We didn’t start off on the best foot, the trip to Madrid and I. Having boarded the flight and waiting for departure, the captain announced “the stairs damaged the door and we need to check whether the plane is safe to fly”. Not what I want to hear. At all.
With a mere hour delay we left Berlin and arrived at the destination. Navigating Madrid is easy, thanks to an extensive tube network. I reached the neighbourhood of Malasaña where I have an Airbnb room.
Being a bit early for check-in, I went for a coffee – as usual – and was disappointed – as too often. But this time it was different. My complaint lead to a heated discussion about what an Americano is. The hopeless “barista” claimed it’s a filtered coffee. The world, every dictionary on the planet, every other coffee shop and me, we all disagree but he does not see the light.
Fortunately another place around the corner serves something more decent and my mood is slightly lifted. It reaches a daily high when I check into my accommodation and see that the place has not only a huge balcony but also a guitar. Happy days.
The Malasaña neighbourhood in general is so-so. Reasonably pretty to look at but every other corner smells of piss. Have a feeling they didn’t have rain here in a while.
