Metro stop adventures

When I first arrived in Madrid, I was overwhelmed by the size of the city. There were people everywhere at all hours of the day, hundreds of cars that did not stop for anyone and more escalators in one metro stop than all of San Luis Obispo. Everything was new and I thought it would be an impossible task to familiarize myself with this whole city in only five months. The first day, my roommate and I sat down and devised a plan to conquer the city of Madrid. We entitled our mission “The Metro Stop Adventures.”

Since riding from one side of the city to the next in the metro could take a person over an hour, about the same amount of time a person could drive from San Luis to Santa Barbara, we decided we would choose a different metro stop each day and get off and explore that area. We figured that if we familiarized ourselves with small sections, the city would eventually link itself together.

Excited to begin, we left our room and tried our best to explain our plan, in Spanish, to our se¤ora. She smiled, gently grabbed our hands and led us out of the building, down the street and to the metro stop by our house. “Adios!” She gave us a little push, a metro ticket and sent us on our way. We did not know where we were going or what we would see, but she had faith that we would find our way back to her.

The underground world of the metro is completely different than the bustling city streets above. There is a distinct rhythm and feel to this world. It is full of amateur musicians, newsstands, artwork and people pushing their way through crowds determined to catch the next train.

Over the past two months, I have become accustomed to seeing the same musicians in different corners throughout the metro. My favorite is the karaoke woman at Avenida de America who dresses head to toe in one color, often a combination of many different shades of red, and sings old love songs from the ’40s and ’50s. She has a lineup of about three or four songs, and since my adventures often led me past her corner, I now unconsciously hum along as I pass by.

The first week my roommate and I got off at the most popularized metro stops and saw all the major tourist destinations. We wandered through Plaza Mayor and el Parque Retiro and took advantage of the free entrance to the Prado on Sunday. As we became familiar with these main streets, we started to explore the metro stops that are not mentioned in the guidebooks. We found that these little side streets often had more charm than the major plazas and parks. After walking in one direction for a while we would stumble across vintage clothing stores or local art exhibitions.

When I mentioned my findings to Spaniards who had lived here their whole lives, they asked me where these shops were located. Many had never heard of these destinations. It is exciting for me to be constantly discovering new stores and have something to share with the people I meet here. Although I still have many places to explore, my game of connect the dots is slowly drawing a picture of this amazing city called Madrid.