Madrid Highlights--Official and Unofficial

Madrid is fantastic. It is full of really great things to see, some, but not all of which are marked on a map. I had a week to explore the city, unfortunately dealing with a bitter-cold, and generally cloudy, fall in the process. I spent my days meandering and discovering some of the great things about the city. In contrast to my September strolls , I now have to stroll somewhat more quickly, wrapped in a warm scarf, a hat and fingerless gloves. In my brisk walks, I noticed lots of really neat characteristics of the city. I in no way claim to have a comprehensive list of Madrid's assets, but here I will share some of the things that stood out to me about Madrid. From my perspective, this is what Madrid is good at:

5. Open space:
I swear this town has more space in it than South Dakota. Somehow this bustling metropolis still feels roomy. I think this is why.

To begin with, they build their streets wide, with huge sidewalks and frequent grassy paths. Then, the next thing they do is put a rotary at every large intersection. This rotary is usually decorated with a fountain, monument, or both. Then, every other block or so is a Plaza--a paved area with any of these items: benches, monuments, sculptures, grass, gardens, fountains... Altogether the effect is really soothing. In most large cities things are so cramped together that you never get the chance to breathe. In Madrid, you can never forget to breathe.









4. Street Food
I am a foodie--a lover of food. I enjoy trying the different foods specific to any one area. The trick is then to remain a foodie, but on a budget. The result of this is street food. It's generally pretty decent prices, but most importantly it completely varies according to the place, so it affords you the chance to eat something really local. Madrid has several different tasty street foods that I enjoyed.


Every small shop has these heart shaped flaky pastries. For one euro you get a dry, hard, flaky pastry coated on one side with a thin layer of dark chocolate. Pretty tasty, but somewhat uninteresting to me.





Yum yum yum. I saw several vendors with a grill selling this tasty combination: Roasted corn on the cob and sweet potato. Excellent. The last place I had roasted sweet potato was in Ghana, so it was a welcome treat to find it again. It is actually a great meal-filling, sweet, and simple to eat with a spoon. Highly recommended.


Rather resembling a waffle ice cream cone, these light snacks are a good mid-afternoon pick-me-up. The thin cookie is rolled or folded, and one end lightly dipped in chocolate.

A local favorite treat is chocolate and churros. My friend Sandra introduced them to me. Churros are basically a light, fried dough/doughnut treat, which is clearly just made to order. It is sweet and a bit greasy, but altogether tasty. The chocolate is unlike any hot chocolate I have ever seen. It pours into the mug like molasses, and has a consistency like warm mousse or pudding. The idea is to dunk. I found the combination to be pretty good, but overall the sugar and grease were a bit overpowering. Though I am glad I tried it, I couldn't finish even half of my glass. But the ingredients were so good, and this shop clearly made their business solely off this combination, so it definitely makes the list of things you must try.

Another cool local favorite is roasted chestnuts. They are roasted and sold all over the place. With rich, sweet meat, only a few of these guys can definitely delay hunger pains. They are scooped off the grill and served in a newspaper cone. A definite must try.

3. Skyline

More than any city I have ever seen, Madrid is a city in which you should never forget to look up. Really. Stop, and look up. At every turn. It's amazing. Not only are there the amazing steeples of churches and cathedrals like those I have posted previously, but also there are muslim inspired domes, iron fences, gilding, and even full-blown sculptures on many of the buildings. It's remarkable.









2. Street Performers

One of my favorite things about discovering new towns is seeing the people that come out in the streets. Madrid was alive with many different kinds of performers. In my week in Madrid, I saw a mariachi band, a great jazz/swing band, saxophonists, flamenco dancers, and all sorts of performance artists. These two living scultures were awesome. The two guys in mud had the most elaborate and convincing set up I have ever seen, and they maintained a steady crowd of about 20 people over the hour that I was in their area.









1. Cathedral

Although there were many things I loved about this city that were off the map, my favorite thing about the city was one of the largest tourist attractions. This Cathedral was really impressive, inside and out. It had an unusual exterior, and as you will see it had unbelievable painting on the ceiling. But I have to admit this by itself wasn't what endeared it to me. In fact, it was luck. I had been in Madrid for 5 days, all of which were thoroughly overcast and cold. It was nearing the end of day 6 when I decided to visit the cathedral.




I was first taken aback by the intricate painting on the ceiling. I spent most of my visit with my neck craned.

But the best part was when the light changed. Around 5:00 we had sunlight. The warm caramel light before the sun sets. It is such a magical time of the day. It is in this light that I caught some of my favorite photos to date. It brought a magical feeling to this amazing building that engrained that evening in my memory.

Addendum:
Here are two other things you won't find on your tourist map. The first is just one of my favorite photos from the modern part of the city and the other is a drawing I did of this really interesting old building I found in a shady part of town. Definitely not in your guidebook, but one of my favorite buildings yet.