During my PhD, I was sent to Madrid to collaborate with another university for 6 months. Even though I was upset to leave Fabio, my home and all my habits, Madrid made it super easy to spend an amazing time! Here are some highlights and tips about Madrid.
1. The royal palace. Before the establishment of Spanish Republic, the royal family of the Spanish Kingdom used to live in the countryside, while having the Royal Palace (Palacio Real) for public ceremonies and meetings. Even though it is a palace, it was not built to be lived in. Once the Spanish Kingdom became the Spanish Republic, the palace has been passed to the ministry to be turned into a museum. The visitors are asked to pay 11€ as an entrance fee to see priceless art, paintings, gifts and many other treasures, but it is for free on Mondays and national holidays.
Even though the royal family does not have a right to speak against the parliament due to the democratic regime, it still has an important effect on the Spanish culture. During some national holidays (Spanish day for instance) the royal family actually comes to the palace to come together with people and wave greetings to them from the palace.
Right across the royal palace, there is a basilica (Basilica de San Francisco El Grande), which is a neoclassical church with a dome that gives you a panaromic view to Palacio Real. Another speciality of this basilica is its chapel that is painted by Goya himself. The entrance fee is about 3€ (2 for the students). Even though you can visit the church for free during the morning mass time, going out to the dome requires the ticket purchase, and I definitely suggest you to pay for it!
2. The Debod Temple. 10 minutes walking distance from the royal palace, you can find an ancient Egyptian temple. The original temple has been built in the 2nd century B.C. in Egypt and has stayed there until the 20th century. In the 20th century, Spain provided some economical support to Egypt to cope with the reconstruction of a set of damaged historical heritage. In return, the Debod temple was given by the Egyptians to the Spain as a gratitude.
The original temple has been separated into parts and been reconstructed in Spain. Its architecture has an ancient Egyptian characteristic and is one of a kind in Spain. You can visit the temple free of charge, but you might have to wait for the entrance since the security controls the number of people visiting the temple. The temple can be visited only during the day, but the night view is also amazing to see.
3. Plaza Mayor - the main square: The main square (Plaza Mayor) has been built in the 16th century as the main square of that time as a market place. Today, it holds a great importance as well as a touristic spot. The surrounding buildings are residential buildings, even if today some of them are used as municipal or cultural buildings.
During the sunny days, you can see many attractions and mascots for tourists (the dancing goat is Fabio's favorite - I still don't see why!). In December, one of the biggest christmas markets of Madrid is set here.
4. Parque del Retiro, Casa del Campo. Spanish people love outdoors and especially the parks! The biggest park in the city is the Retiro Park that you can always see people walking around with their families, enjoy the sun and get fresh air or read laying down on the grass. Spend an hour to take a walk here to understand the relaxing Spanish spirit and how the locals spend their spare time.
In the artificial lake of the Retiro Park, you can rent a boat to sail around and enjoy the sun for 15 minutes and it would cost you about 8€. I should warn you about the line tough: if you go in the weekend, you might need to wait a long time to get a boat. Try to go in the weekdays if you are willing to do it.
Once there, take a walk in the Cristal Palace (Palacio de Cristal). It is a structure made of glass and metal in the 19th century for a floral exhibition. Currently, the site is used for some art exhibitions time to time and obviously for touristic attractions.
If you want to keep sailing but not to wait that much, there is an alternative park near town. You can take the metro line 10 and reach the stop Lago to enjoy the lake of the biggest park in Madrid, that is called Casa de Campo. The park itself is so big, it contains about 3 subway stops! The first one is the Lago, which obviously means the Lake. So, you can enjoy the park around the lake and rent a boat the same enjoying the view of the royal palace in the horizon. This is less touristic than the Retiro Park, but it is enjoyable the same.
5. Art museums. Madrid museums are not only about the Spanish kingdom and the royal family, but also about art. The biggest and the most important art museums in town is the Prado Museum (Museo del Prado), where you can find hundreds of pieces or Renaissance collection, especially from Raphael, Goya and many more. The collections that are permanently presented here are the former Spanish royal collection, which makes it the best collection of the Spanish art. The entrance fee is about 15€, but after 6PM in the weekdays (5PM in the weekends) you can enter the museum for free. If you choose the free admission, you might want to start waiting in the line at least half an hour earlier. In any case, this option gives you about 2 hours to spend in the museum, which is not enough to see all the pieces, but enough to catch up with the highlights.
