Well, you knew it was inevitable: I’m going to talk
about gardens and plants and parks and green stuff. I’ve been so pleased to see
how many little (and big) green spaces there are in Madrid. I start getting withdrawal
symptoms if I can’t get around plants often enough, and I really miss my Denver
garden and my Guffey “garden,” but fortunately Madrid has much more in the way
of greenery than I had expected.
Speaking of expectations, we had read about Madrid’s
“bitter cold winters.” One of our Madrid guidebooks, written by a Brit who
should know about bitter winters, mentions them repeatedly. However, when I got
here the plants started telling me a different story. There are all sorts of
palms here, and oleanders and much more California-ish plants than I had
anticipated and they were all saying “bitter winters – ha!” And they were
right. It gets cool certainly and there’s a definite chill in the air, but
hardly bitter. Of course, December is yet to come, but these plants couldn’t
survive any sort of hard freeze. A snow maybe but not a hard freeze. So our
worries of a really bitter winter have been allayed.
So back to plants and parks. There are parks all
around our neighborhood. We keep finding more as we walk. They all get lots of
use, especially by the kids and dogs. The playgrounds are full of little people
after school and on weekends, and the dogs love their parks. Some of the dogs
just start to bounce as they get closer to the park entrances. The dependable
ones get to be released from their leashes when they get to the park, and you
can tell that they can just hardly wait. But even off the lead, they’re
remarkably well-behaved, not bothering strangers and usually friendly with each
other. People do a really good job of cleaning up after their critters, too.
For such a huge city, with so many countless dogs, the place is remarkably
clean.
I’m seeing many plants I recognize, but dozens I
don’t. And it’s amazing what is blooming now. We went for a walk yesterday and
I planned our path to go through our favorite big park, the famous Retiro. As
we walked in, I spotted one of the many Retiro cats, basking in the sun under a
patch of bushes (with donated food and water nearby). As I looked closer at
both cat and bushes, I recognized that the bushes were lilacs, and amazingly,
some of them were just starting to bloom. In November! We walked around, making
sure not to disturb the cat who kept a wary eye on us but didn’t move. The
lovely scent of the white lilacs confirmed their identity. I have no idea if
they normally bloom here now, or if it’s global warming, or just a special
little microclimate in that bed.
The season for petunias and other soft annuals have
apparently passed since the city gardeners are methodically replacing those
plantings with masses of pansies and ornamental kales. But the big flowering
“bushes” that I finally figured out are tiered geraniums are still blooming
away, and the occasional “last roses of summer.” And the leaves are falling on
the lawns and pavements and into the fountains. Many of the fountains have been
turned off for the winter. I’m thinking that the maintenance of them with all
the leaves coming down would just be overwhelming. But I’m missing their sound
as we walk. The Moors had it right with their integration of water and gardens.
Interesting that Retiro uses a system of tiles to irrigate, straight out of
Moorish tradition.
I could go on and on about the plants, like how much
I enjoy seeing Acanthus – straight out of Greek architecture – growing
everywhere. And hedges of rosemary. And Moorish maze gardens edged with
boxwood. But enough already!
A short final word on a different topic: yesterday
on our walk we popped in MacDonald’s to try the MacIberica sandwich. I had said
I would, and time is getting shorter, so off we went. We got the sandwich
(pork, olives, cheese, and tomatoes on a sort of hoagie bun), fries, a beer and
four little macaroons for about 10 euros. The sandwich was tasty – nothing to
complain about – and the fries were good as always. But here’s the rub for me. For
20 cents less than that 10 euros, we can get a three course meal, first and
second courses, a dessert and a half bottle of wine at any of our favorite
little restaurants. For example we went to a little place Norm had recommended,
La Caudrilla, a couple of days ago. Warren had an omelette with asparagus and
bacon, followed by a chicken done with a sauce of red fruits, currents,
raspberries, blackberries, etc. and sautéed potatoes, accompanied by a nice
bottle of house red wine and bread. Dessert was a house made sorbet of fresh
raspberries. And this was the same price as the MacDonald’s… Somehow I don’t
think I’ll be headed back to Mickey D’s for a while. Warren’s
note: Deb doesn’t mention her meal with
a first course of a salad of greens, mango, and cherry tomatoes; followed by a
second course of fresh baked cod with aioli and saffron. Then we had another course of boletus
mushrooms and foie gras sautéed in Pedro Ximenez cooking sherry. (You may recall our experiences with that
from an earlier post). WooHoo what a
meal!
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