Zoo Day in Madrid (10/21/1981)

Wednesday, October 21, 1981

Today was zoo day! We packed up the babies and left at 9:45. A crowd of people streamed onto the bus while I was managing my bag, the diaper bag, and the folding stroller. Kathy carried Angela and was managing the money (20 ESP/21 cents each).

Torrejon bus tickets

Mikayla just followed, but then a lady came off the bus to pick up Mikayla to bring onto the bus. They all went to sit in the back, while I stood until a seat opened up.

In Torrejon we walked to the train station where Kathy bought a 58 ESP/60 cent ticket for Madrid. The 10:25 train was late, and everyone rushed at the doors. The train, the noise, the hustle and bustle, or something frightened Mikayla and she decided she was not going to board the train. Kathy ended up carrying both girls onto the train. Some nice people gave Kathy a seat! When I got a seat, I put down the bags and stroller in order to hold Mikayla. At the first station Mikayla was “all done” and wanted to get off the train. Kathy and I switched babies and Angela fell asleep in my arms. The train trip seemed very long!

We finally arrived at Atocha station and climbed many stairs to get outside. We headed toward the Prado and found ourselves behind it in Retiro Park. Found our way to Paseo del Prado/Prado Boulevard and bought a map at the newsstand. The map didn’t have bus routes or the zoo on it. We tried to find the Metro station at Plaza Cibeles, but only found stairs for the pedestrian passage. It was noon and it was starting to sprinkle rain so we hailed a taxi. The driver did not understand “zoo” or “zō,” not even with “animales.” I said “Casa de Campo” which is the large park where the zoo is located. The driver then said. “Oh! Thō!” Okay, I forgot about the lisp!

The park had plenty of scrubby trees, but no grass, Passed a man-made lake, picnic areas, and a playground. It was raining harder, but let up when we arrived at the zoo. The taxi fare was 305 ESP/$3.20. A woman wanted to sell us stickers. ¡No gracias!

Zoo admission was 250 ESP/$2.60 per adult; kids under three were free. We crossed the narrow bridge, but the usual photographers who snap your picture were either at lunch or chased off by the rain. We missed getting a 125 ESP/$1.30 photo of the girls.

We took a nursing/drink break under the protection of some trees. Mikayla was gamely throwing pieces of bread to the ducks, but they landed at her feet and the ducks kept coming closer and closer, despite my throwing some pieces farther away. One duck even grabbed a piece of bread out of Mikayla’s hand!

With Angela & Mikayla at the zoo

After I returned the empty Coke bottle to the bar, we decided to walk in the light rain, trying to stay under trees as much as possible. Saw more ducks and birds, a variety of mountain goats, and water buffalo that Mikayla called “dogs.” We passed the panda which could only be perceived as a big ball of black and white fur. Mikayla recognized monkeys and would have been happy to sit all day to watch them. However, we moved on to the seals. It seems that anything to do with water means “shampoo” and she was ready to watch the seals shampoo for hours. When the seals climbed out of the water and barked, she thought they were burping!
After the bears was the Children’s Zoo. The adults had to pay 40 ESP/40 cents to enter and we purchased a bag of grain/food for the animals at 25 ESP/26 cents. There was a monkey chained by its hips, a rabbit sitting in his own mess, ponies and burros. We fed some of the grain to goats, and Mikayla fed the rest to white doves that were everywhere.

After the tigers, lions, and other cats, we stopped to eat ham sandwiches for lunch. A large group of schoolchildren ran by and Mikayla joined them. I followed as the group went to see the giraffes, but Mikayla was more interested in the children. She slipped playing on some bars and cut her lip, but very quickly recovered.

At 15:00 we headed out of the zoo, passing hippos and rhinos, the elephants, and camels. Outside we found the bus stop with information about different bus routes. One appeared to go to Atocha. The next bus that pulled up didn’t correspond with any of the numbers on the sign, so Kathy asked the driver if he went to Atocha. No. The driver started to pull out, then stopped to tell Kathy that no buses go to Atocha from here. Oh! Another #33 bus arrived 15 minutes later and we just boarded and took it into the city.

Madrid bus tickets

Got off at the Teatro Real/Royal Theater and found the Metro station. Bought 25 ESP/26 cent tickets and boarded the Line 2 subway to Banco de España/Bank of Spain.

Madrid Metro ticket

The train was crowded and many people offered us their seats. Somehow we thought we could switch to Line 1, but not here! Outside we found we were in Plaza Cibeles, where we couldn’t find the Metro station before! It was that pedestrian passage!

So Kathy carried Angela with the stroller hanging on one arm, and I put a bag on each shoulder and carried Mikayla, as we walked to the Atocha station. Kathy accidentally dropped Angela’s blanket and a man ran over to pick it up for her. Mikayla wanted to walk, and nearly walked into the street, but another man stepped in front of her to subtlety stop her. Whew! Have a small child or baby with you, and you see a totally different side of these Spanish men!

There was a man going through the train selling lottery tickets (?). Later he walked back through the train shouting a number and holding what looked like a pack of cards (??).

At Torrejon we caught the bus which got very crowded as we approached our stop. When we had gotten off the bus before, the door was in the middle and many people got off. This time the door was in the rear, and no one else got off. We were unable to push through the crowd in time with our armloads. Had to get off at the next stop, which meant we had a bit of a hike to get to the house, arriving at 18:30. Thankfully Rod was not too worried; he figured a trip to the zoo would take all day. And the guest, Dave, they were expecting for Monopoly that evening cancelled. It worked out well and we went to bed early!

Thursday, October 22, 1981

It seems that Mikayla and I took a nap, but Kathy never got a nap, because when Mikayla fell asleep, Angela woke up. During the day you can hear airplanes flying overhead; sometimes they sound like they are flying through the house! At least once a day a herd of sheep go by with their bells jangling.

I read another Nancy Drew mystery today, “The Haunted Showboat”!