Calle del Espíritu Santo 1, 28004, Madrid, Spain

Rodes in Madrid are narrow, short and organic, running naturally connecting neighborhoods' centers to the city's center. Often difficult to see around the bend further than one block down these five story one ways, cars drive slowly and traffic is not an issue so people fill the cobled streets.

Street scenes look like wholesome Hpllywood movie sets. Often out numbered by the minorities, Spaniards walk along side Africans, Indians, Arabs, and Mediteraneans. Where streets intersect, people gather on benches and in the playgrounds filling the squares. Families, mothers with strollers and romantic couples appear like extras on the streets and squares.

Diring the afternoons and evenings, hand fulls of lone hookers blend into the stone doorways every few meters while they listen to their iPods. Local men turn their heads around to get another glance at the over done, done up Eastern European girls. Tourists don't even notice.

The friends I am visiting live in a neighborhood called Lavapies. Named after the phrase "lavas du pies", meaning "wash your feet", because it was once filled with mosques, which patrons had to be clean to enter. As I walked on the streets, I felt the neighborhood is still aptly named because there is a persistant smell of urine. The Spanish version of Monopoly uses the neighborhood's name as the cheapest square a player can buy. All ethnic groups have established residence and businesses here.

While staying here I was often awaken by the African bar across the street. One late evening, my friend came home and said the police were outside searching people and requesting their papers. There were three under cover cars and a small group of black skinned Africans filing the narrow street. Cars went in reverse to get passed the congestion. A scooter hopped the curb to pass on the sidewalk. My friends told me, racial profiling is common and local protested a similar police action a few weeks prior.

The center of the city is an intersection of several streets and a large square, where there are daily protest and markets. Spain had lost it's voice under the rule of Franco and now is know for it's protests.

On Friday and Saturday nights the youth fill the restaurants around 10 pm and the streets at midnight until early morning. Spain's internal clock is two hours slower than the rest of the world. On Sundays and Mondays, the streets smell like latrines, because there are no public bathrooms or allies.

Each block of Madrid can have up to two hand fulls of decent stores, with around 100 square feet of retail space each. With so many stores, demand for fashion is low. Stores compete for shoppers attention with unique clothing and affordable prices.

Usually the store owner runs the store alone, opening in the morning, closing in the afternoon for a siesta, and reopening in the early evening till dark. It feels like the city is alive all day long.

Malasana is a neighborhood filled with the youth and fresh boutiques. In tandem with the friendly street scenes, it is what Brooklyn wants to be, though can't, because of it's dark and dirty nature, which is a haven for the fear of violence. While window shopping I saw a black shirt with white font proclaiming the centers of fashion: New York, Tokyo, Paris, Malasana, Milan.

Ioli, a boutique in Malasana run by two Argintine women is a great example of what makes Madrid the best metropolitan for shopping. Filled with custom designs mostly for women, leather riding hats, gloves, purses, scarves, shoes, broaches and more clutters the walls and shelves. At the back of the floor are shelves of colorful fabric which are used to make each piece. Customers can order anything in the store to be remade with any combination of fabrics. Fullfilled in 15 days they can deliver anywhere in the world.My mother and Kate have several surprises in store for them bought at this boutique and the ones around it. It will be difficult to pack everything. I hope Kate has enough energy to play dress up for a few hours and that I have enough Euros to keep buying her costumes.