Well the weather has finally cooled down somewhat, especially at night. I’m not waking up every morning with my pillow soaking from sweat. So that’s good. You know things are going slowly here when all I have to talk about is the weather. It’s sort of what you do when you are in Madrid in August. Right now everything is quiet and dreadfully unexciting, and stark contrast from last week when the city was filled with half a million foreigners waiting to see the Pope. And I didn’t even get a chance to see him. He actually came within a block from my home and there I was in the school kitchen doling out chocolate milk and orange juice to 500 pilgrims.
But they’ve mostly all gone now and the August routine has kicked in. A lot of people say they like Madrid in August but that’s because most of them are out of town then and wouldn’t know. But what concerns me the most are the reasons they give: 1) you can park wherever you like and and 2) you can go to lots of the museums. Boy, let me just sit down and take a break from all the excitement. The minute leaving your vehicle in any part at will becomes a principal reason for staying in a city, you know something is up. Plus, I don’t have a car at the moment, so that means nothing to me. Did I tell you that the weather’s been nice lately?
As for the museums, well, it’s kind of like all those people who say they only watch documentaries on TV but unfortunately never get a chance to see them because they only show them during the day or in the early hours of the morning…in other words, at low viewership slots because no one watches them, even the ones who claim to.
I like them a lot, but admit I rarely watch them because I rarely have time to even turn on the TV, and that’s usually when my girls are here. But when pitch yet another rerun of Phineas and Ferb against a nature show on how trout spawn in rivers, it’s a losing battle. But on top of that, most people who don’t go to museums during the rest of the year won’t bother to enter one in August, unless, of course, they can park right next to the entrance, which is entirely possible.
After the excitement of July’s mystery, which I haven’t finished, and which is not finished yet, things are kinda slow. But that’s what life in Madrid in August is all about. It’s a part of the city’s natural yearly cycle. I think I’ll look for a good documentary.
