A Users Manual To Exotic Madrid by Maria Tillinghous

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A Users Manual To Exotic Madrid
by Maria Tillinghous

The Prado, The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen Bornemisza museums are surrounded by lovely foliage, and only a short walking distance from each other. They are located at the lovely Paseo des Arte, which is in the Eastern part of city. 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. The retiro gardens are located to the back of the Prado, a fabulous stretch adorned with ponds and fountains, glass gazebos, and rose gardens, a lovely shaded section to escape from the summer heat.

If your looking for tapas bars and eateries go west of Paseo del Arte. Since Cervantes and Lope de Vega solidified their position in history, it has been a relaxed, alive bohemian area. 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 is a vast and imposing square, once used to crown royalty, to burn heretics, and now, unfortunately, home to nothing more than plastic covered menus at grimy tourist cafes. The contorted and intricate lanes that wind away from the square as well as the senior lanes in the metropolitan area, are a final distant sound of the history of the georgeous city. Located on both sides with steeples, palaces, convents, and masterpiece shops that make ancestral guitars or sharpen knives, all seem to never age as the time goes by. East of here lies the Palacio Real, a magnificent example of baroque beauty, as well as the newly restored Opera House.

These customary working class neighbourhoods are located randomly below the Plaza Mayor. A great portion of the area is run down and poverty stricken though the brilliant marks of the efforts for the betterment of the same are visible everywhere. 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 Don't miss out on the notable Sunday morning flea market as well as a tapas crawl.

Dominating the northern part of the old city and connecting east and west, the Gran Via shows itself off as a wide avenue lined with extravagant, rustic cinemas, stores and banks. 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.

In the northeast section of the city, Swanky Salamanca is comprised of broad avenues containing chic apartments and fine 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. 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.

Author's Biography:

Maria is a freelance writer who pens occasional articles on tourism and holidays, whilst working on behalf of eComparison

Posted on: July 3,2008

Email: mariatillinghous@googlemail.com
Website: http://www.ecomparison.co.uk