Madrid, te amo

Since I seem to be miraculously awake, I thought I might as well get this thing off to a good start.

I am sitting, at this moment, in an absolutely perfect and (for now) indescribably charming apartment in the slightly northern part of Madrid (for those who are familiar, near Bilbao). I have been welcomed here for three days by the kind, hospitable, and fascinating Charles--psychoanalyst and couch-surfing host extraordinaire-- who in the space of five minutes made me feel as if we´d known each other for years and were the best of friends (probably indicative of his style as a clinician...also I feel I should mention that he has an adorable little Freud doll in his bathroom, a somewhat perfect location for him). I am planning to collapse on his couch for a nap as soon as I finish this, because we are going out for a proper Madrid dinner around 9 o´clock, but first things first: some things are clamoring to be told.

Most important of these things, perhaps, is that I seem to have arrived on the very best day Madrid has ever seen. The sky is a cloudless blue, and warm (but not hot) sunlight sifts gently through the branches of trees that line every street. Stepping out of the metro to the tunes of a busking accordian player, I felt all the symptoms of city-love rush in on me, and felt not even a trace of the nervousness or bewilderment that sometimes intrudes on a brand new experience. Madrid is, so far, a supreme hostess. `You´re tired?' she perceives, `Here´s a shaded bench on every pleasant corner. You´re thirsty? Here are a dozen welcoming cafes on every street.´ Granted, my opinion of her has only had a few hours to form, but so far, I´m impressed.

And having passed what seemed like an entire season last week, and an accelerated dusk to dark to dawn on the plane last night, I am more than primed for a hostess like Madrid. More than ready to sit down on every bench I see and take in all this slow, gentle summer. To practice measuring, as one of my favorite imaginary people does, the ocean by the cupful, and to observe these elderly couples reading the paper, these shoes being shined, those people passing by and passing by like a parade.

At least, for the next three days.