Forget about about recession for a minute. Life goes on, however awkwardly. Things keep on going and Spain's Federal Capital is no different. Well, that is not quite true. . .
Madrid is divided into "Barrios" (here is a link to the handiest zonal map of the city that I've seen around - http://moving2madrid.com/best-neighbourhoods/). Getting a grip on the general layout of the city through knowing its neighbourhoods is a great way to start orienting yourself, until finally you get familiar with the street networks, where they link, where they start and where they end. Why would you want to become so fluent in the streetscape of any city? ((particularly one of five million souls - well two million in the inner conurbation)? Well apart from the fact that Madrid is the most pedestrian friendly of cities, it also one of the few great large Capitals of the world that is so compact it really can be walked in its entirety (and it deserves to be).
Everybody who comes to Madrid comments on its spectacular architectural heritage. I have written about this before and all I will say here is that if you have visited cities like Vienna, Paris, London, or Rome you are still in for a big treat in Madrid. Even Barcelona, which admittedly has a bit of a coup in Gaudi's great stone, ceramic, tile and plaster adventures, stands in second place when the full measure of Madrid's expansive wealth of magnificent buildings (like the jawdroppingly handsome Casa Gaallardo) are weighed against those of its irksome rival sibling to the North East. Where on earth outside Madrid do you see breath taking construction, which houses not the central bank, nor any bank, not even government ministries, but the modest little dwellings of the ordinary citizen?
Madrid by foot! The rewards are truly worth it because it is a city which lends itself to having favourite squares, streets, lanes, avenues, parks. There is a spot in this city to reflect almost every personality and every mood, whether it is lounging on the clay slopes of the docile Plaza Paja watching a crystal moon through shimmering trees, catching up on Proust (or Kelly!) in the company of Sabatini's magnificent royal garden sculptures, dozing peacefully and quietly in the shade of a giant spruce in the magnificent Parque del Oueste, practising your Ukelele along side The Egyptian Temple of Debod, sipping Sangria or Vermouth somewhere along or off the Calle de Palma, or skipping along merrily through Calles Huertas, Funecarral, Lavapies or who knows how many other bustling parades.
Madrid and fountains go hand in hand and while they may do big elsewhere, they do them better here. The obvious atttractions are the grand old twin sprinklers on the Paseo del Prado (Cibilles and Neptune Fountains). Then there are the tall buttressing fountains of the Plaza de Espagna and nearly every Glorietta (Roundabouto has a spout of some sort at its centre. But there is a royally impressive fountain hidden away from many the tourist eye which merits special mention. The Fountain of the Paseo de Gomaens sits at the end of a steep sloping hill just off the Paseo de Pintor Rosales, near where the Parque del Oeste meets the Parque del Templo de Debod. On Sundays this thoroughfare past the fountain is closed and the street is taken over by hundreds of Madrileños doing what Madridleños love doing - skateboarding!! Park yourself under a shady slope on the green lawns skirting the fountain and marvel at the accidental juxtaposition of the posh, ambitious grandeur of this magnificent 19th Century fountain with its veils of water falling like fine lace down beautifully sculpted pillars and basins while around its base whizz and spin gangs of death defying flat-board speedsters in hoodies, baskets, baggy pants, screeching down the hill out of sight. It is at times the best free circus in town and what a setting!
If you are one of those people who like colourful, quaint and village like, you might be forgiven for thinking that a former Imperial city like Madrid can only have achingly wide boulevards and neck strainingly impressive monuments. Well you are right and, thankfully, wrong. The great charm of Madrid is that lurking behind many of its grandest and most glorious architectural outbursts, are sheltered discreet communities thriving like independent states within the greater metropolis. If Madrid were a big fish it would have many pilots nibbling at its underbelly.
