Madrid is all about fast cars and high heels. At least that is the first impression that the drive out from the airport gives first time visitors. Like many modern cities billboards practically line the route to the heart of Spain’s capital, but there seems to be only two ads, which repeat ad infinitum. One depicts a man in racing helmet and facemask, obviously very serious about driving very fast, and the other is a close up of a woman’s foot in a stylish high heeled shoe.
Welcome to Spain.
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The entrada to the plaza mayor, madrid |
The first day in a new country is a strange experience, especially if it’s spent in a built up area, like Madrid’s city center. There is enough global (read: American) culture floating about, from McDonalds wrappers in the gutter to battery ads on bus shelters, that you feel weirdly at home, but there are also enough outré things, like crenellated towers on the horizon, to really remind you that you are not in Kansas anymore. Multiply that feeling of displacement by about ten if you don’t speak the native tongue, and another ten if you have never before this moment left your own country.
Welcome to Spain in David’s shoes.
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