“Madrid kills me”… Those are three words that I like to repeat since I first visited Madrid and my friend took me to a store by Jacinto Benavente Square which sells “Madriz me Mata” t-shirts and postcards. And it is true that Madrid kills you but in the good way good cities like New York pleasantly destroys you, piece by piece.
My attachment to Madrid comes from cultural reasons and very very great friends who I dare to call family. My madrileños  make me want to come back to this city and even think of the idea of living here one day. Some of them, visit Cuba the same way I visit Spain, with infinite love and joy.
For me, to be in Madrid it is like “being in a Cuba with a better economy”, forgetting the Spanish accent and the colder weather I feel at home. The human relations, the chaos and craziness are just the same. The Cubans ways are a tiny bit twisted by the Caribbean flavour and poverty but at the end of the day there is no difference at all.
Madrid streets are packed and loud with people of all ages. During the night the city dresses up and new rules are applied to everything, the rules of ¨let it be¨. You find young people drinking and smoking on the metro, a group of friends singing and dancing on their way to more tapas or random people selling you beer or food at 2 AM.
On a Sunday morning, the same metro line is full with elderly couples holding hands while waiting for the train, or old cute grandmas with canes running errands. Seeing old people around makes me happy and reminds me of Havana. When I moved to Toronto, I always wondered why I would not see old people on the subway or downtown. They seem to rely more on their families to drive them around or otherwise they just stay at home most of the time.
Besides its unique citizens, the food in the capital is amazing. I believe the whole country is just famous for its incredible dishes and tapas. I cannot stop eating and I have not stopped eating since I got here almost a week ago. I have a mental list of desired items and I am open to try new ones each day. For instance, last night we went to Creperie de Ma Bretagne, in Malasaña, and tried sobrasada for the first time… with the crepe and the cheese that was just divine. 😉 I should probably point out that this was an 11:30pm dinner right after tapas. Nevermind. We are now in Madrid and nothing else matters.
