We Must Be In Europe

I've been in Madrid for about 48 hours now and (of course) I'm already having a fantastic time. This is the first time I've traveled internationally and not really had any real plans. And it's a great way to travel. I've started both mornings with a meandering jog through town. This could be my new favorite way to explore a city. I cover a lot of ground and get to follow pretty much any whim I have. I've seen a lot of Madrid that I would have never normally see. I also get to see a lot of local stores and people, not just life around the major sections.

Anyway, two days is more than enough time to make some snap judgments about Madrid, Spain, and Europe as a whole. :) Stepping into Madrid airport, the first thing I noticed was the smell. The smell of smoke. How long has it been since I've been in a building where people can smoke indoors? A long, long time. The airport does have a "smoking room" but it's just a 10 foot by 10 foot booth in the middle of the terminal... the smoke escapes fairly easily. It's something I'll have to get used to here, everyone smokes in Spain. (I think this explains why I haven't seen ANYONE else out running in the morning yet. Sure smoking will take years off your life, but it keeps you thin!)

The other very obvious social difference is the way Europeans greet each other. Not content with just a handshake or a hug, the Spaniards always throw in a quick, two cheek kiss. I spent close to six hours in the Madrid airport (a story for another day) and I saw more kisses than I've seen in the rest of my life, combined. But I gotta say, I like it. Like all Americans, I'm a firm believe in having my own personal space, but a quick kiss on the cheek seems to set a friendly atmosphere from the get go.

On the fashion front, Madrid has been nothing short of fascinating. I'm happy to report that while the American mullet has been on the endangered species list since the early '90s, the European mullet is still alive and thriving. I've never seen so many variations on the standard mullet. I think I'll have to spend at least one day on a mullet safari; attempting to capture images of the mullet in it's natural environment. I'm not sure if Spaniards are comfortable with a tourist walking around taking pictures of the back of their head, so it will have to be a covert operation.

On the female side the (surprisingly disturbing) trend is the use of extremely sheer white pants or skirts. Usually worn in combination with a pair of brightly colored (and quite often patterned) skivvies, it's hard not to stare. And sadly, it usually means staring in terror. The sheer clothing phenomenon isn't limited to young, fit women (i.e. the ones that can get away with it). No, it's a non-discriminating fashion foul and is equally likely to appear on... well with out getting into too many details, let's just say that this is a risky look to pull off. If things go wrong they go very, very wrong.

The only thing I've failed at so far is in the picture taking department. What can I say, while I love looking at buildings and monuments, I'm not really interested taking pictures of them. You can find those pictures in any book. But today my sister and I are headed off to Toledo for a day trip. It's going to be my first medieval experience in Spain, I'm sure I'll be back tonight with a ton of corny pictures!