Day 66: What are you looking at?

"Buen Fin" is something like the Black Friday, when all the shops have discounts and everyone is shopping. The only difference is that "Buen Fin" (as Spanish speaking readers already understood) takes not a day, but the whole weekend! Three days, to be exact, because this time it was a long holiday weekend.

And so, I simply forgot about this matter when I went shopping on Saturday. I was really wondering why there were so many people on the metro - that's not usually the case on weekends. However, at the market of Ciudadela (where I went for the .... time - this time to get my dad a hat) everything seemed normal. The same amount of tourists as always... So I completely forgot about the whole to-many-people thing and went to the Parisina textile shop. And then I saw the mob.


I only had to take one long street to get to the textile shop, but it was... amazing? awesome? dirty? SPECTACULAR! The street changed its name and shops a few times, but basically it's still the same street, because it just keeps on going straight for over a kilometre. The street starts as "Articulo 123" (which is a really strange name for a street, I think - Article/Item 123) and continues as "Venustiano Carranza" and later as "Manzanares" in the Historic Centre.

The first part of the street - Articulo 123 - I thought was the dirtiest street I have ever seen in my life. Including the ones in Sri Lanka. It's understandable - the whole street is just one mechanical shop after another. It's oil, spare parts and dirty rags everywhere. Seemed like one very long workshop. But if you need to get something fixed or buy something new for your home - from blenders to stoves and washing machines' handles - Article 123 is where you should go.

And then at some point the workshop stops. Sports is the new king. Sports, leisure activities and camping are what all the shops are offering. Sneakers in the windows and a huge (probably 6 person) tent on the sidewalk - this is what you should buy here. Of course, everything is 20% off, since it's "Buen Fin".

The third part of the street had some textile shops and then the specialised shops evaporated into restaurants, cafes, and some small boutiques. And there it was - Parisina - three store textile shop, where you could find almost everything (no silk, though) to make clothes or something for your home. And if you can't find something at Parisina ("Paris"/"Parishian")- take a look across the street at El Nuevo Mundo ("New Wolrd") - another big textile store. Why would be across form each other?...

Walking this one long street gave me so many impressions... Dirt, craziness, rush, stress, deals, Life. I actually got really tired of the amount of people on the streets. But one thing was simply great - looking up. The street may be tangled with people, shops, products for sell, shopping bags and beeping cars, but just one storey up - and it's only beautiful centuries' old buildings with all their glamour. I just had to look for the details and not at the big picture.