Madrid
The enjoyable city
Madrid is one of those cities you can always come back to. It feels easy to get around, beyond the obvious help that language implies. It offers excellent public transportation. It has a variety of restaurants, of any type and price you are looking for. Its museums are referents in the world, so they are essential.
There are plenty of options for short day trips, whether to Segovia, Toledo, to name just a few. Shopping tours are super convenient. The locals are friendly, considering it is a big city.
In short... Madrid invites you to come back. In September, after a trip through Londres, París, San Sebastián and Bilbao we arrived at Atocha station on an AVE train from Zaragoza.
We stayed in an Airbnb apartment very close to the station. We arrived after noon so we left our bags and set off to tour the city.
We took bus 001, which is free (as well as bus 002). We went all along the Paseo del Prado and got off at the Círculo Bellas Artes stop. We knew that on its rooftop, the bar offers a great view of the city. Admission is paid, acquiring the ticket enables the elevator. Once upstairs, the warm afternoon invited us to sip a rosé wine, while enjoying the breeze and the excellent view of the Gran Vía and Cibeles, we could even glimpse the planes taking off and landing in the distance at Barajas.
Afterwards, we visited the Gran Vía 15 Museum, a playful space, which proposes a different experience for exploring contemporary art. With an immersive touch, it was developed by artist Okuda San Miguel. He started his activity with urban art, using color and its stridency. In addition, the museum operates in a building from 1921, where the jewelry store of Lopez and Fernandez, jewelers of the Royal House, which was known as Aldao, used to operate. So there, in the vaults, the artist's work is preserved and exhibited.
On our way out, we passed through the food hall of the elegant Canalejas Gallery. Outside, we noticed the window of the traditional and exclusive restaurant Lhardy, but we headed towards the Museo del Jamón, for a snack closer to our budget. We ordered two cañas and a ham tasting, of course.
After the break and the Iberian ham, we continue to Puerta del Sol, the center of Madrid, where the kilometer zero of its road network is located. It features the Real Casa de Correos, the clock tower, the statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree and, at the top, the iconic Tio Pepe sign.
The shoe shop on Puerta del Sol, street, almost on the corner of Calle de Carretas, has a cafeteria on the top floor that offers a very nice view of the large square. It is worth a stop there.
Next was the huge Plaza Mayor, where we took the classic pictures with the Casa de la Panadería and the Casa de la Carnicería. Just over there, the Arco de Cuchilleros, which is the most famous of the square's entrances.
It was impossible not to try the churros from the famous Chocolatería San Ginés. Perhaps because of the number of tourists or the paraphernalia around them, we did not find them at all memorable. We had to try another not so fashionable variant.
From there, a walk to the Royal Palace, through the San Miguel Market, through the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales, through the Plaza de Isabel II.
The beauty of the complex, which is composed with the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena, is extraordinary.
It was late afternoon so we could enjoy a glorious sunset from the Mirador de la Cornisa of the Royal Palace.
We continued on to the Temple of Debod, of Egyptian antiquity, brought from Aswan; on the way we appreciated the beautiful Sabatini Gardens.
Then the Plaza de España, ending the day with a quick visit to the Fuente de los Afligidos.
We were so tired that a quick snack preceded the bus 001 that took us back to Atocha for our well-deserved rest.
The next day, we left for the monumental Toledo, but with a previous tour in the morning of the Lavapiés neighborhood. The next day, we headed for the beautiful Segovia.
After that, followed the expected visit to the Prado Museum. It is large, has a collection of valuable works, highlighting above all the famous Meninas by Velázquez; the superb Garden of Earthly Delights, by El Bosco; the Black Paintings of Francisco Goya; The Immaculate Conception of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo; to name just a few of the jewels that reside there.
For lunch, we had decided to treat ourselves to a luxury gastronomic experience at Bibo, the restaurant of Dani García, the three-star Michelin-starred chef. The sequence of steps was a walk through subtle, intense, simply delicious flavors. The favorite of @tripticity_ was undoubtedly the yogurt with foie and parmesan. Indescribable flavor, texture, the grace of this starter.
Happy as we were, the day still awaited us with other delicacies. On the other side of Paseo de la Castellana, the Sorolla Museum enchanted us. It is his former residence, by then on the outskirts of Madrid. Not only are his works on display, but also everyday objects from the life of this famous Spanish artist. On top of that - to our good fortune - a short string concert was scheduled just minutes before entering. Classical music completed an unforgettable visit.
We continued wandering around the lively neighborhood of Chueca, visiting the San Anton Market, and then took a bus to La Latina. We had planned to go to the Juana La Loca restaurant on a recommendation, but it was full. A bit to our luck, we went to the other option La Perejila, the tiny tapas bar, very colorful, very Spanish; with many tourists, but also many locals who confirmed that it was a very good option.
There we ordered a tostón of octopus and a cazuelita of gazpacho, accompanied by vermouth on tap.
For the last day in the city, we had negotiated a combination of art and shopping. The fashion stores offer not only originality and variety but also very good prices.
We started then at the Reina Sofía Museum, right across the street from our apartment. It is housed in what used to be a hospital, so its wide, monochromatic corridors overlooking the large interior garden are quite striking, as are the glass elevators with a great view. Its collection houses works of modern, contemporary and avant-garde art. Of course, the one that stands out the most is Pablo Picasso's Guernica, which depicts the tragic bombing of that town in northern Spain. It is enormous.
But there are a lot of works that are worth appreciating in any visit to the Reina Sofía. Thus, the cubist works of Juan Gris or Georges Braque; the surrealist works of Salvador Dalí or Joan Miró, to name just a few.
On our way out, we crossed to the Ikono Gallery. The immersive experience proposal was resisted by Mr. @tripticity_ although he accepted and somewhat enjoyed it. Just the possibility of being able to enter a pool full of plastic balls, experiencing the feeling of playing in a ball pit as an adult, was worth everything. For those of us who spent our childhood in times when there were no such playgrounds, it is a nice proposal. Then, a couple of Instagrammable moments and not much else.
On the way to the Museo del Jamón, we passed by the Caixa Forum, an avant-garde building on Paseo del Prado.
Once in the Iberian mecca, we sat down and ordered the lunch menu, as a way to say goodbye to the rich Spanish gastronomy.
After that, we set off for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. It is simply extraordinary. There are works by Van Eyck, Dürer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Mondrian, O'Keeffe, Hopper. Walking through it serves as a perfect synthesis of universal art history. It was the best way to close a trip through the European capitals of London, París and Madrid, but not before making the long-awaited purchases at the great department store El Corte Inglés and the universal Zara. We also made time to do the tax refund procedure as foreigners (Tax Free).
In the evening, we crossed the esplanade of Puerta del Sol one last time and went to Pez Tortilla, an extremely noisy little bar, crowded with diners, where we ordered their famous omelettes and croquettes of oxtail and Iberian ham with a cool summer red wine.
Art, gastronomy and hustle and bustle, the best farewell to beautiful Madrid.
