Madrid - The Center

The centre of Madrid is at once the hub of life and the high point of the barrio: it's lively and pretty and exciting. One of the things I noticed about Madrid is that the traffic does not interfere - there is traffic, but you tend not to notice it.

We were heading towards the busy, commercial centre but took a detour along Calle de los Coloreros

because we wanted to have a look at Chocolateria de San Gines which is the most famous venue for chocolate con churros, chocolate with deep-fried doughnuts, the ultimate street food: it's many things, but it's often breakfast, a hangover cure, and/or an early-hours cure for the munchies. It gets tourists during the day, but locals pack it out in their search for sustenance on their way home from a nightclub somewhere close to dawn.

Here's the doughnuts

but they also sell a variety of chocolates

and for their advertising they have adopted the girl from Velasquez' Las Meninas

They seem to have three shops in the same location, almost next to each other

and this one was the only one with no queue outside

and lots of free space inside.

Lots of places with flamenco dancing around

Most churches were closed most of the time and just opened for services and so was Iglesia de San Gines every time we tried to have a look inside

Calle de Mayor

lovely brickwork

Lots of bears around - it seems to be a Madrid thing

Always busy here

An unusual ensemble

second hand books

busking

I wanted to visit Palacio Gaviria. Until recently this 19th century Italianate palace was a nightclub. It has since been artfully converted to a dynamic artistic space I am told. Unfortunately they were setting up the Salvador Dali exhibition so it was closed.

From here on it's all shops - all the major brands and some more.

We had reached Plaza del Sol, the pulsing heart of downtown Madrid.  So many of our explorations of Madrid began here: it's a crossroad, a place for fanning out across the city. 

It's always busy, no matter the hour.

The statue of the bear

In one of the corners of the square is Hotel Europa and its wonderful outdoor cafe. We had lunch here a few times, as the food is good and it is a great place for people watching.

Some great buildings here

and the side streets are full of shops and shoppers

We then moved on to the Plaza del Callao

the cinema.

We started walking down Gran Via. It's a boulevard lined with towering belle-epoque facades; it climbs up through the centre of Madrid from Plaza de Espana then down to Calle de Alcala. 

But, it has only existed since 1910, when it was bulldozed through a labyrinth of old streets. Fourteen streets disappeared off the map, as did 311 houses, including one where Goya had once lived.  It may have destroyed whole barrios, but Gran Via is still considered one of the most successful examples of urban planning in central Madrid since the late 19th century.  During the civil war, when Madrid was besieged  by Franco's forces the boulevard became known as 'Howitzer Alley' due to the artillery shell that rained down upon it.

This was one of my favourites as I have a penchant for Art Deco buildings

It's one glorious building after another