Another Sunday morning in Madrid. H and I decided not to go to the Rastro today, but went for a walk around the Retiro instead, one of Madrid's huge parks. I still don't think I've been to all the corners. It started out as a pretty nice day, not too cold, but started to look like threatening rain. After walking for a bit, we decided to check out the book fair along one of the streets that we'd seen on our way in, and we ended up back near Atocha, where one of the main roundabouts is located.
We could hear the protest, with its whistles and shouts, long before we saw it. It reminded me a lot of the Occupy marches down Market Street, except those protesting here in Madrid were mostly wearing long white doctor's coats. Here, the hospital employees (doctors, nurses, and office staff) are protesting and have been on strike to protest the government want to turn hospitals from public entities into private. When I had lunch with the family later on, it sparked a debate at the table which I was unfortunately only partially able to follow.
Afterward, H and I went to the oldest restaurant in the world (when I said that I thought a lot of places probably had claim to that title, he said that it was in the Guinness Book of World Records, though I haven't confirmed that) and had vermouth, which is an alcoholic drink made from the roots of a number of different plants. Hey...wait a minute...that sounds a lot like my favorite non-alcoholic drink! And it tasted a bit similar too. I think I've finally figured out why Europe doesn't have root beer. They have vermouth instead!
Another Sunday morning in Madrid. H and I decided not to go to the Rastro today, but went for a walk around the Retiro instead, one of Madrid's huge parks. I still don't think I've been to all the corners. It started out as a pretty nice day, not too cold, but started to look like threatening rain. After walking for a bit, we decided to check out the book fair along one of the streets that we'd seen on our way in, and we ended up back near Atocha, where one of the main roundabouts is located.
We could hear the protest, with its whistles and shouts, long before we saw it. It reminded me a lot of the Occupy marches down Market Street, except those protesting here in Madrid were mostly wearing long white doctor's coats. Here, the hospital employees (doctors, nurses, and office staff) are protesting and have been on strike to protest the government want to turn hospitals from public entities into private. When I had lunch with the family later on, it sparked a debate at the table which I was unfortunately only partially able to follow.
Afterward, H and I went to the oldest restaurant in the world (when I said that I thought a lot of places probably had claim to that title, he said that it was in the Guinness Book of World Records, though I haven't confirmed that) and had vermouth, which is an alcoholic drink made from the roots of a number of different plants. Hey...wait a minute...that sounds a lot like my favorite non-alcoholic drink! And it tasted a bit similar too. I think I've finally figured out why Europe doesn't have root beer. They have vermouth instead!
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