One of these underbellies is the heady, left-field, alternative, arty and edgy Malasaña -Tribunal area through which the delightful, colorful and bristling Calle de Palma passes. Starting at a scrumptious sweet shop off the Fuencarral, Calle de Palma runs east to west over towards Calle San Bernardo. Along its span you will find tiny amateur theatre, pottery shops, art shops, second hand clothing, innumerable bars and café's (urban steps - a fetish . don't ask), tatoo shops, pet shops, more café's and more bars catering to everything from the traditional Tapas to post- punk. Here is where the so called "Hipster" culture was born (a cross between Teddy boys and Punk)
At the intersection of Palma with Calle San Andreas, a whole labyrinth of streets and squares present as opportunities to explore and get lost. Never far from the chance to grab a chair on a terrace or kick back on a bench under a shady tree ( The Plaza del Dos de Mayo is good for both) and soak up the busy bee like atmosphere, this is (despite the Hipsters) very much the artistic nerve centre of Madrid.
Although it is a mecca for tourists in Summer, and the areas close to the museums on the Paseo del Prado (of course), and areas like Las Letras do get quite mobbed, these central communes are still quintessintially Spanish and a must-stroll-through. OK the terrazas will rob you blind with exploitative prices, but that should not stop you from wandering around the streets of Leon, Huertas, Sta Maria (finding all those former abodes of Spain's literary giants (Lope de Vega, Cervantes etc) and all those other tightly knit streets and cobbled alleys between Calle Atocha and the parliamentary chambers on Calle San Jeronimo. Despite the obvious tourist traps on squares like Plaza Sta Anna (lovely, but why would you want to pay 7€ for a beer here with so many other options?) and Plaza Angel, there are plenty of little bars and cafes, which will serve you up local fare in local company at local prices if you look carefully. One of my little favorites in the area for a quick beer and tapa is Los Gatos on Calle Jèsus.
No stroll through Madrid is complete with a visit to the Rastro, Europe's longest running and biggest open Sunday Market where you can buy everything from a scarf to a garden shed. Do't be fooled by the hoards of tourists. There is good value here and as many locals as visitors make their way to this Southern Madrid institution weekly. Word of advice - get here early! The market closes at 2pm and the crowds are peaking at about noon - mostly.
OK, lets get away from bars and shopping for a minute. So you want to know where to go to get a nice pic, or a different view, or a shady spot to really let your senses know you are in a different land. Well there are so many places that can do this for you but its hard to beat, for example, hoping over the fence on the edge of Calle de Moreira into Los Jardines de Las Vistillas at dusk and sitting to watch the sky descend from bright yellow through violet and ultramarines as the sun goes down over the vast and impressive peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama, while in the foreground the hulking mass of the Almudeña comes into its own in a twilight illuminated spectacle. Bring your lover and some bubbly - everybody else does.
The Casa de Campo, which sits on the doorstep of Madrid, is its vast and virtually empty (Monday to Friday) playground with endless cycling and running tracks, picnic benches and forest walks (there is a Zoo and a theme Park too!). There is even a wondeful lake where you can hire a boat and go rowing! But it at its entrance on the open plaza where the Avenida de Portugal crosses the Manzanares river (more like stream) that the full sweep of Madrid's impressive Imperial character and economic legacies are best observed with eyepoppoing views of the Torre de Espagna, past the Almudeña and on to the Royal Palace. Few Cities boast a place where you get such a uninterrupted view of their most iconic constructions.
There is another corner of Madrid to get the best views of the Sierra. This is the least glamorous part of the city, but a great walk through another side of Madrid nonethless, and one which gives you a view of the different realities the Madrileños of all types live. To the north in the area called Valdecarras about an hour walk along Calle Bravo Murrillo, through Tetuan, and then to the right walk along the shanty and slum lined streets of Paseo del Dirrécion until the intersection with Calle del Capitán Blanco Argibay. The conditions in which people survive is quite startling (especially when compared to the affluence of Salamanca and Ibiza districts) and equals degrees of deprivation in many third world countries - it is not a pretty sight and stands as a poor testament to Spain's socialist past, yet as ever the people here are friendly and engaging and delighted to share their neighbourhood's spectacular views of the Gaudarrama. They might not know it, but they could be sitting on prime real estate waiting for someone to realise the asset they have, well, if not for the minor issue of the property collapse in Spain. Did I say forget the recession at the start of this blog? I did, did I not. Ok, well just look at the mountains then. Can you see Escorial???
