A Personal Guide To Lively Madrid

On the Eastern part of the city you find the classy Paseo des Arte, with its beautiful foliage and three enormous museums, The Prado, the Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen Bornemisza, all clumped together just a conveniently short walk from each other. Private apartment complexes and fine dining highlight this area, and the older museums serve as background for the ambience of the bigger three. To the rear of the Prado is the luxurious length of the retiro gardens, all covered with ponds and fountains, glass pavilions and flower gardens full of roses, a beautifully shaded area to take some respite from the heat of the summer.

Just West of the Paseo del Arte is the exhilarating barrio of Santa Ana with sloping lanes lined with tiled restaurants and tapas bars. Ever since the days of Cervantes and Lope de Vega, it's been known as a free-spirited, lively and unconventional place. In the past, the brothels and theatres competed with each other for business, and the place is still quite lively after dark. The crowds swarm in and fill the terraces all around the Plaza, fighting for seats and standing room. It is less noisy during the daytime where the older locals lounge on benches and watch with amusement as the neighbourhood’s new population of trendy professionals take their fashionable dogs out for a stroll.

This magnificent plaza is the centerpiece of old Madrid. Although the vast and impressive square is now filled with tourists examining plastic covered menus at cheap cafes it was once the place where the throngs would gather to witness royalty being crowned and heretics being burned. The twisted and bent lanes that curve away from the square and the oldest lanes in the city, a final distant echo of the past of this beautiful city. Lined on either side with churches, palaces, convents, and speciality shops that make traditional guitars or sharpen your knives, all seem completely impervious to the slow passage of time. The newly restored Opera House resides just east of here, along with the Palacio Real, which is a wonderful exemplification of extravagant beauty.

Sprinkled below the Plaza Mayor, you will find the customary working class neighborhoods. Much of the area is poor and run down although renovation is definitely evident with its own cutting edge brilliance. People from South America and North Africa, as well as natives from Spain and young musicians that are in business for coffee shops and bars make a interesting combination The popular thing to do on a Sunday morning after the a Tapas crawl, is to visit the very popular morning flea market, El Rastro.

Gran Via is a reflection of the best of east meeting west including the modern shops and classic entertainment venues. A contrast of calm and craziness exist between night and day north of Gran Via. In the know shops and bars and the excuberant nightlife make such places the hippest areas in Madrid.

Chic apartments and fine dining can be found in Swanky Salamanca, in the northest part of the city. From the designer boutiques of Calle Serrano to seeing Ferraris outside exclusive clubs, one gets the feeling that money is everywhere in this town. Some mansions from the nineteenth century only add to the upscale atmosphere, and the glossy towers lining the Paseo Castellano are an excellent attraction for those interested in modern architecture.

Article Source: http://www.109b.com/artdash

Lucy is a part-time commentator who writes occasional pieces on tourism and holidays, whilst operating an airport to resort transfer service on behalf of eComparison.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated