to the end of line 1 and got off at the Valdecarros station. The area has all the warmth and charm of a Soviet Union-era housing block. Nothing, and I mean nothing, but large apartment buildings and buildings under construction. I am sure that someday it will be a wonderful, vibrant community. But now it’s absolutely not worth a visit.
OK, five minutes of Valdecarros was more than enough. I looked at one of the detail maps of the subway that shows the physical areas, and Villa de Vallecas seemed to be more of a real neighborhood. Sure enough, it was.
Here’s something you don’t see every day in the US. The first shows rabbit meat (conejo) on sale, and the second is a sticker for the young communists.
I happen to have been in town the day there was a flea market, so I walked around there for a time. There’s an old railway car right near the market. I have no idea what significance it has.
In the first picture, notice the word “tod@s”; it’s a clever way of saying both feminine and masculine forms instead of having to write “todos/todas”. The second photo shows some pretty classy graffitti. The third one is some manufacturer’s way of getting around the copyright on Thomas the Tank Engine and Cars, but the results are totally creepy.
I had such good luck at Villa de Vallecas that I decided to ride north a few stops and see what there was to see at Puente de Vallecas. Not as nice, but still somewhat interesting. There’s a linear park near the metro stop, which is where I got the picture of the flower.
Two more graffitti: the main text on the first one reads “We are light” the second one reads “If there is no madness, it isn’t love.”
I returned to downtown at the Puerta del Sol, and watched a guy in mime whiteface perform. He wasn’t really a mime; he spoke” in little squeaks (sort of like Beaker of the Muppets). It was great fun, but I finally went over to the Opera House, and from there to the Royal Palace. I walked further along and saw the Sabatini Gardens. Here are some views from that walk. I am not including views of the city from the hills near the palace. They are very impressive in person; not so much in a photo.
Hover over the pictures for commentary.
