The day’s plan was to visit El Mercado de Chamartín.  As we walked towards la Plaza del Sol, we began to hear a loud group of people chanting.  As we walked closer, we heard and saw hundreds of people gathered in the plaza.  Reading people’s signs and shirts, it appeared that this was a demonstration for the improved treatment of animals.  From what I hear, at the top of the discussion is often the Spanish tradition of bull fighting.  Signs such as, “La tortura no es cultura” or “torture is not culture” helps to explain this resentment well.  The crowd of participants and spectators was large and continuing to grow.  I stopped for some photos, but my parents and I didn’t want to loose one another in the crowd.  So we headed down into the metro station after a few minutes.  Regardless it was a great experience to see all the demonstrators singing chants and walking in unison around the plaza.

Buying shirts and pins that support the cause...thse were hot sells!

Let's not look too akward ok?

Gathering up support

Some of the signage, "Tortura no es cultura"

Nice bull costume!

No one was left at home, even the dog

So many signs. There was some local press in the area too.

Walking with a large banner

Un-expected excitement behind us, our destination was still ahead of us.  My father and I visited El Mercado de Chamartín last time we were in Madrid.  It is an interesting three-story market that sells all kinds of products you’d find in a typical supermarket.  The market itself is situated in el Distrito de Chamartín (Distrito nº5).  The market is comprised of 92 stall, independently owned by each vendor.  The stalls or establishments specialize in: fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit, bread, eggs, etc.  There is even a pharmacy on the second floor.  Locals have been frequenting the market since 1962 and have built relationships with certain vendors.  I’m sure that those relationships not only bring friendship, but maybe a few deals along the way.  After all, loyalty is a big part of Spanish culture.  If a vendor takes care of you well and sells a superior product, you will most likely return, and continue to return there after.  What is great is that every vendor believes that he or she sells the best product or line of products in their class.

Random photo, but I really like the typeface

Colombia Street in Madrid

Updating my status via my phone

El Mercado de Chamartín from afar

Sadly, Chamartín was closed…isn’t that a bummer!?  I’m sure you’re thinking, well then why the heck did you describe it?”.  Well because that’s life.  You can have all the expectations in the world, but sometimes you just don’t get you want, desire, or…expect.  See!  I didn’t see the market, and neither will you…this time!  Don’t worry, no more tricks!  But you can still check out the link to my previous post regarding Chamartín market.

Apparently, the market does not open on Sundays.  And unfortunately, we didn’t bother to ask anyone at the front desk of the hotel regarding the market’s hours of operations.  That being said, we were already in the neighborhood and decided we’d might as well look around.  The area is a decent number of metro stops away from anything else, so we didn’t want to just return to La Gran Via.  That is more time that we don’t spend seeing anything, and more time just sitting in a metro station or bus.  Anyways, as we began walking around, I looked out into the street and noticed a car was stopped.  It was in the middle of an intersection.  All of a sudden, the driver-side door opened and an elderly man got out and hurried to the back of the car.  I then realized that that he was attempting to push the car.  I poked my dad and told him to look.  We both immediately ran over and joined the elderly gentleman behind the car and began to push the car to the side of the road.  As we started to push, both passenger side doors opened and the elderly man’s wife and daughter got out.  His wife said that it would be much easier to move the car without their weight.  The husband told them to get in the car, needless to say they refused – they’d already gotten out.  He told his daughter to get into the driver’s seat to help steer the car as we pushed.  She agreed, and so we began to push the car again.  The car was not heavy at all, and with three people, the car began to pick up momentum.  Out of nowhere, another pedestrian who’d been watching nearby got alongside us and began to push the car from behind.  As we pushed, the daughter steered the car into a parking spot on the side of the road.  The party thanked us and said that we were so nice to help them, as they would not have been able to do it alone.  We told them that it had been no problem at all and that we were glad to help.  We asked if they needed anything else, but they said they’d take care of it – as we were talking, the daughter had begun to call the insurance company.  So we said our goodbyes and left.

We walked around for a bit when we saw an interesting set of apartments.  Yes I know, boring right?  No, these were architecturally speaking, kind of cool.  They were like pyramids.  Their base was larger than the top, and so the apartments looked like terraces, each sitting above the other, forming a soft slope to the front side of the building.  As we continued, we saw a bakery and walked in.  Wow, it smelled great!  The smell of freshly baked goods is something that has to be enjoyed and difficult to describe.  It was a variety of smells: freshly baked French baguettes, cakes, empanadas, cookies, etc.  Of course, my mom was quick to ask a few questions regarding their baked goods.  As she spoke with one of the bakers, I began taking a series of photos – later on my parents laughed that I’d done that.  Oh well, haha.  Anyways, there was just too much to see so I had to ensure I’d have photos to remember, and to share with you too!