Madrid is divided into "Barrios" (here is a link to the handiest zonal map of the city that I've seen around - http://moving2madrid.com/best-neighbourhoods/). Getting a grip on the general layout of the city through knowing its neighbourhoods is a great way to start orienting yourself, until finally you get familiar with the street networks, where they link, where they start and where they end. Why would you want to become so fluent in the streetscape of any city? ((particularly one of five million souls - well two million in the inner conurbation)? Well apart from the fact that Madrid is the most pedestrian friendly of cities, it also one of the few great large Capitals of the world that is so compact it really can be walked in its entirety (and it deserves to be).
Everybody who comes to Madrid comments on its spectacular architectural heritage. I have written about this before and all I will say here is that if you have visited cities like Vienna, Paris, London, or Rome you are still in for a big treat in Madrid. Even Barcelona, which admittedly has a bit of a coup in Gaudi's great stone, ceramic, tile and plaster adventures, stands in second place when the full measure of Madrid's expansive wealth of magnificent buildings (like the jawdroppingly handsome Casa Gaallardo) are weighed against those of its irksome rival sibling to the North East. Where on earth outside Madrid do you see breath taking construction, which houses not the central bank, nor any bank, not even government ministries, but the modest little dwellings of the ordinary citizen?
Madrid by foot! The rewards are truly worth it because it is a city which lends itself to having favourite squares, streets, lanes, avenues, parks. There is a spot in this city to reflect almost every personality and every mood, whether it is lounging on the clay slopes of the docile Plaza Paja watching a crystal moon through shimmering trees, catching up on Proust (or Kelly!) in the company of Sabatini's magnificent royal garden sculptures, dozing peacefully and quietly in the shade of a giant spruce in the magnificent Parque del Oueste, practising your Ukelele along side The Egyptian Temple of Debod, sipping Sangria or Vermouth somewhere along or off the Calle de Palma, or skipping along merrily through Calles Huertas, Funecarral, Lavapies or who knows how many other bustling parades. Madrid and fountains go hand in hand and while they may do big elsewhere, they do them better here. The obvious atttractions are the grand old twin sprinklers on the Paseo del Prado (Cibilles and Neptune Fountains). Then there are the tall buttressing fountains of the Plaza de Espagna and nearly every Glorietta (Roundabouto has a spout of some sort at its centre. But there is a royally impressive fountain hidden away from many the tourist eye which merits special mention. The Fountain of the Paseo de Gomaens sits at the end of a steep sloping hill just off the Paseo de Pintor Rosales, near where the Parque del Oeste meets the Parque del Templo de Debod. On Sundays this thoroughfare past the fountain is closed and the street is taken over by hundreds of Madrileños doing what Madridleños love doing - skateboarding!! Park yourself under a shady slope on the green lawns skirting the fountain and marvel at the accidental juxtaposition of the posh, ambitious grandeur of this magnificent 19th Century fountain with its veils of water falling like fine lace down beautifully sculpted pillars and basins while around its base whizz and spin gangs of death defying flat-board speedsters in hoodies, baskets, baggy pants, screeching down the hill out of sight. It is at times the best free circus in town and what a setting!
If you are one of those people who like colourful, quaint and village like, you might be forgiven for thinking that a former Imperial city like Madrid can only have achingly wide boulevards and neck strainingly impressive monuments. Well you are right and, thankfully, wrong. The great charm of Madrid is that lurking behind many of its grandest and most glorious architectural outbursts, are sheltered discreet communities thriving like independent states within the greater metropolis. If Madrid were a big fish it would have many pilots nibbling at its underbelly.
One of these underbellies is the heady, left-field, alternative, arty and edgy Malasaña -Tribunal area through which the delightful, colorful and bristling Calle de Palma passes. Starting at a scrumptious sweet shop off the Fuencarral, Calle de Palma runs east to west over towards Calle San Bernardo. Along its span you will find tiny amateur theatre, pottery shops, art shops, second hand clothing, innumerable bars and café's (urban steps - a fetish . don't ask), tatoo shops, pet shops, more café's and more bars catering to everything from the traditional Tapas to post- punk. Here is where the so called "Hipster" culture was born (a cross between Teddy boys and Punk)
(NOTE TO SELF - If there is a God up there, these far-too-precious, pretentious and unoriginal fame-hunters will trip over there pumps and disappear down a drain sooner rather than later. But I digress).
