Going along with the new generations' trend of turning bad neighborhoods trendy (all the while maintaining aspects of their previous grime), this little pocket on the northern edge of Barrio Embajadores is a prime example.
Its location is key to its success in accomplishing this harmony: a five minute's walk to the west lies La Latina, a buzzing neighborhood perfect for sampling the best tapas of the city. Just 10 or 15 years ago, however, it was notorious for it's extremely high street crime rate.
On the other side one can find the neighborhood of Anton Martin, a historically artsy hood, where, among dozens of other cool spots, lies a beautifully restored cinema that plays all sorts of movies in their original form (December's special: Woody Allen) and whose admission is a whopping 2.50.
Right south of it it is Lavapies, the neighborhood with the highest amount of immigrants in the city center--an estimated 88 different nationalities inhabit its streets. Someone once whimsically described Lavapies as the border between Madrid and Africa, as if roaming through its maze could land you in Tombouctou or Marrakech. It's a pretty peaceful melting pot, despite the fact that it serves as a major drug-trafficking hub. There's really not much violence caused over hash, though this is not to undermine the social issues that come with it.
Anyway, the rhomboid Plaza de Tirso de Molina is known for being a generally harmless, homeless hangout, and of course it has seen relatively worse days than the present. Thanks to a renovation in 2007, the plaza now houses one the few flower markets in Madrid where flower lovers of Embajadores can get their fresh fix for a vase at home (or giant glass measuring thing) and then enjoy a caña of beer at one of the massive cafe patios that mingle around it.
Madrid is not famous for its flower markets, especially considering that they are not quite as cheap as in some other comparable European cities. I also don't believe the dry air of the city is conducive to their shelf-life.
Because I am not only a resident of the community, but also an avid fan of color and fresh flowers, it's only necessary to support the cause. These cost three euros, the same price as a breakfast (cafe con leche, tostadas, and fresh squeezed) at the cafe nearby, an Argentine-style bakery called Los poemas de Tirso (hehe "The poems of Tirso").
I'm supposedly broke (ahem, this weekend as been expensive...not going to think about it), but I think it's a worthy sacrifice. Of the three euros, of course, not breakfast. I splurged and had both yesterday :)
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