Greetings from our tiny house! We have settled in nicely to our Airbnb digs for the month. Would you like a tour? It won’t take long. You can pretty much stand in the front doorway and see almost all of it.
We are currently residing in the Lavapiés neighborhood. I chose this area because it’s close to the museums, and I figured we’d be going to those a lot. It’s not very touristy, which is nice but occasionally challenging: there are no familiar stores, and it is difficult sometimes to tell whether a particular shop is sketchy or just small. It reminds us a lot of Columbia Heights and Petworth in D.C., both in its density and its diversity. It’s also similar to D.C. in that the neighborhood changes quite a bit over very short distances. (I would say block by block, but the lack of 90-degree intersections here make it difficult to identify separate blocks.)
Something else it has in common with D.C: you have to watch where you walk. There isn’t any grass in this neighborhood – it’s just pavement – and people don’t always pick up after their dogs, or aren’t able to do so completely. It’s not totally rampant, but enough that I’m inclined to look down more than look at the shops and people. Having studied the sidewalks extensively, I can say that on the plus side, there isn’t a lot of litter and the streets and sidewalks are mostly clean. One thing that is disorienting is that stores pull down metal doors when they’re closed, and many of those doors have graffiti on them. The streets look completely different at different times of day as a result.
But on to the apartment…
The apartment is on what Spaniards call the fifth floor, which is actually the sixth floor for Americans. The five flights of stairs are helpful in balancing out all the jamon y queso we’ve been eating, and we have found it easy to get our 10,000 steps in every day without going out of our way. Our floor is referred to as “atico” or attic, and we have a nice raised ceiling since we are on the top floor. The interior courtyard of the building is a giant communal dryer. While it seems traditional to dry clothes this way, I’m too terrified of dropping my “ropa interior” down six stories to try it. Fortunately, we have a drying rack in the apartment that is sufficient, if awkwardly located over our bed.
The kitchen is surprisingly functional. While we don’t have any small appliances such as a food processor or a blender, we have several options for pots and pans and all the dishes we could want. We only ate out for two meals last week, and one was because we had just arrived and were hungry and jet-lagged, and the other was to try a local tradition of bocadillo de calamares. We are learning new skills, like how to plan and cook meals that involve only a few spices and limited tools, and also how to cook with only one appliance at a time. If we try to, say, roast chicken in the oven and saute zucchini on the stove, the circuit breaker trips. Sometimes using the microwave trips the circuit without anything else being on. I’ve learned how to steam broccoli in the dark because turning the kitchen lights off seems to help. Other than a minor mishap involving confusion between canela (cinnamon) and cayena (cayenne) for oatmeal, things have gone really well. It helps a lot that we have a huge (by Spanish standards, anyway) 24-hour grocery store just five minutes away that has everything we might need. The fridge may look small, but it is the largest of all the places I looked at in Madrid. The washer has been handy, though the one-appliance-at-a-time rule makes it important to plan ahead.
The bathroom is occasionally chilly but otherwise great. There isn’t much counter space, but we have little baskets under the sink to put our stuff in. It feels very organized. The biggest challenge with the bathroom (other than remembering to turn on the heater thing well before it’s time to shower) is that there isn’t much hot water. We have to make sure we plan out our showers to be several hours apart. It’s not a big deal, but like the one-appliance-at-a-time rule in the kitchen, it makes things just a wee bit more complicated on top of everything else we’re trying to navigate. I was a little concerned about the window in the shower, with which our host proudly pointed out we could see “todo de Madrid” and Craig pointed out that “todo de Madrid” could see us, but it fogs up helpfully. It’s also inset, so it’s probably more private than I think.
The bed is the only truly frustrating thing about this apartment. It is just not comfortable. I know European beds are not known for being soft, but I don’t remember previous places we’ve stayed having such uncomfortable mattresses. It’s not old or lumpy – just very, very firm. It’s also a bit of a hassle that it’s against the wall, so Craig doesn’t have any kind of nightstand for his glasses, Kindle, phone, etc. Not having a nightstand on my side is fine, as the bed is so close to the floor that it isn’t necessary. It might be nice to not have our phone charger sprawled out all over the floor, but it’s not that big a deal. The closet and shelves work great for our stuff, and there are plenty of places for drying and airing out our clothes as needed.
When I was looking for places to stay, the winning factors for this particular place were the size of the fridge and the loft. The loft seemed like it could be a nice workspace for researching travel logistics, writing for the blog, etc., and I thought there were two sleeping spots up there as well. We could have guests – score! Weellllll, it turns out that the “loft” is just a boarded-over part of the ceiling of the kitchen and bedroom. It is small! To use the desk, you have to sit with your legs dangling down into the bedroom. There is only one sleeping spot, and anyone who sleeps there would be in danger of a concussion if they tried to get up normally. We are pretty sure none of this is up to code, either. We have elected not to use the loft and instead just hang out in the kitchen-living room.
Overall, we’re really happy with this apartment. It was a bit scary booking our first Airbnb as a nonrefundable month, but it has worked out okay. Other than the bed, I would want to stay here again.