THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20
After moving all our luggage and food to Coslada, we did a massive clean, scouring every inch of our new apartment. The day before when Karin met us at the train station, her hair was so dirty it was confusing. I was thinking, if someone has dirty hair, you can pretty much expect their home is kind of dirty, too. Yep, I was right. And it was a construction site, with dust from dry wall. Karen and her ‘boyfriend” haven’t moved in all their furniture…like dressers for clothes.
We have lost our confidence in what to expect and now worry about Milan. We booked a two-bedroom apartment about 20 minutes from the Duomo, and we couldn’t stop thinking about one former guest’s comment about the nearby construction. As hammers pounded above us, I thought we might just be in training for what comes next.
BACK TO MADRID TO SHOP
After cleaning, we headed back to Madrid to shop and eat there. Chloe needs clothes for Milan since we have literally been wearing the same thing for four months. We visited popular stores — Zara, H&M, Mango, and Spanish chains — on crowded pedestrian walkways, one store following another. Central Madrid feels like a massive outdoor shopping mall. Gran Via is a wide street, visually overwhelming like a movie set.
Tall, striking, regal buildings dominate the street; some severe and utilitarian; others decoratively adorned. The strong, bright sun flattened the pale, white surfaces. The street crawled with shoppers and life. At the end looms a grand, white building. The buildings overpower and dominate the street. And yet, only a street away, roads tighten and twist in a grey shade among small shops, multi-ethnic restaurants and appealing nooks and crannies.
Back in Coslada at nightfall, kitties playfully running underfoot, Chloe said, “it feels like we are squatters.” Then she retired to her room, the exercise room with a single bed, and I put sheets on the the couch where I slept with the cats (we were saving the master bedroom for Hazel). Lights out, sort of, that would be towels stuck in windows to keep out the light.