A slightly sloped apartment building

The sloped apartments from the front

A Snoopy purse, lol

¡Galletas! Seriously, that is a lot of cookies!

Cookies are the best, especially when they are freshly baked

Pretty cool layering of the cookies...there are a lot!!

Frosted covered cookies in the shape of a clam

Una empanada de atún

Un sandwich de salmon (tostado)

Wow, I really love how the chocolate has been cut and layered on top of the cake on the right

Just look at how small these cupcakes are!

These tejas sure do resemble shingles on a (spanish) roof...or maybe Pringles!?

Small custard filled mini-pies

Again, I really love a good batch of cookies

A cold case for the cakes already sold or finished earlier

Huh...what do we have here?

They tasted of anise, and were a nice light snack for the road

As we continued walking, I saw a brand of automobiles called “MORGAN”.  I laughed and pointed it out to my parents.  If you don’t know, one of my best friends is named Morgan.  Along with our other mutual best friend, Daniel, we all joke aside about our names.  They know (because it’s true) how I put my name on just about everything that I can.  Interestingly, I always thought that I’d make my name recognizable first.  Guess “Morgan” beat me to it!  Although, I guess “I” can still make my name famous…one day…

I really like the log, pretty nice right?

The front of one of the cars

Asides…aside?  I hope that made sense, lol.  We found a bus stop that would take us back to La Gran Via.  Close to Nuestra Señora de Correos, or better described as the main post office of Madrid.  Doesn’t Spanish make something sound so much more interesting?  The use of proper nouns is commonplace in Europe because many buildings or sites have a history from which they derive their names.

Nuestra Señora de Correos

Nuestra Señora de Correos, this is a post office? hahaha

The waterfountain in front of La Nuestra Señora de Correos

Nuestra Señora de Correos is a wonderful looking building that was built in the early 1900s and was constructed to emulate a historical monument.  As we walked around the area, we saw a small exhibition of Xavier Mascaró.  The exhibition, called Pequeños Guardianes, helps to show off an older dead and decaying civilization that is meant to help us think about our own future.  Or…at least that is what the sign seems to say .  The exhibition has toured to different locations and was present in Madrid during our stay.  As you can see, some of the guards are completely oxidized while a few are not.  Some are smaller and slightly shorter than an average person while others are built much larger and tower above most people.

The exhibition, called Pequeños Guardianes

Xavier Mascaró's exhibit

Xavier Mascaró's large sign explaining what the exhibit was all about

Not completely oxidized...or it was painted?

There were plenty of statues, some larger than others

Doesn't the white statue standout?

The large ones tower over the smaller ones

Fixing my mother's iPhone settings

I love the the color dynamic in this photos

Even a pigeon was hanging out near the exhibit!

The Puerta de Toledo is about 19 meters tall

La Puerta de Toledo is the most recently built of all the monumental gates in Madrid.

We began feeling hungry and decided to head back to El Mercado de San Miguel and La Plaza Mayor.  There we indulged in some tapas and a bocadillo de calamares.   You’ve by now seen the salmon and bacalao tapas, but the next two were just as good.  One was a small Spanish barbeque sandwich that is much different from BBQ from the United States.  There, vegetables are cut up into the meat and the sauce is sweeter; but less saucy as well – very likely a mix of rub and sauce.  The second tapa was a small soft biscuit with goat cheese, marmalade, and caramelized apples.  My mom is not a fan of goat cheese, but I really like it.  It has a different taste to that of typical cheese made out of cow’s milk.  The tapa is easy on the conscience.  It was like a light desert, that isn’t too sweet, but I’m sure that the goat cheese brings some calories to it as well.  But it is fresh goat cheese sans preservatives…so that’s good, right!?

A full plate of these wonderful tapas...this is heaven!

Some refreshing Sangria to help cool us down on a warm day in Madrid

Drinks are great, but the food is what we came back for, lol

Spanish BBQ on the right, and a soft biscuit with goat cheese, marmalade, and caramelized apples on the left.

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon