The Real Madrid

I had to rediscover Madrid as the city has truly undergone a massive change from the last time I visited which was almost a decade ago. The best icon to describe the Madrid of today would be the stylish, contemporary and business-like T4 terminal designed by Richard Rogers at Madrid Barajas airport. The kilometer long terminal building which opened in 2006 has a bamboo clad wavy roof and each area is colour coded from blue to yellow which not only indicates the direction but is also pleasing to the eye. Honouring the Nobel Prize winner of Literature Mario Vargas Llosa are 3 sculptures of women reflecting various moods – the dreamer, the flirtatious one and the realist.

The dreamer

The coquette

The realist

The city itself has been transformed for the better with the organization of traffic, widening of roads and construction of high speed tunnels and thoroughfares. This allows the tourist to take in the sights on foot, which is truly the best way to admire the beautiful buildings and architecture of the city.

Iglesia San Jeronimo

Palacio del Congreso

Edificio Espana

Madrid is the centre of the Spanish speaking world and is the gateway to Latin America for the Europeans. It has always been a microcosm of Spain and has been the seat of the Spanish royal house for many centuries. It has a buzz and energy of London and contradicts the easy going attitude of the Latin world. It is the country’s political and cultural centre and has a lot to offer in addition to the museums, nightlife and the Real Madrid football club.

Madrid is a fascinating mix of past and present. On one hand you have traditional old buildings and on the other contemporary buildings like Norman Foster’s Caja Madrid Tower and Herzog & de Meuron’s CaixaForum. The tree lined boulevards are a welcome change in a large city and the narrow streets with the many plazas (squares) with small cafes, tavernas, cervecerias and tapas bars are fascinating.

The inside of a taverna

The Prado museum is right in the centre of the city and it is well worth the visit though it demands more than a few hours of browsing. Near it are 2 other world class museums, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. Opposite are beautiful hotels – The Ritz and the Westin Palace which were built to accommodate the royal guests in the early 1910 who were attending a royal wedding.

El Prado

The Westin Palace Hotel

The Debod Temple, an authentic Egyptian temple dedicated to the gods Amon and Isis, is in a park near the Plaza de Espana and takes one completely by surprise. How did it get here? Many valuable monuments and archaeological sites were in danger of being destroyed due to the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1960. The UNESCO made an appeal to countries to help save these monuments, and as thanks for the aid given by Spain, particularly in helping to save the sacred buildings of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian government donated this temple to the Spanish people in 1968. The temple originally stood in Debod in the Nile Valley not too far from the city of Aswan, but the need for the new dam meant that it had to be moved elsewhere or it would have remained underwater forever.

The Debod Temple

The Palacio Real, or Royal Palace, is Madrid's largest building and possibly its most beautiful is located next to the equally beautiful Plaza de Oriente square and is the largest royal palace in Western Europe. It was built on the site of the old Alcázar, the Moorish castle destroyed by fire in 1734. You can do a guided tour of the interiors which is absolutely gorgeous and has beautiful furniture, tapestries, works of art and paintings by the Spanish artists.

Palacio Real

Statues of the kings of Spain lining the courtyard

The palace gardens, called the Campo del Moro, are also worth visiting, as is the square nearby. The Plaza de Oriente takes its name from its location - to the east of the palace, and contains several sculptures of the precious Spanish monarchs. Just across this beautiful plaza stands the Royal Theatre.

Statue in the Plaza de Oriente

The Opera House

Some of the best shopping for clothes, especially the high end brands, is on the Calle de Sorreno, Calle de Goya and Calle de Velazquez. Zara in particular, is very cheap and affordable as it is a local brand. One of my favourites.

It is easy to get around Madrid as the metro is quite compact and user friendly. Most economical is to buy a ticket for 10 journeys on the metro or bus and costs Euros 8.