More thoughts from Madrid–
At one point my buddy wonders whether living in Madrid is comparable to New York. In a cosmopolitan way, yes. More notably, Madrid is centered by Retiro Park, it’s a green, forested haven equivalent to Manhattan’s Central Park. My week in Madrid well acquaints me with Retiro Park due to crossing it twice a day, starting in the morning walking from the more working-class neighborhoods at the Park’s south, and making my way north to my buddy’s vivienda in the wealthier neighborhoods above Retiro Park. The neighborhood south of the park is Pacifico, lined shoulder to shoulder with residential buildings. Little room for parking or breathing. Parents walk children to school. Shop owners roll up aluminum shutter gates to reveal various storefronts. The faint scent of cigarettes carries through the streets. Real Madrid fútbol banners and jerseys hang like laundry from the windows. Navigating my way through Pacifico’s dense grid, I orient my sense of direction by watching for the belltower of Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Paz (Parish of Our Lady of Peace):