Another art museum that we have visited is the Reina Sofia Museum. The building has been built in the 18th century as a hospital and turned into a modern art museum in 1992. Unlike Prado, Reina Sofia Museum focuses on modern and contemporary art pieces. The biggest highlight of this museum can be Picasso's "Guernica", that has been painted to protest the Civil War and has been transferred to Spain only after the establishment of the democracy. Besides Picasso, other highlighted artists are Miro and Dali.
6. Malasana. This is the hipster spot of the city. It is alive day and night! There are vintage shops, bars, cafes and second hand book shops - in a really concentrated area and that is why it gets super fun to explore!
Spanish people enjoy to spend their time with their friends, drinking. Drinking might involve mojito, beer or sangria as much as just a cup of coffee. The socializing habits of local people also affects the local bars. So, I strongly suggest you to go around and try random local shops instead of sticking to TGIF, Hard Rock Coffee or even Starbucks! If you need more advice on the coffee shops in Madrid, check out here!
7. Gran Via. Gran Via is simply the biggest shopping district in town. You can prefer to walk all the way on the main street or turn into the narrow ones to discover the hidden gems. It is also impressive to take a panaromic look at it. My favorite place is the terrace of the shopping centre El Corte Ingles to get an amazing view of Gran Via. Alternatively, you can climb up the terrace of Circulo de Bellas Artes for 3€.
8. Food. Madrid has the best quick lunch spots I have ever been to! Museo del Jamon is the most delicious museum that we have ever experienced so far. You can get a baguette sandwich for 1€, croissant sandwich for 1.1€ and a medium draft beer for 1€. It's an amazing deal, right? They all taste amazing too! They are spread around Madrid, you just cannot miss it
The best part of Spanish afternoons is the tapas and beer time! Spanish people are mostly sitting outside the bars and cheering their lovely day. Tapas is whatever the aperivito is for Italians. It can be a couple of slides of bread with lovely toppings, some patatas bravas, that is the potatoes with some special tomato sauce on top or some sea food.
When it comes to real dinner, try the paella! According to Spanish people, paella is not the real paella in Madrid (they do the real paella in Valencia, as they say) we have discovered the best restaurant with probably the best paella in town: La Baracca! It is really close to Gran Via, so it's easy to reach and the food is simply amazing. I cannot say that it is the cheapest place, but it is definitely worth it! Since it is a really popular restaurant, you might need to get a reservation in advance.
Do not get too much fed up with all the tapas, paella and patatas bravas, leave some room for a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of churros. For sure, Fabio doesn't agree with me since he doesn't eat fried food, but I strongly suggest it! They are delicious especially when it's cold outside and you just need some warm drink. Mmm!
9. Scam called Mercado San Miguel. Before to reach Madrid, I kept reading about how amazing the Mercado San Miguel! So, it was on the top of my head when I reached the city and it didn't take us a long time to take a walk in.
Walking around was amazing, the food seemed really nice and smell was incredible. Also people chilling around really improves the mood of the environment. So we ordered some beer and some ham as a snack and we ended up paying about 10€ each! Then we realized that there is not a single price tag anywhere and most of the people hanging out there are the tourists. I wouldn't really say not to go there at all because I actually loved the environment but if you need to get a couple of beer, have a snack and just chill out, there are tons of alternatives that you can go in a cheaper and even more delicious way.
10. Rainy days. Seriously! As far as I have experienced, the summers are quiet dry and hot. However, all other seasons are quiet rainy and when I say rain, I mean raining cats and dogs!
The possible rain does not necessarily mean a bad vacation for you, all the touristic spots are well connected with the subway and the buses. As I mentioned before, Madrid has amazing museums or art exhibitions or you can consider an afternoon in a cozy bar, drinking as a part of the Spanish culture. Still, always better to be prepared for the worst and bring water-proof shoes and rain coats when it's the possible season.
11. Street art - everywhere! Madrid is not only charming for its delicious food, refreshing sangria, charming people or great history, but also amazing street art! In the historical city center and in Malasana, not only the entrance level walls are covered with art and graffitis, but Spanish people also consider their little balconies as an opportunity to express their art. Always have an eye on the sky, or upstairs at least.
Enjoy!
Labels: Highlights, Local Tips, Madrid, Spain
