Fall in Reus

    It's not quite cold when the sun goes down these days but the temperature does drop to a point at which a sweater is advisable - not mandatory but advisable.
    Welcome to fall in Reus.
    I've lived in some reasonably cold places in my life: Ogdensburg, NY was one such. My brothers and I could literally (and did) ice skate to school on the side streets back in the days when Ike was President and I had this gigantic crush on Susan Amo (but never told her that...) Buffalo could also get pretty cold starting in November... so cold that we used to joke that if summer came on a weekend we'd hold a barbecue.
    Reus, however, is not like that. Could be that the nearby mountains block the coldest winds from here or maybe the fact we're just a few miles from the Mediterranean has something to do with it. I'm not sure why Reus isn't a cold place and, to be truthful, I don't really care. I just know that it's a pretty pleasant place to live and I'm good with that.
    Fall here does come with its own traditions. All over the city, for example, you'll find men - often dressed in traditional costumes - roasting chestnuts that they cook over flaming barrels and sell for a couple Euros a bag. The pastry shops also feature different kinds of delights - one, for example, makes marzipan mushrooms. I'm told there's a reason for that, something about mushrooms being particularly good at this time of year when combined with certain types of food. I'm not a particular fan of marzipan, but the mushrooms they fashion out of it are really beautiful.
    Fall here also means a change in fashion and footwear: Shorts are replaced with long pants and skirts, sandals with boots. Not so very different from anywhere else in the world with the possible exception that, because it never really does get cold here, there's an absence of fur - both fake and real.
    The cooler weather doesn't seem to bother the street performers, who are out in force every evening and on into the night although I have noticed that folks who watch them are now holding cups of coffee instead of soft drinks and bottles of beer.
    I like fall here but I'm going to miss some of it. I'm leaving Monday for a few days, going back to Florida to take care of some business and visit with friends then heading on up to Ohio and Buffalo to visit with family and more friends. My flight takes me through Frankfort and Charlotte before I land in Sarasota. Not sure about the return flight yet: Aeroflot will get me back to Barcelona cheaper than any other airline but I have to first land in Moscow in late November... maybe not. I mean, upstate New York was cold but Moscow might be at a whole other level of frigid.

It's fall in Reus and that means hot roasted chestnuts are on sale all over the city.

They look like mushrooms but they're actually made of marzipan.

Madrid: A few final notes (and pictures)

    Madrid is a great place to spend a long weekend.
    It's probably also a great place to live; I have friends who live there and love it but, as for me, I prefer Reus. Don't get me wrong, Madrid has a lot to offer but it's a capital city and in that respect it's not a whole lot different from Washington, London or Paris in my opinion.
    My preferences aside, it's a wonderful city with a lot to offer the casual traveler as well as those who choose to live there.
    For instance, the renovated San Miguel Market, not far from the Plaza Mayor, is a place where you can buy fresh food for the dinner table or stand around and eat. (I had some great oysters there but passed on the jellied eel.) On a Friday night it is one of THE places in Madrid to go for something quick to eat, meet other folks, do a little networking and drink as much wine as you can without falling down. It's crowded, noisy and fun.
    If you're an art lover the Prado is one of the world's finest museums, but don't pass up the Reina Sofia, which is fairly new and often overlooked.
    Feel like taking your sweetheart for a rowboat ride? You can do that on the lake at Buon Retiro Park and at other parks as well. Just want to take a stroll? Madrid is a wonderful place for those who want to walk around and just absorb the sights and sounds of one of the world's great cities.
    Like I said, a great place to spend a long weekend...

Madrid is Spain's capital city so, of course, there are an awful lot of granite and marble buildings and that can make it pretty gray... however, there are some folks who have opted to put a little color in their lives. 

This statue is famous in Madrid as a place where men and women meet when they are going out on their first date. I'm not sure why that is but it's supposed to be good luck to meet there.

These folks couldn't paint their building lavender but they did what they could to add a little color to their lives.

This sculpture is in the middle of a restaurant. Art, apparently, is where you find it.

This little girl volunteered to dance with some performers at Buon Retiro Park and she did pretty well but she needed a little help doing a handstand.

A dad and mom took their daughters for an afternoon ride in a rowboat at Casa de Campo Park.

