Lavapiés

Pickled Cactus
by Chinaski Tapas Bar 

“We ask with love that you speak softly
to respect the sleep of your neighbors .”

We were in Lavapiés during Tapa-piés celebrations, with bars competing for the best tapa designation. Every block seems to have at least two tapas bars with reviellers spilling out from early evening to late night. 

While we weren't kept up by the noise, some of the locals weren't as enamored with the party. They also seemed not as interested in having Lavapiés gentrified. 

"Our Neighborhood is Real.
It is Not Your Theme Park.

For us, however, it was a richly textured experience rather than staying in the bland sameness of a chain hotel. By the third day of climbing up to our apartment and back down again, my tight knee had loosened up from my forced inactivity. Dang, exercise is good for me. 

Because the streets and sidewalks are narrow, there isn't room for trees along most of them. The locals make do with window boxes, from full to minimalist. People need plants.

Even in Segovia

The Minimalist

Full Balconies