The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1889-05-01
THE GAY CITY OF MADRID.
IMPRESSIONS OF THE LIFE OF THE
SPANISH CAPITAL,


SPANISH CAPITAL,
Inaescribable Gayety and Brightness of Tho
Streets-Points of Interest Where His
tory Was Made-A Glimpse of Home
and Kitchen.
Spain has the fortune to lie little aside
from the personally conducted infested
paths of travel--a Sabbath days journey into
the land OF romance Its history is hung
about with glamour such as nowhere else
conceals the scars of time or the paltry and
sordid movement of that great disenchanter,
the present. There is probably nowhere else
a people having SO great part in the annals
OF the world, whose work in the vineyard of
the nations is so entirely done and whose inn
portance Is so much a matter of sentiment
Most even Of studious readers know more
of the life of Spain in the time Of the Moors
or of Columbus than of today, and to such,
especially now and in Detroit, where there is
an especial interest in that country, some ex-
tracts from translation of tho description
of Madrid, written by Edmondo de Amicis,
will be welcome
1t gives picture of the modern city and its
people, written with the peculiarly light and
vivid touch which distinguishes De Amicis,
and in tho appreciatiye spirit of genuine
cosmopolite.
The train stops he says; II get out and
find myself in a square full of carriages, in
the midst of noisy crowd; thousand
hands were stretched out toward my valise;
hundred mouths shrieked in my ear 1t is
an indescribable confusion of porters, hack
men, guards, guides, boys and commissioners
OF casas dc huespedes l make way for my
self with my elbows and jump into an omni-
bus full of people and away we go. We pass
through large street, cross great square,
traverse broad, straight street and arrive at
the Puerta del SOL 1t is stupendous sight.
1t Is an immense, semi-circular space sur
rounded by high buildings, into which open,
like ten torrents, ten great streets, and from
every street come continuous noisy wave of
people and carriages, and everything. seen
there is in proportion with the vastness OF the
locality The sidewalks are as wide as streets
and the cafes as large as squares; the basin
of a fountain as large as lake, and on every
side there is dense and mobile crowd,
deafening racket and an indescribable gayety
and brightness in the features, gestures or
colors which make you feel that neither the
populace nor the city are strangers to you,
and which produces in you a desire to mingle
In the tunult, greet every one and run here
and there rather to recognize persons and
things than to see them for the first time.
~ get out at hotel, leave it instantly and
begin roaming about the streets at random.
| jump into carriage and say to the coach
man 'Vuelap l pass the statue of Murillo,
reascend the street Alcala traverse the street
of the Turk, where Gen. Prim was assassin
ated; cross tho square of the Cortes, in
which the statue of Michael Cervantes
stands; emerge on the Plaza Mayor, where
the Inquisiton lighted its pyres; turn back
aud, in front of the house of Lopez do In
Vega, come out on the immense square of the
Orient opposite the royal palace where rises
tho equestrian statue of Philip ", in the
midst OF n garden surrounded by forty colos-
sal statues climb again toward the heart of
the city, crossing other broad streets, gay
squares and cross roads filled with people;
then finally feturn to the hotel, declaring
that Madrid is grand gay, rich, populous
and charming.
SPANISH SAUCES AND GRAVES.
Signor ada Anaieia leaves his hotel Cor "
casa de huespedes, evidently the American
equivalent of a boarding house of the better
class, which he evidently greatly enjoyed.
He says
These guest houses are nothing more than
families who furnish board and lodging TO
students, artists and strangers, at different
prices, but always more reasonably than the
hotels, with the inestimable advantage that
one enjoys breath of homo life therein,
forms friendships and is treated more like
one of the family than like boarder Tho
landlady was good woman in the fifties, the
widow of a painter who had studied at Rome,
Florence and Naples and had retained
throughout life a grateful and aifectionate
recollection of Italy. She, too, quite NATURAL
ly evinced lively interest for our country,
and displayed il every day by being present
when dined, reeounting to me the life, death
and exploits of all her relations and friends
as If were the sole confldant she had in Ma
drid.
"A little good will is needed in order to ha-
bituate ones self to certain sauces and graviese
peculiar to the Spanish kitchen-but accus-
toned myself to them The French, who in
the matter of cooking are as difficult to please
US spoiled children, cry out against it, Du-
mas says he has suffered from hunger In
Spain. They mix things n trife too much,
abuse the iiso of fat and season too highly,
but really not enough to take away Dumas
things, of sweets. Then comes their puchcro,
q national dish eaten every day by the Span
iards in overy place, and l tell the truth when
say thatI devoured it with voracious en-
joyment. Tho puchero is, in regard to cult
nary art, what an anthology is to literature.
1t is u little Of everything and the best.
"a good slice of boiled meat forms tho MT
cleus of the dish, around it are tho wings of a
fowl, piece Of sausage, lard, vegetables and
ham; over it, under it and in all tho inter-
stices are gnrbanzos These are u species of
bean, but they are larger, more tender and
richer in flavor than ours. Such is the ordi-
nary puchero, but every family modifies it
according to its purse; the poor man is con-
tent with meat and ghrbanzos; tho gentle
man adds to 1t n hundred delicious tidbits.
At the bottom it is more of a. dinner than u
dish, and many eat nothing ,else. Detroit
Free Press