Story Transcript
What to do in Spain? Curated for Dr. Stephanie Davis
The Prado
Spain is represented by painters Velázquez and El Greco, the low countries by Rembrandt, Brueghel, van Dyck and Rubens, while Titian, Caravaggio, Botticelli and Tintoretto form the Italian contingent. Of the many must-see works are Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and David with Head of Goliath by Caravaggio. The artist with most works hanging at the Prado is the Spanish Romantic Goya, whose 14 Black Paintings are a Spanish cultural reference point https://www.museodelprado.es/en/ visit/opening-times-and-prices# https://entradas.museodelprado.es/ ?_ga=2.228510366.2068624437.167 3468004-2082073687.1673468004
Royal Palace
Built in the mid-1700s for King Philip V the Royal Palace is on the site of Madrid’s Moorish Alcázar fortress-palace, which burned down in 1734. It’s the largest royal palace in western Europe, and has a blend of baroque and neoclassical styles. You have to go inside for the full experience because the royal collections and frescoes are sublime. There are works by Goya, Caravaggio and Velázquez, as well as stunning displays of watches, tapestries, porcelain and silverware. You can see the only string quartet of Stradivarius instruments in the world, and the Royal Armoury that includes the personal weapons used by Charles V in the 16th Century.
Plaza Del Sol This grand square next to the Casa de Correos (Post Office Building) is a popular meeting place, suffused with meaning for both city and country. Nearly every Spanish person will recognise the clock at the top of the Casa de Correos, as this marks the televised countdown on New Year’s Eve. There’s a tricky ritual involved too: With every chime you’re supposed to eat a grape for good luck (12 in total). Also in the square the is El Oso y El Madroño statue, a symbol for Madrid since the Middle Ages.
La Gran Vía
To get a sense of the city, a walk along the Gran Vía is a superb place to start. It’s Madrid’s entertainment, shopping and cultural nerve centre, a buzzing avenue often full of life until dawn. By day it throngs with shoppers stopping by the many malls, highstreet stores like H&M and Zara and luxury boutiques. In the evenings there are couples arm-in-arm, stepping out to the cinema or a musical. And after dark the street pulses with many of Madrid’s top nightclubs. Sights to spot as you stroll include the vast Telefónica Building, built in 1928 and an early example of a skyscraper.
Plaza Mayor
Another of Madrid’s “musts”, Plaza Mayor is a handsome renaissance square, laid out in the early-1600s and completely sequestered by historic threestorey-high residential buildings. There are nine entrances to the square and within the porticoes at the bottom of the buildings are several cafes. Order a coffee (overpriced but necessary because of the location!) at an outdoor table and watch Madrid in action for a few minutes. After that you could wander up to the 400-year-old bronze statue of King Philip III, who was in power at the height of the Spanish empire.
Mercado San Miguel
An easy walk from Plaza Mayor is this gorgeous art nouveau marketplace that dates to 1916. It’s less of a fresh produce market (although there are grocery stalls) and more of a gastronomic destination to purchase the best that Spain has to offer, like cava, pimenton (parprika) and saffron. There’s a host of tapas bars here serving all the favourites like patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo and boquerones, with a glass of beer, rioja or vermouth. To do your food shopping like a real Madrileño head to the vast Mercado de Maravillas in Cuatro Caminos. It’s Europe’s largest municipal market with 200 stalls.
Churros at St. Gines Perfect in winter, Spanish hot chocolate is one of the most luxurious things you’ll ever taste. It can be so rich and thick you sometimes need a spoon to drink it. And the perfect pairing is a sugary churro, which if you don’t know, is piped dough, deep-fried. Just off the Puerta del Sol, visit the Chocolatería San Ginés, which has been serving churros and hot chocolate since the 19th century and does it as well as any joint in the city. If you can’t make it to San Ginés there are loads of stalls on the streets in the cooler months of the year
Flamenco Flamenco is a dance that originated in Andalusia, Murcia and Extremadura, and even if it’s not strictly native to Madrid the city has some of the most famous tablaos in the country. These are special halls that cropped up in the 1960s, and here you see a show over a candlelit meal with sangria. It’s a fine way of killing two birds with one stone: Tucking into Spanish specialities like jamón ibérico, migas (fried bread seasoned with paprika) or roast suckling pig, while seeing one of the country’s most famous art-forms expressed by some of the best dancers in the flamenco world.
Toledo
Toledo is considered most representative of Spanish culture, and its historic centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986. Its rocky site is traversed by narrow, winding streets, with steep gradients and rough surfaces, centring on the Plaza del Zocodover..
Bocadillos de Calamar
Tortilla de papas y pan con tomate
Croquetas
https://www.timeout.com/madrid/f ood-and-drink/madrid-bars-withfree-tapas
Pimientos De Padrón