Buenas noches,
I spent most of today walking down memory lane. After breakfast, I took the 150 bus from the center of Madrid to the area around the Santiago Bernabeu soccer stadium, the home of Real Madrid. I say the bus number only because the number and the route are the same as they were 32 years ago which I find fascinating. MARTA buses change routes all the time in Atlanta. Anyway, I enjoyed the drive up the Paseo de la Castellana, a wide tree lined boulevard that connects the central city to the neighborhoods and, eventually the suburbs, to the north. There are fountains and/or statues at almost every intersection and much of it was very familiar to me. The neighborhood where I lived is called El Viso in the Chamartin district of Madrid. A lot of El Viso consists of detached houses, but there are also a lot of apartment buildings along the edge of the neighborhood close to la Castellana. This is where I lived: Calle Santiago Bernabeu 2-6-izquierda. As in number 2, sixth floor, left apartment. Anyway, during my time in Madrid I lived with a widow and her son and a friend of mine from Furman. We referred to her affectionately as la Senora (I don't know how to do the tilde sign over the n). Her name is Ana Cervantes. I tried to get ahold of her prior to my trip by various means (FB messages to her children, telephone, Google, obituaries, etc.) to no avail. Unfortunately, her name is very very common. Kind of like trying to find Anne Johnson in NYC. So I decided to just ring the bell for the apartment. There was no response but the porter saw me and let me in and we talked for about 10 minutes. He told me she is still alive, although very old (90 or so), and that she now lives in a nursing home but he didn't know where. Her daughter now lives in the apartment with her husband. I knew the daughter as well because she came to lunch almost every day. I left a message with the porter to give her with the name and number of my hotel and a note about who I was. I am hoping she remembers me because her mother and I traded Christmas cards for a number of years.
Just being on the street and especially in the lobby of the building brought back many many good memories of my time in Madrid. However, the neighborhood has changed a bit. It was always one of the nicer neighborhoods, but didn't seem special or out of the ordinary to me at the time. According to the Internet, however, it is now the wealthiest neighborhood of Madrid. And it showed. For example, the 7-11 across the street is now a boutique spa. As I walked around, I saw numerous expensive looking clothing stores, expensive cars, and very well dressed people. In addition, the soccer stadium just around the corner is now twice as large as it once was and is being expanded again. The area around it was mess of cranes, constructions fences, and road blocks. Still, I enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. When I was done there, I took the same bus that I took as a student (the number 147) to get o the Chamberi neighborhood where the school I attended used to be. I took pictures of the building and then decided to sit in the nearby square and just look around. I recognized several of the buildings and the entrance to a parking garage, even though I hadn't thought of these in 30 years. I remember hanging out with friends in that park between classes when we'd get a snack from the bakery across the street. I remember the nearby secondary school that is still there. I remember a lot which is a blessing. It was a little emotional for me, because I had no idea then how important my time there would be in my life. But my time in Madrid opened my eyes to another culture, a different way of living, etc. I would not be who I am today without having had that experience.
After 15 or so minutes of nostalgia, I walked to the nearby former home of Spanish impresionist painter Joaquin Sorolla, who has become one my favorites. In fact, a print of one of his paintings hangs over my bed at home. Anyway, the home is now a museum showcasing his work. We went there several times when I was a student and I recognized a lot, especially the gardens and the main salon. So happy I got to go again. After about an hour there, I made my way to a nearby Metro station and traveled to the Moncloa district where the school, Centro de Estudios Hispanicos Antonio de Nebrija, is now located. The school still has a relationship with Furman University. There I met up with my former art history teacher Marisa Lopez. She was so happy to see me as was I to see her again. We spent the next four hours together, only speaking Spanish. First we went to a tavern for lunch where we had Iberian Ham (incredible!), fried eggplant, deep fried shark bites, and Mahou beer. Everything was delicious. We talked about the Civil War, about our familes, about her time a few years ago teaching at Furman, food, and many other things. At one point, when the waiter came to take our order, she told him we needed more time because we hadn't seen eachother in 30 years. Lol. After lunch, we walked over the Parque del Oeste (western park), around the rose garden, to the Plaza de Espana and the Cervantes monument. We took several selfies and talked about life things. How young I was. How innocent. How hard life can be some times. About loss and joy, history, art, music, language, etc. It was an absolute joy to spend the afternoon with her and when we parted I promised her that I wouldn't let another 30 years go by without visiting. Indeed, I have a feeling I will be back again and again. At least, I hope so. I walked back to the hotel which was not far and got a little emotional along the way, feeling enormously grateful for my time here and that I can still speak the language. What a gift that has been, even though I've never used it for work or made a dime off of this skill. It doesn't matter. If you have kids in school, encourage them to learn another language; it doesn't matter which one. They will never regret it.
Anyway, I didn't have much time after returning to the hotel, because I had a reservation for Flamenco and an early dinner (7pm!) at the Torres Bermejas next door to the hotel. The food was OK but the dancing was amazing. I had never been to a traditional Flamenco show, so this was a treat. Here is a video of the kind of dancing that I saw (fast forward to 12 minutes to see what I saw, more or less; I think every performance is different). I loved the music and the intense emotion in the faces and the dancing. It looked exhausting. But it was a great way to end what has been an emotional day. I hope I hear from the Senora's daughter, but if I don't, I know I did all I could to contact her. And I'm grateful to have spent much of the day with Marisa, another person who meant a lot to me.
I plan to turn in early tonight so that I can get up a little earlier tomorrow for a day trip to Chinchon, a nearby village. More on that later. Buenas noches.
Bill aka Carey aka Guillermo.
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