Dispatches from Madrid

20.05.2015

Bartender in glasses and a striped rugby shirt grinning with a raised fist behind a Madrid bar lined with spirit bottles

Madrid is a pretty confusing place. It’s massive, the streets are dead narrow and everything sort of looks the same.

In Barcelona everyone wanders to the beach, and in Paris everything leads to the river, but in Madrid you’re just forced to wander around like you’re trapped in one of those mad M.C. Escher paintings where nothing quite adds up… or maybe that bit at the end of Labyrinth where David Bowie is throwing that crystal ball about.

That’s not to say Madrid isn’t a good city, it’s just a confusing city. Once you’ve realised that you’re never going to find anything you’ve set out to find, it’s up there with all the other A-list Euro-cities.

The paella is plentiful, the bar-men like posing for daft photographs and it doesn't have that pungent drainage smell that some cities are famous for.

Just don’t do what I did and go there in February expecting it to be t-shirt weather…

Someone in a tracksuit and trainers sat on the kerb behind a large dog, holding its collar, beside a parked car

A large dog mid-yawn on the kerb, sat between the legs of someone in tracksuit bottoms and trainers Inline skater in a white jacket and wrist guards looking back on a Madrid street at night, with other skaters behind

Someone in a grey beanie and padded jacket holding a pack of cans at night, while a second person behind gives a thumbs up White stretch limousine with an H2 badge on the door, blurred as it passes at night A ceramic dog ornament sat on a speckled tiled floor beside a wooden door and a doormat Someone in sunglasses and a roll-neck jumper smiling by a fountain, with large modern buildings behind Someone behind a counter in a white I heart Burrito's hoodie, making a peace sign under a menu screen A bare corridor with a dirty tiled floor leading to a pair of metal double doors

Someone in a long fur coat walking across a sunny pavement, with a small group behind and a large white building beyond A group of people in winter coats, scarves and glasses stood together outdoors against a bright white sky Bartender in a check shirt giving a thumbs up with a glass of wine in hand, under an Oferta de Barra menu board Double exposure of a narrow Madrid street at dusk, with lit street lamps, parked cars and people walking

Someone in glasses and a dark polo shirt stood hands on hips in a small bar, with chalkboards and shelves of bottles behind Someone in a polo shirt grinning and giving a thumbs up in a bar lined with framed sporting pictures

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