Madrid, my love

On MY Plaza Mayor yesterday there were hundreds of stamp/coin displayers, presumably hawking their wares to the assembled philatelists/numismatists.

I don't practice (or even really understand) collection as one's favorite undertaking, but although I have no place for philately I revel in the appurtenances of philatelism - these folks share a real passion for finding a stamp missing from their collections and spend hours poring through well worn volumes of carefully catalogued bits of colored paper, many of which have already been used for postage.

There's just something that warms my heart about people who will dress up in traditional Madrid garb and march by the hundreds to my Plaza to commune with one another and let the world know "we are here".

Love.