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ABOUT MADRIDMadrid, the capital of Spain has grown at an impressive rate in the past 20 years and offers a variety of cultural and artistic events, the result of the blend of cultures that have settled there through the centuries. Historic is only one of many ways to describe Madrid, including Goya’s Madrid, the Madrid of the Prado Museum, House of Asturias, Bourbon Madrid, and the Madrid of the Romantics or Isabelline. The city is commercial, financial, and industrial as well as picturesque with the bull-fighting Madrid; the “Flamenco” Madrid with its singers, el Rastro (a flea market) and the Madrid of antique dealers and artists. Madrid enjoys many more clear, sunny days than any other city in Western Europe. The afternoon is a good time to have a look round the big stores and shopping centres. One may acquire artistic products of Spanish handicraft and antiques. At night time Madrid is quite different from any other European capital, because people do not only go to theatres and night-clubs. They also sit in cafés after dinner and have a coffee or a beer, or they may go for a walk. All the streets in the centre of Madrid are filled with people until very late.
There are many monuments in Madrid including one of the most emblematic, the Plaza Mayor, one of Europe’s largest and most spectacular squares, housing fairs, bazaars and performances all year round. It’s a great place to watch the world go by while searching for the bars that run into caves below the square and where Hemingway spent his time. Another impressive monument is the Royal Palace located at the Plaza de Oriente. A stroll around its gardens will enable one to see the Royal Theatre, and just beyond the Palace is the Almudena Cathedral. One of the sights that should not be missed is the spectacular square Cibeles with the Palacio de Correos y Comunicaciones in the middle. And of course a visitor should not leave Madrid without visiting the Prado Museum…
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Madrid is known for its restaurants, with typical Spanish food such as paella Valenciana, cod Vizcaya style, baby roasted lamb in a wooden oven and of course the wonderful “Tapas” and the famous drink, sangria.