Let's Walk - part 1
Put on your red shoes and walk Madrid...
The above video was put online just recently. Not only is it a fun glimpse of a relaxed David Bowie enjoying himself as he wanders the streets, but it's an interesting record of how central Madrid looked 30 years ago.
With the help of Google's Street View, I retraced his steps, and then decided to go see for myself what had changed, and what had stayed the same... here are some highlights:
The Villa Rosa Flamenco Bar - an easily recognisable location from its tiled walls, it's been here over 100 years, although for a while it was a disco in the 90s, it's now been restored to it's flamenco tradition.
Calle de la Cruz - the biggest change. I've always wondered about this empty space. Thanks to the video you can see what was there before. Shops. Duh.
Further up the Calle de la Cruz you can still find the shop that Bowie jokes is where all the artists of Madrid get their paints from. It isn't quite as ancient as it appears - it first opened its doors in 1975 but, considering what it sells, they should really have given it a fresh coat of paint since then.