Well, the weather followed us from Porto, it was cloudy and threatening when we got up and going. We took a walk down Calle Arenal towards Opera Square, not much had changed in the last 5 years, mostly the same stores and restaurants. We were hoping to find yesterday’s “weekend” New York Times at an old reliable news kiosk, but it was closed. From there it was on to one of our favorite coffee shops, Santa Eulalia. A very cool place, and it was nice to see that they’d survived the pandemic. On our first trip there, I had a nice chat with the owner, a Cordon Bleu-trained baker who had just opened the shop. Set in an old building across the street from our very first apartment in Madrid, the owner and I discussed the cool glass panels in the floor that displayed the original Christian defensive walls, a nice combo of the modern trappings of the shop, and the ancient history of the city. Mozart’s Requiem was playing in the background, the pastries were extraordinary, and everything came together to create a memory that has stuck with me to this day. Today the pastries were just as good as we remembered, as was the coffee.

After coffee we wandered around a bit, circling back around through Puerto del Sol. The Belle Epoque buildings that surround the square appeared to shine against the ugly black sky. We actually found the weekend Times in a kiosk a block from our apartment and grabbed it before heading back home so I could spend an hour sorting through the 200+ photos we took of the Semana Santa processions last night.

After lunch we went off again, heading this time to the fancy shopping districts around Avenida Grand Via. So many people in the streets, tons of Madrileños out doing some Saturday shopping. The streets were so crowded that walking with an umbrella became a genuine chore when the rain started again. Back home again to wait out the weather.

I was about ready for a good restaurant dinner tonight, and I’d checked the hours of a couple of close places, but when dinner time rolled around the rain had increased and the thought of hiking up (or down) a hill to one of our favorites was simply off-putting. So it was back to El Corte Inglés for some takeout – pork cheeks, grilled tomatoes, and cod croquettes. And a couple of confections from the patisserie to finish that off. Two glasses of wine, a great dinner, and now we wait to see what tomorrow brings.