The Siesta Taxi
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs.
Like it or not, the
first and last faces that visitors encounter when arriving someplace new are
its taxi drivers. And while the vehicles they drive around the world vary
enormously, the drivers themselves often share at least one common
characteristic, they like to talk. A trait that can come in handy to a travel
writer trying to discover that special something beyond what you can see in the
tourist brochures.The other day as I was leaving Madrid and came upon the
unexpected closure of the blue metro line (1), I was forced to jump a taxi to get
to Atocha in time for the slow train to Caceres. Our driver was at the end of
his shift and his rolling commentary about the goings ons during the previous
night’s Gay Pride march was infinitely more entertaining than the insightful
analysis I would later read about in the newspapers, that basically focused on
the tonnes of garbage that had been produced. In the two kilometres between Sol
and Atocha, I was able to get a street level opinion of Carmena’s Madrid that I
wouldn’t find in guidebooks, the ABC or even El Pais. An eternity later, after our
train crawled into Caceres, we missed the two taxis that were waiting and had
to call radiotaxi. As we waited in the midday 40 degree heat, we chatted with some
Scottish tourists who had asked the RENFE agent to call for another taxi.
Thirty minutes later a taxi finally arrived but he hadn’t come for either of
us. In the interest of hospitality, we offered the tourists to take the taxi
and asked the surprised driver to please call the central and ask where our
taxi was. When the next driver finally arrived, he was shocked that we had to wait
so long but unfortunately wasn’t surprised. Since they had outsourced the call
service, he said this happened often. Mystery solved, now if I can only figure
out why it cost us so much more to get to the old town from the station in little ‘ol Caceres than it
did to get from Sol to Atocha.
