I stopped Critical Mass

Maybe? Went out to museums, about which more anon. But on the way back I started passing a huge mass of bicyclists (and the occasional unicyclist or other oddity) many in odd outfits and with some music playing. At first I thought it was neat. I tried asking one man what it was but he didn't understand me at all. And eventually they ran out.

But as I continued, and tried crossing a main street, they seemed to have looped around and crossed my path. I got halfway across the street before the walk sign started flashing, at which the waiting bicyclists started up -- meaning they had stopped, unless my perceptions were off. But at the next walk sign -- red light for them -- they showed no sign of stopping. Not wanting to wait for minutes in the rather noxious pollution of Madrid's car-filled streets, I exerted my right of way and stepped into the mass.

Swerve! Shout! I don't think they were happy. But all the other pedestrians promptly followed my lead, in a micro critical mass of our own, and the Mass had to suffer the horror of stopping at a red light and letting other people get on with their lives for half a minute.

Wanted to try tapas, but my first attempt didn't give me the right menu, a second was loud and smokey, others had no prices listed or were too high. Ended up at my local cafeteria aka yesterday's lunch del dia. Got ignored for several minutes and I don't know what I was told finally, but I did get to order and the food was prompt. Good potato omelette, eh slab of cooked tuna with red pepper, good if greasy pork skewer. More greaseless bread. Hard crust too, meh.

Bicyclists again. And gone again, so I'll be able to go home without forcing another crossing.

Oh, today's lunch had paella with shrimp that still had the shell or skin on. Only the second time I've had that and the first was a deliberate experiment by Stephen. I didn't like it then and I didn't like it now.

Right. So I'd looked at the map and realized I was near a lot of museums and a park I'd heard of. It was 6, but this is Madrid -- stuff is open till 8 or 9! First the Biblioteca Nationale, free, with an exhibit on Sistine Chapel codices, and on some person whose name I didn't record. The rest seemed to be lecture halls or closed off or some digital Museo I didn't understand. Then around to the Archaeological Museum. Big building, but under renovation, so there was just one hall of "Treasures", bit of Egypt, bit of Greece, Spain or Iberia from prehistory to medieval times. See everything in an hour. But they had bilingual signs, so I got to play Rosetta stone. Though the English they translate into is sometimes odd, as in "X was the exponent of Spanish Y." Do British use 'exponent' for peak? Americans don't.

Also, the minimal contents helped highlight something I've had growing awareness of and which would probably be covered in 5 minutes in a proper class on Greek art. They had two cases, each with a piece from the 7th, 5th, and 4th century BC. The evolution of art style becomes very obvious that way, from creepy weird elongation, to the Classical red and black we all know, to Hellenistic realism, detail and color I grew up not knowing they could do.

"Pardonme, photographio permito?" *waves phone*
"Sin flash."
Woot, communication!

Stability is good, so is cheaper rent. Moving from hotel to Airbnb host tomorrow -- if she gets back to me with the address. Pity, airport was more convenient from here. Prado too.

Another strike?

Handful of men in green vests with signs and a bullhorn. "Madrid en peligro" -- Madrid in danger. "Bomberos bajo mínimos" -- firefighters low minimum??

Men in dress uniform standing on a street, why? Oh, probably because they're next to the Naval Museum. Which has a sign in English and... Chinese.

At Prado, though wondering if I should be given good weather and rain tomorrow. Zoo'd be good but I forgot to look up where it is. Long slow line for special Renoir... Kind of slow for the permanent collection too. Oh hey, I asked a tourist with a map where the zoo was, and he just gave me the map. Mine only cover Metro or the central area. But since I'm right by the Parque del Retiro, let's do that.

Prado has free admission for legally unemployed EU citizens, and EU citizens in "large families". Also families with one adult and 3+ children, or 2+ where one is disabled.

Huge park. Very ordered and geometric, English hedge garden not Golden Gate urban pseudo-wilderness. Some cypress trees that either grow very oddly or have been trimmed oddly. It's definitely fall, at least for some of the trees here; lots of red dead leaves around and falling as I watch. There's a small cat in a fenced off area. Big rectangular boat pond. Jamón sandwich. Another cat -- I'm no expert but neither looks in a bad way.

Crystal Palace area looks more natural.

Rosalea. Sounds like a rose garden, is a rose garden. A rather large one, with a very broad range of roses, some of which smell heavenly.

An avenue west of the park is lined with used book stands.

Botanic gardens. Cheap! And with a black cat. Squirrels and rabbits I don't see, cats (and magpies) I do.

Me: "Donde esta aqui?" Pointing at map.
Her: "I'm sorry, I don't speak any Spanish."
Me: "Oh. Do you know where are on this map?"

Greenhouses! Not huge, I think IU's are bigger, never mind Glasgow's. But the first such I've seen with stairs taking you to a high walkway. Well, not counting various zoo or museum rainforests.

Reading The Confusion in breaks. Pepys just made a prayer about urinating. Rather funny, as was an earlier scene with the Liberation of the Monkeys.

Took my first bus here! Had to be shown how to use my pass, but it saved a lot of walking back to my hotel where my bag is.

Food: being in the park meant missing the mediodia meal, so I've been on fruit and a light sandwich in the park. Found a place open at 5 though, ordering tomatoes and Iberico ham (and bread), and Catalan sausage with fried potatoes (French fries) and ali-oli sauce. I was finally brought dispensers of olive oil and vinegar.

Rosetta risks: they're not always rigorous in their translations. When "con patatas" is "with potatoes" on one line and blank on another they're just being lazy. But the English menu here has "Fried 'chistorra' sausage"; in Spanish it's "chistorra al infierno flambeada al brandy". My dictionary just translates infierno as "hell". Further down, anchovies and big holes (??) becomes "matrimonio de anchoas y boquerones". Some idiom being left behind, there...

The sausage is all right, nothing for me to get excited about (I go for Italian and/or hot and not too greasy, insofar as one can ask that of sausage.) Too much meat in this diet, a few more good salads and bread wouldn't be amiss.

Feels like a busier and more filled day. Up earlier, no siesta, lots of walking. Days like this I could almost see sticking around longer.

Off to my new lodging, will post this while I know I have hotel wifi.

Those little atriums

Heh, right as I plan to leave the hotel, I remember one of its little cultural architectural quirks, which I first saw in Chile. Little open areas entirely enclosed in a building, like Lesotho. But you don't walk out into it, at least easily; it's just some plant or fountain surrounded by glass or walls. So you walk down an interior hallway and to your left you see a plant in sunlight, backed by your own walls.

===

Of course it would start raining just as I transfer.

New place, near Puerta de Toledo, still central but southwest. Seems good and nice people. Local hostess, English girl, and older woman. Host's sister and niece were visiting, niece dressed up for Halloween, which her mother claims is like 3-5 years old for the Spanish. All Saints' Day, now that's a holy day.

Alimentacion: sort of like convenience stores but geared more toward sweets and jank food. I did find baguettes in one. Got fruit at a fruteria though the carrots were scary. So were the bagged carrots at the supermarket. 24 hour pharmacies are common. "Helados Italiananos" or whatever it was called wasn't that good. There's some program to el EU students study or work in another city; English girl is an English lit major working here, her German friend is studying business here.
God bless WEP, that my broken Linux can handle.

The plane flight may have made me think "it's LA again!" With regard to climatogeology, as mentioned, but I haven't had that feeling since. There's almost certainly some overlap but I never saw much of those parts of LA. A bit with downtown La Serena. But nothing like the low pastel buildings that really struck me as similar between the more Hispanic parts of LA and La Serena (though the palettes were different).

Hmm, noisier here than the hotel.