Where the Streets Have No Names

Well, actually the streets do have names here, but it still took me a little while to figure out how to navigate them.  To show you what I mean, let's play a little game I like to call "Find the Street Sign."  I took this picture at the corner of the street where I'm living:

Oh where, oh where could it be?

If you're having trouble, increase the magnification on your browser window and look at the building on the right.  See the white sign with blue letters?  Well, just above that is a blue sign with white letters.  Congratulations, you found the street sign in much less time than it took me. As it turns out, here in Madrid they put the street signs on the corners of the buildings rather than, say, near the street.  Naturally, once I figured that out it suddenly became a lot easier to find my way around the city.

Despite my newly-earned (and self-awarded) title of "Expert Navigator: Madrid", I could not imagine trying to travel this city in a car.  Well, I can imagine it, but I try not to.  You can tell they didn't build Madrid with the automobile in mind.  The narrow roads here are mostly one-way and, depending on the neighborhood, many of them have a tendency to twist and turn like a snake in a washing machine (don't ask me how a snake gets in a washing machine; it's just a simile).

So yes, I definitely prefer to do my sojourning about the city on foot, and it seems like the majority of the city shares that opinion.  Something else I've noticed is that drivers here are much more deferential to pedestrians than drivers in America.  I'm told that it may have something to do with the gargantuan fines for hitting pedestrians, but I think it also owes itself to the fact that the culture here in the city is very pedestrian-oriented.  Many a car has actually stopped and waited for me to cross the street while I stood on the corner like an idiot (probably looking for the street sign).  Also, the precedence of pedestrians, combined with the narrow, one-way streets has made jaywalking the law of the land.  Pretty much the only difference between the "Walk" symbol and the "Don't Walk" signal is that when the people here see "Don't Walk", they take the time to look both ways before they cross.

The other thing that stands out here is the ubiquity of graffiti (sounds like a good album title).  I strongly suspect that some of it is commissioned by various businesses, which often have such a painting along the front of the shop.  For instance, here's a rather impressive picture of a snake on the front door of a pharmacy:

Notably absent: the washing machine.

However, most of the graffiti here gives one the general impression of freelance work.  That is, I don't suppose any of the various local entrepreneurs paid for this:

It must have been "on the house."

Wait a minute, what's that I see down in the right-hand corner?

Well, what do you know...