Of Picnics, Parks & Second Hand Shops

Most of my favourite days, ever, have been a result of half baked plans. Of knowing where we’re starting but not quite sure where we’re going and how we’re going to get there, but just being ready to go. Saturday was like that. Claudia and I took an early afternoon bus into Madrid, with the beginning plan of having a picnic in El Retiro park (where I promised myself, again, that one of these days, I’ll venture into the library there, because: library in a park. Can you think of anything more perfect?) So we stopped by a Rodilla’s for our picnic before hopping on the metro to start our day. 

     

I love weekends in the park. It’s gotten less busy as winter’s arrived, but it’s still full of people and buskers and street musicians. With cafes scattered around the park, there’s  endless opportunity to sit down with a cup of coffee and people watch, something Claudia and I did in contended silence as we slowly drank our coffee. There’s something I love about being able to sit in silence with someone and not feel as if you have to fill that space with words and mindless chatter. You can continue a conversation for as long as needed (most of the time) with pretty much anyone, but being able to sit in silence and not feel as if it’s weighing on you to come up with something, anything, to say, I appreciate that.

   

Claudia asked if I knew of any second hand shops in Madrid, which I didn’t/don’t. She replied that she did and asked if I was interested in going, to which I naturally said yes to and we made our way to Chueca, which, because I have an awful sense of direction and she’s quite new to Madrid took longer than it really should have and resulted in us heading in the wrong direction before we decided that we were going to do this the easy way and take the metro.    

We did finally make it, though before we could make it to the shop, were distracted by a shop front where wine was part of the window display and we decided to head in. After spending some time (and our money) there, we wandered out and through the streets of Madrid, with Claudia asking every once in awhile, “Where are we going now?” and me replying with, “I have no idea, we’re just walking.” Ducking into various stores and seeing what there was to see before heading back out.    

We finally stopped to finish off our sandwiches and listened to a band on the corner play music while Claudia played with my camera and complimented me on my new bow tie and worried that her new ring was too big, if I was sure that she looked good in the new shirt she bought. I laughed and told her yes, the thousandth time, yes, she looked good in the shirt and maybe it was time to head back. As we made our way to the metro stop, there was a lady in front of Tea Shop giving away free samples and we both grabbed one, Claudia mumbling the name (Rojo Safari) under her breathe as we slid through the barriers to make our way back.

Things I’m Loving:

+ Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet – (This made its way around last week and was really worth the time to read.)
+ About being a journalist – (The .gifs though.)
+ No Sew Wallet – (Was considering making this before I bought a new one this weekend.)
+ French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese – (This looks so delicious I can barely handle it.)