Madrid Rocks!

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away called my youth, I lived in this amazing city called Madrid, Espana. It has been so long since I have visited that I feared my good memories were actually fantasies. But, alas, they are not and the city looks and feels even better than I remembered it. Madrid is officially my favorite city in the whole world, although New York is a close second.

Why does Madrid rock, you ask. Well, first of all, the people here are friendly and fun! The weather is almost always sunny, although they do have winter here. The architecture is stunning, the food is good, the nightlife is so amazing it even spills over to the mornings and evenings. Traffic and the city are easy to navigate and my favorite thing of all is that it is a city has room for families.

Someone asked me today why it wasn't enough to visit the city periodically. The best part about this city is not the tourist destinations or shopping, but the pulse and rhythm of the people, which is not something you can tap into unless you are a member. It is their attitude, culture, and lifestyle that is such a draw here. I am a city girl at heart although I love the outdoors too. But, I never even dream about city life with a young child.....enter Madrid and I begin to re-evaluate my whole city-banning proclamation. Now all I need to do is find a job, $2 million euros to buy an apartment and remember how to speak Castilliano. Details, details.

NATURES BOUNTY - living off of the land

I am so impressed by the way that people here really take to heart the theory of "locally grown" or what they call "nostrano" which simply means "ours". Stores always label plants and animals as nostrano when they come from the immediate region so people can elect to 1) support their local economy, 2) be healthier, or 3) save money. But, it definitely goes further than that. People here sort of practice what I'll coin as "free gardening", which means plant anything that will grow, wherever. Then, anybody is free to take what they need when it is in season.

In the garden in front of the building where I was staying the first couple of months in Roseto there are several plants that can be eaten or used for cooking. There are two blackberry trees (I was pretty sure these grew on bushes but I guess this kind grows on trees). If you want to make jam for a crostata or to add to your breakfast, you just shake the tree and pick up the ripe berries that fall off. Additionally, the entire garden is spotted with tiny little chamomile flowers. They can be picked and dried to make tea.

We also have rosemary, laurel (bay leaf) and lemons growing right outside our door. But, there is also the sea where many people go when they want a free meal. On any given low tide morning people walk in ankle deep water grabbing little clams out of the sand. There are also black muscles which are the best I ever tasted. A little bit harder to find are tiny tasty crabs that can get added to pasta and if you are willing to go out on a little fishing boat there is a whole lot more. If you feel like going in the hills you can forage for wild asparagus or a green vegetable they call cicoria, which grows abundantly and I imagine has a ton of iron. Each of these plants has a fairly small window of time where it grows naturally so there are many people who go out hunting when the time is right. For older people in particular it is a popular past time. I think it is awesome that on any given day you can make almost an entire meal of of foods that were foraged within 5 minutes of your own house. In 2010 that is a rare accomplishment, at least in the land of to-go cups and bags, where I come from.

So the next time you polish off an apple or orange, try throwing it into the dirt and see what comes about. You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to "free garden".

Buon Apetito!

EXPOSED!

Who needs coffee in the morning when the view does plenty to jump start your heart. Now that summer is in full force, the shoreline has two lanes of people walking up and down the coast every morning, some at a crawl and others at a hustle. The view is so consuming one rarely abandons people watching to glance at the breathtaking, glass-like Adriatic.

People probably think I am out of my mind crazy since I cannot help but to break out into full-blown laughter at the sight of some very original characters. Today, my favorite was a man who had hit the middle-aged benchmark a couple years back. He was jogging steadily down the coast, wearing those puffy black socks that I thought they discontinued selling to teenage girls in 1988, solid black tennis shoes, a sleeveless white tee (is there an American Apparel store here?), and to bottom it all out, black speedos that seemed a little loose on the bottom. I had to wonder what the hell was this man thinking when he geared up in the morning. Doesn't he have a wife that plays interference before he leaves the house like that? And, who the hell jogs in speedos unless you are running in a triathlon.

There were several runners up in today's contest of whose exposure was least appropriate, but the circus's Mr. Stromboli won by a slim margin. This man was all out buff, the kind of man who has huge square shoulders and pecks and has an upside-down triangle shape with a little tightly packed backside. He was blanketed in curly black hair, and was sporting one finger speedos on his ultra-tanned body, or maybe the hair just made him seem really dark? The kicker was that he was out on the beach chasing after two pink-clad girly toddlers. It just didn't seem to fit the bill. When I thought of the reaction my friends would have if they were on this walk with me, I couldn't help but smile a big smile.

Of course for every nightmare I pass, I see several beauties on their morning strolls, usually opting for bathing suits rather than work out clothes. In case you didn't know, Italians are obsessed with getting tan, and they will strip their clothes at the slightest sun bathing opportunity.

It makes me proud that I live in a place where people of all walks of life, rich, poor, ugly, fat, families, searching singles, all alike can hit the beach and feel at ease strutting their stuff down the coast without reprisal.....well, maybe just a little from a foreign american girl who chuckles under her breath every once in a while when things that should be left to mystery are exposed for the early morning crowd to take in. I still say bikinis are reserved for people under 60 and speedos should be left for triathletes and strippers, but I guess that's why I am the foreigner here.