Random observations and stories

Very funny experience on the bus today:  the group was riding and there was a family, mom, dad, daughter (age about 3) and son (age about 2).  Suddenly the dad gets excited and reaches toward his son, clearly trying to get him to stop doing something.  The daughter is bouncing up and down and clearly encouraging her brother to misbehavior in some way.  I couldn't quite see the boy, but other members in the group explained after we got off the bus that he had picked his nose, then proceeded to very deliberately wipe it on the window of the bus.  The mom kept a low profile and hid her face to prevent her son from seeing her laughing so hard.  The dad was mortified and then tried to clean up the window before getting off.  LOL!

We walked past at least two groupings of police on the street today who were heavily armed.  You can see the one on the left has a submachine gun.  They were standing around pretty relaxed behind the cathedral.  I'm not sure what else was in the area that needed such tight security.  We didn't see any special govn't buildings or anything, but I guess sometimes they are not well marked. 

At one point I went into a restaurant to find a bathroom.  I went up this short flight of stairs to find three doors: men's, women's and wheelchair.  I found this bizarre since I remembered coming up a flight of stairs to find the bathroom.  on the way out I realized there was a pretty significant wheel chair lift.  Then I started noticing a good number of people in wheel chairs who were out and about on the street.  I have already remarked on the medication packet and museum in Madrid that had Braille.  I wonder if Spain has new ADA-like laws, or is simply more disability friendly?  I'll have to keep my eyes open in Switzerland and Austria, because my previous experience has been that it would be very difficult to get around with a disability in these countries. 

One of the interesting things about the design of the streets is that many intersections are shaped like octagons.  The corners of the buildings have been chopped off, and in these corner areas are parking spaces for cars. In many of the small neighborhood streets, there is not street side parking (unless you have a motor scooter and park on the sidewalk).  This makes all of the intersections seem more open, kind of mini plazas on each corner.  However it makes seeing traffic more difficult when crossing the street because you can't see who might be turning onto the street you are trying to cross.

We've noticed that the same selection of fruit is available in most stores (the Market was the exception).  It includes apples, pears, kiwis, and oranges.  No berries, few bananas.  I think this indicates that most fruit is locally sourced, which is a pretty Eco-friendly practice (deliberate or not).

I've noticed quite a few young people who are heavily tattooed here.  In a tourist city, it's hard to know whether they are locals or tourists.  However, I noticed this giant billboard for Ray-Ban sunglasses with a very tattooed young man in a convertible.  So clearly there is a certain demographic appeal to tattoos here.

It's hard to tell from this picture in the distance, but we noticed something unique about the trash collectors here.  They still ride on the back of the truck as it goes down the street, but these two had helmets on.

Taxis here are more visible than in Madrid where they were white with a red stripe.

One of the students noticed that all of the bus drivers have red and white pinstriped shirts, which happen to match the colors of the buses. 

I haven't blogged on the different types of toilets in some time, although I remember in my earliest trips I remarked how many different ways there were to flush a toilet.  I have stopped being surprised by this and seen most varieties across the continent, but today I saw a new one.  The plumbing included a pipe that ran straight up from the back of the seat with a large push button at the top of the pipe.  I had never seen this design before and it surprised me.