Tuesday morning in Madrid. There’s a taxi strike which feels more like a General Strike. Every taxi driver is assembled for a big march down the Paseo del Prado, armed with firecrackers. Most of the shops are closed. I left the hotel to explore more of the local neighbourhood, including the Caixa Forum, which was converted by Herzog and de Meuron out of a local power station, with a vertical garden by Patrick Blanc:-
From here, I walked through the old working class district of Lavapiés, admiring the occasional remains of nineteenth-century Madrid – the lettering on old shops and bars, the squares created by Joseph Bonaparte by his demolition of convents and monasteries – back to the more densely populated and prosperous Barrio de las Letras:-
This is no. 13, Calle de las Huertas with an elaborate ornamental doorway by Pedro de Ribera, dated 1734:-
So, back to the hotel:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
I am sure frustrating but a deep and wonderful place to be stranded!
It’s a delight to see all the elements that make EAST LONDON so good being applied to Madrid – your eye for architectural detail etc and your photography.
It underlines my earlier remark that you and Thames and Hudson ought to go on and do a blog/ book on several key cities – Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Edinburgh, Moscow, St Petersburg, Amsterdam etc.
I think to remedy some of the frustrations of your trip a visit to La Trucha to enjoy a helping of Anguillas is called for.
We’ve solved the frustrations of no battery for the wheelchair, no essential medicines, and no change of clothing by booking a return flight. Charles