After seeing New York and London would have never imagined a city capable of overcoming them in terms of movement of the roads. But here's
Madrid, at the beginning of spring, with all the streets in the center invaded by thousands of people, artists and street shows, sounds and captivating rhythms.
You can not say that
Madrid abound of monuments to visit, at least if we consider those to visit Internally: with the exception of the magnificent Royal Palace, the Churches do not hit that much: the Cathedral de la Almudena is a modern construction, are more historical the former Cathedral of San Isidro and the Convento de las Descalzas Reales.
But for art lovers and museum is a paradise apart from the big three, Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, there are so many museums for children who may not be enough to see them all a month!
What is striking in
Madrid are the beautiful and large arteries with Renaissance buildings, such as the Gran Via principal, its beautiful squares, first of all the Plaza Major, the monumental doors and lively pedestrian streets and commercial center of town.
The huge park as the backdrop to what appears to be a metropolis vivibilissima, with efficient transport, rivers of people who poured on the roads at any time, day or night, countless local taverns, restaurants and many attractions and amusement parks in immediate vicinity for the whole family.
A city, therefore, that impresses its will to live and to enjoy the day all year until late at night.
The Easyjet flight (€ 65 a / r) lands in a perfect time to
Madrid's Barajas airport, we head to Terminal 2 where is the subway in 15 minutes which leads to Nuevo Ministerios in the heart of modern and commercial city. Withdraw to the visitors center our cards purchased online, the
Madrid Card for 3 days (€ 53, with discounted price Neoturismo) el'abbonamento tourism to transport zone A for 5 days (€ 14).
Our hotel is within walking distance from Nuevo Ministerios in 10 minutes. Hotel Gran Atlanta is a modern 4 star booked on asiarooms.com unbeatable at the price of € 57 per night for two adults and 1 child with breakfast. The location is discreet, and arrive in the historic center with 8 stops Line1, without changes, the station of Alvarado, about 400mt from the hotel. The street is very quiet, without traffic or noise.
Deposited the luggage, we head immediately into the center for a first walk in the so-called "
Madrid of the Habsburgs, from Puerta del Sol, the square where the km. 0, or from where they say leave all the roads of Spain, where the famous bell tower rises under which the
Madrid await the start of the new year.
Following Calle Major and the pedestrian Calle de Postas very characteristic with the locations of each type, we arrived at the beautiful Plaza Mayor, one of the most beautiful in the capital. E 'una piazza porticoed rectangular which is accessed via gates 9, immense and packed full of people (it's Saturday and there are about twenty degrees) and improvised performances by street artists.
Not far away, following the narrow lanes, there is another beautiful square, Plaza de la Villa, much smaller but equally characteristic, where the Town Hall stands surrounded by flower beds and other medieval buildings.
Calle Major resume until the end to finish in front of the Almudena Cathedral, built in the last century, much more conspicuous externally and internally. Opposite the cathedral, separated from the Plaza de Armeria, is the Palazzo Reale. At the center of the light square is one of the best shots of eye of
Madrid, with a fantastic view to 360 degrees.
We leave the square (it will visit the Palace on Monday), and we reach the first Teatro Real (bruttina, at least from outside) through the Green Plaza de Oriente, and then we come to the convent of Las Descalzas Reales. After covering the modern commercial and Calle del Carmen, entirely pedestrian, there are the monumental Gran Via, transported dall'incredibile mass of people walking. La Gran Via is indeed the symbol of
Madrid, of elegance of its buildings in Baroque and Art Nouveau dell'immenso its avenues.
In just over 2 km of walking we were able to admire the different styles of the city, moving from
Madrid to the Habsburg Bourbon, modern architecture from the Middle Ages.
We stop for dinner at a restaurant Fresh, a chain of buffet and pizza pazza (€ 10) where we only meet the price, while the quality of the food is pretty poor.
After dinner, walk through the new Puerta del Sol and Plaza Major: people has increased dramatically, it is almost hard to walk, but
Madrid is a unique evening, starting one of the most intense nights and hectic in Europe.
Madrid with the children
If you go to
Madrid with children (as in my case), you can combine sightseeing with many attractions that will be the joy of small, alternating visits and cultural moments of fun, not to bore them too much. The
Madrid Card provides access to all attractions, in addition to museums, Royal Palace, sightseeing.
We begin the day starting from Sunday El Rastro market, a kind of gigantic flea market. Nearby you can also visit the former Cathedral of San Isidro.
After we move to the Zoo-Aquarium, located at the Casa de Campo, a large park where there seems to be more than a city. This is a cross between a zoo and a theme park such as Sea World, in versione mignon course, with various performances including the production of sea lions, the prey, dolphins, etc..
Hence, in a few minutes by bus you can reach the Parque de Atracciones, the amusement park of the city, but the rows are long and attractions or too childish or too adrenaline. Children, however, will enjoy greatly.
At 500 meters from the park, a road leads uphill to the station of the Cable (it seems that no one knows), which falls in the city through a good part of Casa de Campo.
Tired and hungry, we decide to have dinner around the hotel, but all the restaurants open after 20.30 or 21.00. End so that Mc Donalds (despair !!!).
The morning we devote to the visit of the magnificent Royal Palace, really huge, contains more than 2,000 rooms, but of course those are much visited but a lot less. Once up the grand marble staircase, you encounter the most significant: the throne room, the porcelain, a small and intimate, to the grand dining room, even if the bare table does not do justice to the beauty salon. Outside the building, returned to the streets dell'Armeria, is home to the Royal el'Armeria Pharmacy.
After visiting we move to the Wax Museum, with the reconstruction of famous people from Columbus to the present day, with Bush, Charles and Camilla and Zidane.
In the afternoon the visit to dedicate the remainder of
Madrid, which we fully with the
Madrid Vision, double-decker bus found throughout the entire center with thirty stops in tourist spots, Plaza de Espana to the Puerta del Alcalá. Descend to the Paseo del Prado, where we visit the most famous museum, the Prado immense, we walk in the park of the Good and stop in Retiro de Cibeles square to admire the fountain the same name, which unfortunately is located in the middle of a roundabout in the traffic and not you admire as it deserves. Finally a good meal in the center of Spain-based tapas, paella and sangria at a restaurant with "Italian hours".
With the subway exit on the outskirts of
Madrid, to Valdebernardo, where the theme park "Faunia. E 'a park that aims to reconstruct some of the ecosystems of our planet. The most successful are undoubtedly the Arctic, which houses the largest reconstruction of polo in Europe, with the penguins that simpaticissimi skip on rocks and ice and then dive into the water, and the Jungle, where you can walk in the middle of surrounded by tropical plants toucans, parrots and monkeys. Of course, the real forest "trampled" in Brazil a year ago it was another thing, but the reconstruction is successful. We then move on to the Jurassic, with the skeletons of dino, all'aviario to others less significant. The visit is a pleasant Faunia and recommended for those staying a few days in the capital and use the
Madrid Card
We pass then from Atocha station to collect train tickets booked online for Toledo. We can quietly admire the incredible tropical garden that is located in the center of the station.
In the evening, we go instead to the Imax cinema. The instruments are supplied by dizziness: hall innovative 3d effects, big screen high 9 floors. Unfortunate that the two films are not seen to, simple textures and rhythms too slow. The image is always set high quality.
It is almost 22 and dinner at "ending" in a Spanish restaurant where you can find the typical dishes of the capital, as the Cocido Madrilño and dishes of lamb, which is now unavailable in tourist restaurants. All at very modest prices (about 10-12 euros for two courses, dessert, water and wine).