“Pardon me your Highness Majesty, but I believe you are aggressively fondling my kiwis…” Heeheehee. I was just imagining what I might say in case I ran into Queen Sofia at this small but exquisite fruit store on Calle Ayala, Madrid. She’s been known to drop in to personally select some fruit, “slumming it” from the palace as it were. :) After visiting the Mercado de la Paz, Mrs. MM and I decided to stroll aimlessly around this clearly upscale residential and retail neighborhood, something similar to walking down Madison Avenue in New York. One of the most enjoyable parts of visiting a foreign city is to stroll without a specific purpose — a little window shopping, people watching and serendipitous snacking. :)
Neighborhood wine and charcuterie stores were absolutely enticing. The shops themselves looked like they had been there for generations, if only because of good interior decorators…
Flower and plant stores…
…a pitstop at the chocolate shop…
…a photo of Kiton’s blue jeans, probably one of the priciest pairs of denim pants in the world, at roughly $350, YIPES!
This shot, of Marketman looking at a street sign, is a private joke for close relatives on my side… the road “Calle del Marques del Duero” has an amusing significance for us… :)
A celebration of some sort had students draping the main building of the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid in ribbons.
The tree-lined avenues in Madrid are amongst the nicest and most “stroll-able” I have come across on foreign trips…
…as long as you aren’t wearing this pair of Manolo Blahniks…
…strutting like Sarah Jessica Parker might in a movie. Sexo en Nueva York 2, you just gotta love the translation. Are you getting the obvious hints about upcoming Moroccan posts? :) One final post on tapas up next, then it’s off to Marrakech.
13 Responses
Manolos!!!!!!! I remember having 25 pairs of size 37.5 Manolos when I was single in the 90’s. Too bad I am now size 39 after having 2 kids.
The picture I liked most in this post is the tree-lined avenue. It’s very refreshing to see places like that these days… hope to see more places like that here in the Philippines specially in Metro Manila… sigh
Tricia, I don’t think you can blame the kids for expanding foot size. It’s just that time and standing on those feet make them spread out, it’s not unusual to gain a half size every decade or so as an adult. So if a half size is 1/4″ larger your feet are now 3/4″ larger or you simply are more practical and have finally stopped torturing your feet. No offense meant, I have more shoes than I care to admit to and many of them are too small now.
I think the wife of the king of Spain is addressed as Your Majesty too. Not that she would mind though. She did not mind going around the just cast off sports gear strewn locker room to congratulate the members of the Spanish team when they won the world cup.
Footloose, you see, I would have put my foot in my mouth before I even met her Majesty. But more likely, I would not have recognized her and would have said something like “lady get your hands off of my kiwis…” heeheehee.
Living in this neighborhood will seriously damage my budget.
ikaw gyud mr. kiwiman i mean mr marketman.
hi MM! “Calle del Marques del Duero†makes me wonder if you’re from Bohol.
sister, you are right! When I compare how my feet looks like 12 years ago when I was in my “roaring 20’s”, they look more tired now. Thanks for the explanation, so it’s really not pregnancy and all those stuff because I lost the baby weight and still bigger feet hahaha. Now I don’t buy manolos anymore. My nieces & cousins have long gotten the old ones I have. I wish I could set a trip to Madrid next year. I really want the espadrilles the MM family got! :)
MM, did they pull down the Spanish banners for the 2012 Summer Games along the avenidas. Those were up when we were there in September, before they lost to Brazil. I feel sorry as they were really getting ready for the games.
I like the segue from the Manolo Blahnik to the Sex in the City poster and onto the upcoming
posts on Morocco. After watching Michael Smith’s sojourn in Morocco in Chef Abroad, I can’t wait for the vicarious excitement I will get in your next posts. :)
i read in a pregnancy book that your feet really do expand when u are pregnant to help your body as it gets heavier. motherhood does change your feet n shoe size.
bring home seeds!
=D
i’m a backyard gardener and i’m crazy about growing organically and heirloom varieties. i’ve got at least 50 pepper plants, 15 tomato plants and a bunch of other stuff growing. (pictures posted on my site). got most of my seeds through seed swapping online.