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.
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| Saw this guy in the Plaza Mayor... |
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| ... how he managed this I have no idea. |
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| This accordion player entertained people waiting in line to see a special exhibit of paintings at the Royal Palace. |
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| Okay, this just seems to be impossible... these guys were in the Buon Retiro Park. |
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| This guy was doing a brisk business in the park designing and then painting people's names for a couple Euros each. |
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| These dancers were pretty amazing... |
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| ... 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.) |
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| Saw this guy in the Plaza Oriente putting on his makeup before going to work. |
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| This guy played amazing music on wine glasses. |
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| My friend Elena with an invisible man. |
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| These women played classical music in Buon Retiro Park. |
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| These puppeteers were incredible... right at this moment the puppet at the piano was playing "Imagine." |
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| 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. |
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