Madrid Takes to the Streets

Country: Spain
Place: Madrid
Visited in: September 2006

From the shooting of a music video to covering demonstrations to live vox pops, I have never seen so many film crews over such a short period of time. I was only there for two days, but it was all happening in Madrid.

Madrid has the eclectic feel of a capital, but also a strong sense of community with a live and let live attitude. It oozes a quality which I can only describe as “Spanishness”. The same quality that made me fall in love with the Spanish way of life, when I first visited the country 12 years ago.

Plaza Major

We started our first day in Madrid by having an early lunch at Plaza Major. We had come in by bus from Malaga the night before and had slept most of the morning away.

Architecturally, Plaza Major in Madrid has nothing on Plaza Major in Salamanca. Plaza Major in Madrid is also far more touristy, full of waiters chasing their next customer, painters and other street artists.

Yet, I really enjoyed the atmosphere there, because even though it was busy, it was not packed. So there was room for a little light banter with the waiter (that is all my Spanish allows for), watching other people and just generally enjoying being there.

As we were sitting at Plaza Major enjoying the sun, we made the decision of a mortal sinner to leave the museums for another visit and just spend our two days there walking around the city.

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena

Finished in 1993 this cathedral was more than 100 years in the making, and it shows. La Almudena houses some traditional, excessively decorated pieces, but the combination of bright colours and shapes gives it a very modern, uncluttered feel that really appealed to me.

Apparently, but not surprisingly this unusual style has caused some controversy. I can definitely recommend a visit, even if it is just a quick glance on your way to the Royal Palace. Chances are you’ll find yourself staying longer than you planned.

Palacio Real and Plaza de Oriente

We were enjoying our walk through Madrid too much to venture inside the Palacio Real. So we only saw the palace from the outside and were far more drawn to the elegant Plaza de Oriente. The plaza is lined by magnificant sculptures of former monarchs and was given its name from being to the east of the palace. The gardens at Plaza de Oriente were begging us to sit down, but we went to have a coffee at the charming Café de Oriente instead.

Los Jardines de Sabatini

As if the Plaza de Oriente wasn’t reward enough for our long walks, we sat for at least an hour in the Jardines de Sabatini. Amongst the water features and beautifully sculptured plants we had first-row seats to two sessions of wedding photos, one couple trying to do one better than the other. The competion stopped though when one of the grooms nearly dropped his wife, who was slightly taller and by the looks also a bit heavier than him.

Los Jardines del Descubrimiento

Los Jardines del Descubrimiento are perhaps hard to get excited about, in particular as you are likely to have just passed the Biblioteca Nacional and the Museo Arqueológico Nacional. The Columbus column is not much to write home about either, but the Descubrimiento monument is intriguing in a way that massive monuments are.

The monument is made of huge chunks of carved stone and describes the discovery of America. It would be hard to describe the monument as aesthetically pleasing, but I still found myself fascinated by the sheer volume. It reminded me of the massive cement monuments that China seems to be so fond of. Apparently underneath it all on the way to the sub-terranean Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid is a map showing the route of Columbus’ three ships.

Gran Vía

Starting with the Edificio Metrópolis building Gran Vía is a true feast for 20th-century architecture buffs or anybody else who enjoys a bit of class. While your head is tilted back admiring these grand buildings, do be careful not to knock over one of the many shoppers crowding Gran Vía. I’m not a big shopper myself, but I must admit we usually hit a few clothes shops ourselves when in continental Europe, and Madrid was no different. Even after almost 10 years in England, I still have a preference for European style.

Parque del Buen Retiro

The sculptures that they were unable to fit in at Plaza de Oriente are now watching over Parque del Buen Retiro. While enjoyment of the park used to be for the privileged few, Parque del Buen Retiro now offers fantastic surroundings for everyone to enjoy. It has a big lake towards the back that we sadly never saw, because we got caught up in a homemade conker/ice cream competition. Whoever could hit the agreed tree trunk first with a conker won. Best ice cream I ever had!

To be continued

Our two days in Madrid were definitely too short a visit, and while we were enjoying one last caña in a cosy little bar around the corner from Plaza Major, we were already planning to come back.

Photographs

You can view more of our photographs in our Photographs from Madrid series >>.

Resources

See our resources page for information about how we got to Madrid, where we stayed and how we got around.

Related articles

You may also be interested in reading some of our other articles about Spain:

In Search of Peace in Festival-hungover Salamanca >>

Gaudí Giddy in Springtime Barcelona >>

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