At the intersection of Palma with Calle San Andreas, a whole labyrinth of streets and squares present as opportunities to explore and get lost. Never far from the chance to grab a chair on a terrace or kick back on a bench under a shady tree ( The Plaza del Dos de Mayo is good for both) and soak up the busy bee like atmosphere, this is (despite the Hipsters) very much the artistic nerve centre of Madrid.
Although it is a mecca for tourists in Summer, and the areas close to the museums on the Paseo del Prado (of course), and areas like Las Letras do get quite mobbed, these central communes are still quintessintially Spanish and a must-stroll-through. OK the terrazas will rob you blind with exploitative prices, but that should not stop you from wandering around the streets of Leon, Huertas, Sta Maria (finding all those former abodes of Spain's literary giants (Lope de Vega, Cervantes etc) and all those other tightly knit streets and cobbled alleys between Calle Atocha and the parliamentary chambers on Calle San Jeronimo. Despite the obvious tourist traps on squares like Plaza Sta Anna (lovely, but why would you want to pay 7€ for a beer here with so many other options?) and Plaza Angel, there are plenty of little bars and cafes, which will serve you up local fare in local company at local prices if you look carefully. One of my little favorites in the area for a quick beer and tapa is Los Gatos on Calle Jèsus.
OK, lets get away from bars and shopping for a minute. So you want to know where to go to get a nice pic, or a different view, or a shady spot to really let your senses know you are in a different land. Well there are so many places that can do this for you but its hard to beat, for example, hoping over the fence on the edge of Calle de Moreira into Los Jardines de Las Vistillas at dusk and sitting to watch the sky descend from bright yellow through violet and ultramarines as the sun goes down over the vast and impressive peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama, while in the foreground the hulking mass of the Almudeña comes into its own in a twilight illuminated spectacle. Bring your lover and some bubbly - everybody else does.
The Casa de Campo, which sits on the doorstep of Madrid, is its vast and virtually empty (Monday to Friday) playground with endless cycling and running tracks, picnic benches and forest walks (there is a Zoo and a theme Park too!). There is even a wondeful lake where you can hire a boat and go rowing! But it at its entrance on the open plaza where the Avenida de Portugal crosses the Manzanares river (more like stream) that the full sweep of Madrid's impressive Imperial character and economic legacies are best observed with eyepoppoing views of the Torre de Espagna, past the Almudeña and on to the Royal Palace. Few Cities boast a place where you get such a uninterrupted view of their most iconic constructions.
There is another corner of Madrid to get the best views of the Sierra. This is the least glamorous part of the city, but a great walk through another side of Madrid nonethless, and one which gives you a view of the different realities the Madrileños of all types live. To the north in the area called Valdecarras about an hour walk along Calle Bravo Murrillo, through Tetuan, and then to the right walk along the shanty and slum lined streets of Paseo del Dirrécion until the intersection with Calle del Capitán Blanco Argibay. The conditions in which people survive is quite startling (especially when compared to the affluence of Salamanca and Ibiza districts) and equals degrees of deprivation in many third world countries - it is not a pretty sight and stands as a poor testament to Spain's socialist past, yet as ever the people here are friendly and engaging and delighted to share their neighbourhood's spectacular views of the Gaudarrama. They might not know it, but they could be sitting on prime real estate waiting for someone to realise the asset they have, well, if not for the minor issue of the property collapse in Spain. Did I say forget the recession at the start of this blog? I did, did I not. Ok, well just look at the mountains then. Can you see Escorial???
I totally agree: Madrid is so walkable, compact. I often say that Madrid is the most human of all capital cities in Europe. It has the right mix between opportunity/business and quality of life.
ReplyDeleteKeep on the good work !