The Royal Palace... it's huge (I couldn't fit the whole thing in my lens...)

Want a souvenir photo? There are a lot of guys walking around in matador costumes who will pose with you for a Euro or two.

The Prado is one of the world's great museum but don't overlook the Reina Sofia.

A street performer who did a slow motion act as though he were playing tennis.

Apartment balconies tend to be small in Madrid but that doesn't stop some people from taking full advantage of what space they have.

One of the fountains in Buon Retiro Park.

The Plaza Mayor has one of the most beautiful buildings in Madrid making up one side of it.

You can also take your sweetheart for a rowboat ride on the lake at Buon Retiro Park.

I'm not sure what this guy (I think it was a guy) was supposed to be but if you dropped some change into his cup he began shaking and doing this really incredible whistling thing... sounded a lot like a very musical, but very demented, bird...

Madrid 2.0

    One of the things I used to enjoy most about going to Barcelona was strolling down the ramblas to watch what seemed to be literally dozens of street performers hard at work.
    Some juggled.
    Some posed as living statues.
    Some sang, a few danced, and now and then I'd run across a magician.
    Sadly, the politicians who run Barcelona have banned them from the ramblas for reasons that are still not very clear to me. I can only assume that, like politicians everywhere, they felt they had to do something to justify their salaries... even if it was something stupid.
    Happily, however, Madrid's political leaders have not done that and in every park, major plaza and along some of the more traveled side streets you can find street performers of almost every description hard at work earning a few Euros a day.
    Take, for example, the guy in the Plaza Mayor who looked like he was barely holding onto a motorcycle during a cross-country race. His makeup made it look like he and his motorcycle were covered in mud and he was holding onto the handlebars while his legs and body looked as though they were floating in mid-air. I can't imagine the muscle control that took.
    He was not the only impressive performer out on the streets of Madrid, however.
    Far from it.
    One of my favorites was the scrub woman. I honestly mistook her for a statue as she knelt on a gray street corner and it wasn't until, as I was taking her picture, I saw the very slightest movement in one of her hands that I knew she was, well, real. When you dropped a coin in her bucket, she dutifully scrubbed the floor in front of her. It was so cool that even Josep was impressed, and not much impresses your average 13-year-old boy these days.
    Another favorite was the guy who played wineglasses that were filled to varying degrees with water. I listened to him play "La Vie en Rose" and a few other classics while enjoying a cup of coffee and a croissant one morning. You wouldn't think that rubbing the rims of glasses could make such beautiful music but when you go to Madrid and hear him, you'll know that it's a fact.
    There were many traditional musicians as well, of course. One accordion player outside the Royal Palace entertained a long line of people waiting to get in to see a special exhibit of paintings, for example. His repertoire was truly amazing. Then there were the two women in Buon Retiro Park who played classical music on a violin and a harp, assorted percussionists playing everything from African drums to overturned plastic buckets of different sizes, a couple of saxophone players, at least one trumpeter, several collections of strolling woodwind players as well as guitarists.
    There were also invisible men and guys who seemed - like the motorcyclist - to be floating in midair.
    And there were dancers.
    Some really amazing dancers, in fact, including a trio in Buon Retiro who enticed a little girl to dance with them.
    (She did pretty well though when the guy she was dancing with did a handstand she needed a little help...)
    A weekend's worth of entertainment cost me about 20 Euros in coins that I dropped in cans, buckets and hats along the way.
    You can't beat that.
 

Saw this guy in the Plaza Mayor...

... how he managed this I have no idea.

This accordion player entertained people waiting in line to see a special exhibit of paintings at the Royal Palace.

Okay, this just seems to be impossible... these guys were in the Buon Retiro Park.

This guy was doing a brisk business in the park designing and then painting people's names for a couple Euros each.

These dancers were pretty amazing...

... and this little girl was able to keep up with them until one of them did a handstand (she needed a little help with that.)

Saw this guy in the Plaza Oriente putting on his makeup before going to work.

This guy played amazing music on wine glasses.

My friend Elena with an invisible man.

These women played classical music in Buon Retiro Park.

These puppeteers were incredible... right at this moment the puppet at the piano was playing "Imagine."

This scrub woman I honestly mistook for a statue... when you drop a coin in her bucket she scrubs the floor in front of her.