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A Holiday Makers Guidebook To Lively Madrid

Posted By: Lucy Evans | Posted On: 2008-07-03 | Article ID: 73775

The city's Eastern section houses the Paseo des Arte with three massive museums scattered among striking gardens, the Centro de Arte de Reina Sofia, The Prado and the Thyssen Bornemisza all within easy walking distance. It's a tranquil neighborhood with excellent restaurants and apartment buildings and several scruffier museums providing a background for the elegance and allure of the major 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. Cervantes and Lope de Vega's influences were instrumental in fashioning the area into a progressive, cultural bastion. In years past the theatres and brothels were in competition for customers. Today the theatres are a fun place to be in the evening when the sun goes down. The crowds fight for seats and standing room in the terraces and areas encompassing the Plaza. During the calmer daylight hours, chic dogs out walking with their trendy professional owners amuse and delight the older neighbors who relax on the benches of the area.

This beautiful plaza is the heart and soul of old Madrid. It's unfortunate that such a grand and imposing square, once a site used for crowning royalty and burning heretics, is now reduced to sheltering tattered tourist cafes with cheap plastic menus. The oldest streets in the city, are twisted, bent lanes that curve away from the square; these are the last echos of a city that used to be beautiful. The street is lined with timeless convents, churches, palaces and specialty shops which have maintained their appealing Old World charm. East of this place stands the Palacio Real, an elegant sample of ornate elegance, as well as the recently renewed Opera House.

These regular working category neighborhoods are positioned indiscriminately underneath the Plaza Mayor. 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.

Swanky Salamanca, in the northeast area of the city, is made up of wide avenues with chic apartments and exquisite restaurants. From the designer boutiques of Calle Serrano to seeing Ferraris outside exclusive clubs, one gets the feeling that money is everywhere in this town. The Paseo Castellano features rows of glossy towers which are an excellent attraction, especially to visitors with an interest in modern architecture, while nineteenth century mansions add to the upscale atmosphere of this location.

 

Article Source: http://www.articlecell.com

About The Author
Lucy Evans
Lucy is a part-time columnist who pens occasional pieces on tourism and holidays, whilst working on holiday airport transfers.



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