Here’s the place I’m staying in Madrid. It’s about a mile away from the fancy conference hotel where I’m spending my days this week. It’s not via Airbnb, but similar. I’m one of those windows on the top floor. The street is shared with cars, but mostly pedestrians.

There’s pros and cons to staying away from the meeting. Less lobby networking and can’t retire to my room for a quick lie-down, but a lot cheaper and I get guaranteed daily walks in this lovely city.

Here’s the stairway. Kinda classic European look. Nice bones, but needs a bunch of maintenance.

That’s my view. It’s kind of archetypical in my mind, like a movie set. The street level is all retail shops, mostly clothes, a mix of chains / brands I recognize and others that are more boutique/ local. The hottest ticket seems to be the Nude Project store… there’s a line out the door a lot of the time.

The street is busy most of the time… including basically all night as Madrileño nightlife goes basically all night.

Luckily, my window closes tightly and I can have quiet. During the day, the street sounds like there’s a buzzy cocktail party going on, plus occasional loud sounds. At night it’s more variable, but this blog would be incomplete without a shout-out to the groups of drunk dudes who stagger along singing soccer stadium songs.

No pictures of the room itself, because it’s not particularly nice… mismatched flat pack furniture a couple levels below IKEA. I have a decent kitchenette although haven’t been using it much. And a washer, luckily since my suitcase never arrived and I don’t have enough clothes.