I have about an hour to kill between my two
jobs, one of which is near Plaza de España at the western end of Gran Via (when they give me hours: more on this soon), so I've been hanging around there on a couple of sunny early-evenings recently. There's a great statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on horse and donkey being looked over by Cervantes, almost a bit hidden on the Southern side of the Plaza amongst some olive trees. Quixote's horse is one of the most miserable looking representations of an animal I've ever seen. It's not often you get statues of fictional characters either (although hats off to the people of Dundee for
this cracker), and especially not so prominently placed, but it's great, you'd think it was some great Spanish warrior.
I'm a bit in awe of the Edifico España, the colossal monolith of a building on the north side of the square. I've never thought the word 'edifice' suited a building better. It looks like it might have just landed from space or thrust up from the earth, blazing yellow and red in the evening sun after the rest of the square is in shadow, contrasting sharply with the brilliant blue sky. I was so busy staring at the thing the first time I was there that I didn't notice that the whole front is actually boarded up. It used to be offices and a hotel but after being bought in 2005 is now being completely refurbished, according to Wikipedia, but who knows where the project now stands with Spain's bubble-burst construction sector. By the way, if the pictures below give you the impression that its warm over here, forget it - it's bloody freezing! Not been above 10 for over a week and regularly plus or minus a couple of degrees in the morning.
I finally got myself an Abono Metro today, a monthly pass for the metro that is very good value for money at €40 a month. Oddly, the only places you can get the card you need to buy the monthly ticket (never simple in Spain is it?) are tobacconists. I have no idea why. Speaking of the metro, which I have to catch up to five times a day for my job(s) teaching English around the city, along with a couple of buses, it really is very good. A student was telling me he thought it was the best in Europe today, and he might just be right. It's very regular and you can pretty much rely on it to get you where you want to go on time. Teaching around town gives you the opportunity to be late several times a day and I only have been once in three and half months, which anyone who knows me will confirm is a bloody miracle! They're often quite fun too, with musicians of wildly varying quality hopping on for a quick performance (I saw a 6 piece jazz band today), and only occasionally being kicked off by the security with a polite tap on the shoulder. Don't be freaked by the staring either, people love to stare on the metro, and won't break off when you stare back either, which can be a bit unnerving at first but I had to stop myself doing it by the time I got back to the UK over Christmas. I'm told it gets lethally hot down there come springtime though, which might reduce its charm a little...
I'm a bit in awe of the Edifico España, the colossal monolith of a building on the north side of the square. I've never thought the word 'edifice' suited a building better. It looks like it might have just landed from space or thrust up from the earth, blazing yellow and red in the evening sun after the rest of the square is in shadow, contrasting sharply with the brilliant blue sky. I was so busy staring at the thing the first time I was there that I didn't notice that the whole front is actually boarded up. It used to be offices and a hotel but after being bought in 2005 is now being completely refurbished, according to Wikipedia, but who knows where the project now stands with Spain's bubble-burst construction sector. By the way, if the pictures below give you the impression that its warm over here, forget it - it's bloody freezing! Not been above 10 for over a week and regularly plus or minus a couple of degrees in the morning.
I finally got myself an Abono Metro today, a monthly pass for the metro that is very good value for money at €40 a month. Oddly, the only places you can get the card you need to buy the monthly ticket (never simple in Spain is it?) are tobacconists. I have no idea why. Speaking of the metro, which I have to catch up to five times a day for my job(s) teaching English around the city, along with a couple of buses, it really is very good. A student was telling me he thought it was the best in Europe today, and he might just be right. It's very regular and you can pretty much rely on it to get you where you want to go on time. Teaching around town gives you the opportunity to be late several times a day and I only have been once in three and half months, which anyone who knows me will confirm is a bloody miracle! They're often quite fun too, with musicians of wildly varying quality hopping on for a quick performance (I saw a 6 piece jazz band today), and only occasionally being kicked off by the security with a polite tap on the shoulder. Don't be freaked by the staring either, people love to stare on the metro, and won't break off when you stare back either, which can be a bit unnerving at first but I had to stop myself doing it by the time I got back to the UK over Christmas. I'm told it gets lethally hot down there come springtime though, which might reduce its charm a little...
No comments:
Post a Comment