I took many pictures during our stay in Madrid, so I will make several posts about our trip. I will start at the beginning, which is not the beginning of our stay but the beginning of the beginning; the house and street where my mother was raised and has spent her entire childhood until she moved to Holland.
It is actually a small miracle that the house is still there, Madrid with a metropolitan area population of 6.5 million has mostly high buildings where lots of people can live without covering too much ground, as it goes with most cities. However although most of these little 2 store houses are gone a few, including the one my mother lived, are still remaining.
They are clearly renovated not long ago and seem to be protected. The small houses are surrounded with high buildings, which makes it even more fairy tale-like as if you come in a secret place within the city.
A little further away is a large women's prison, my mother remembered that she always found it odd to hear children behind the high walls, which where of course the children of the prisoners.
The building next to the prison was entirely covered with an art piece clearly related to the prison and freedom, which was kind of amazing and surreal.
Right across the prison is the elementary school my mum went to. Back in the day boys and girls were separated with a high wall and the kids were wearing uniforms, now however they are all together in their own colorful clothing.
Stay tuned for more pictures :)
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