That City…

We’ve seen some skylines together, haven’t we?…

Madrid is on my mind this week… I have my reasons. For about a year, I went back and forth almost monthly, and I was spending at least 10 days there each time. I was sceptical at first. Sure, I liked it, I had been there once before, but I just couldn’t see myself spending that much time in Madrid. I would have preferred Barcelona… I would have preferred several other places. I would have preferred not to be that far away.

Then Madrid happened. Yes, I can say it happened, because it was really an experience, not just a place, not just a city. I fell in love with the contrasts, with the culture, with the old and the new so tightly knit in the one place. It drove me mad at times, the way only something you love can drive you mad. It was the only place where once in a while I would gladly wake up early enough to catch the sunrise from our veranda. That’s saying a lot, considering how much I hate waking up that early.

Unexpectedly, I started to feel almost as if it were my home away from home. I had all my tourist activities, discovering museums, parks, nearby little towns; but I also started to learn street names and to find my way even without the GPS, to go to restaurants where the staff didn’t speak any English, and to know exactly where to find everything in the supermarket. Madrid won me over with its eclectic ways, there’s no denying it.

I have much better photos of other large urban areas; I could go on about how I’m not a small town girl, even if I love nature and the countryside; or I could mention that I was 10 or 11 when I first understood that there were towns so small that they had no need for public transportation. But this week Madrid is on my mind… As for the unflattering photos… Well, for me, photography is about the moment, the place and the persons – not only those in front of the camera, but the one behind it and the other one standing near them. It’s about the feeling I remember having the moment I took a photo, and sometimes it’s also about the person who shared the space behind the camera with me. This week is about Madrid, because the person who shared Madrid with me is starting another stage of their journey.

We have seen many places together, but Madrid was ours. It wasn’t my town, and it wasn’t yours; but for one year, it was ours. We’ll always have Paris, but more importantly, we will always have Madrid. And we did have the time of our lives, just as we promised we would. Good luck and hope to hear from you soon!

Thank you for this week’s inspiring topic, Patti (Lens-Artists Weekly Challenge – Cityscape).

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