Saturday afternoons in Madrid aren't open for business

I finally found the proverbial jackpot, the Holy Grail, the "I can't believe I'm seeing this," the hooker's dream, the... I think I've made my point. I have found a wonderful place for all of your hooking supplies in Madrid. To avoid confusion, this "place" is actually several "places," but I've chosen the singular "place" because they are all located within 50 meters of each other. Behold, the map that never lies:

If you can't see the map, google "Calle Marqués Viudo de Pontejos"

On Calle del Marqués Viudo de Pontejos, between numbers 1 and 5, there are four - that I counted, and I had just had a cocktail, so that count could be a bit fuzzy - mercerías. From what I've heard, these mercerías are so big that they're practically on steroids, and they contain such unique products as gold thread (think material, not color), buttons made from the tusks of wooly mammoths, and 4-ply unicorn hair worsted-weight yarn in a variety of pastel colors. "Unicorn hair would be perfect for some new projects for my Etsy shop," I thought as I happily skipped from Puerta del Sol up Calle Mayor, turned left at the McDonalds and climbed the hill up to Calle Pontejos. Ok, I didn't skip, but that doesn't mean that I can't say I skipped in an effort to shamelessly self-promote.



The mercerías is are located at:

1. Mercería Almacén de Pontejos. Plaza de Pontejos, 2. 28012 Madrid
2. Mercería Almacenes Cobián. Calle Marqués Viudo de Pontejos, 2. 28012 Madrid
3. Comercial Amparo. Calle Marqués Viudo de Pontejos, 5. 28012 Madrid
4. (there is another one on this same street, but it's not showing up on Google maps and I can't remember the name of it, but it is on the corner of Pontejos and Calle Esparteros)
5. ... and if you don't mind a very short walk towards the Plaza Mayor ... El Gato Negro. Plaza Mayor 30. 28012 Madrid (Entrance on Calle de la Sal, just outside of the Plaza Mayor on the northeast side)

However, because it was Saturday afternoon - during which, most businesses are open from about 4pm-8pm - and particularly because it was a Saturday afternoon in July, all but one of the mercerías were closed. I suspected this to be the case, but reasoning that August is the month when Madrid practically closes down as everyone ... poor American graduate students with pets excluded ... escapes from the heat of the city and spends thousands of euros to flock to the seaside beaches typical of the Spanish south or the minor outlying islands (did I mention that the economic crisis is still going strong in Spain, particularly in the South?). However, July is the new August, and hoards of businesses are closing down on Saturday afternoons, which means I'm going to haul my lazy butt out of bed on Saturday morning (that is to say, before 1:00pm) so that I can investigate this myth of unicorn hair yarn. More to come!