The Barrio de las Letras is adjacent to many of central Madrid's attractions -- the Plaza Mayor, the gigantic Retiro Park, the Puerto del Sol, in addition to the museums and train station -- but it feels off the beaten path. With narrow streets (many pedestrianized) and small plazas, it is an intriguing neighborhood that was fun to wander as we shook off jet lag.
Many writers of Spain's "Siglo de Oro" (or Golden Age, roughly 1492-1680) lived and worked here, including Gongora, Quevedo, Lope de Vega, and Cervantes. Hence the name, Las Letras. The barrio today contains a mixture of small museums and galleries, antique, book, and art stores, boutiques, bodegas, and bistros, and funky dime stores, quirky specialty shops, ancient laundromats, and other elderly businesses from a different era. The resulting hodgepodge is delightful, and offers an engaging glimpse into the Madrid of the past and of today. Not a chain store or restaurant in sight.
We targeted Velasquez and Goya at the Prado (the place is way too big to try to see everything), and were rewarded by a recent Richard Serra installation and several Tapies pieces at the Reina Sofia. In between the two museums, we spent an hour at the train station waiting to purchase year-long "Gold Cards" that give us discounts as seniors (humph) on train trips, plus tickets to Cadiz for tomorrow. But it provided great people watching, and we got to sit down for a while.
Lunch (at 3 p.m.), ordered from a "menu of the day" at a lovely small restaurant in Las Letras, consisted of pasta with a light mushroom sauce for Jerome, and salmorejo for me, followed by a shared paella. Wine, of course, and then light desserts (flan and orange torte) followed by coffee. Classic Spanish fare. Tonight was salad and pizza at 9 p.m., at a small restaurant around the corner from the hotel. We are adapting to the Spanish eating schedule.
We targeted Velasquez and Goya at the Prado (the place is way too big to try to see everything), and were rewarded by a recent Richard Serra installation and several Tapies pieces at the Reina Sofia. In between the two museums, we spent an hour at the train station waiting to purchase year-long "Gold Cards" that give us discounts as seniors (humph) on train trips, plus tickets to Cadiz for tomorrow. But it provided great people watching, and we got to sit down for a while.
Lunch (at 3 p.m.), ordered from a "menu of the day" at a lovely small restaurant in Las Letras, consisted of pasta with a light mushroom sauce for Jerome, and salmorejo for me, followed by a shared paella. Wine, of course, and then light desserts (flan and orange torte) followed by coffee. Classic Spanish fare. Tonight was salad and pizza at 9 p.m., at a small restaurant around the corner from the hotel. We are adapting to the Spanish eating schedule.
Tonight we wandered around the Plaza Mayor, with its arched entries and sidewalk colonnades, crowds of people tapeando and otherwise socializing, mimes miming, musicians serenading. A very lively scene. We each found a hat at a wonderful hat store in one corner of the plaza.
I spent a semester of college in Madrid studying at Middlebury's campus here, and if I had more time, I would visit the college's still vital program now. As it was, I've enjoyed returning to a part of the city that I knew well back then (though it was very different, under Franco's regime). I still love this city. I think I may have to come back again!
I spent a semester of college in Madrid studying at Middlebury's campus here, and if I had more time, I would visit the college's still vital program now. As it was, I've enjoyed returning to a part of the city that I knew well back then (though it was very different, under Franco's regime). I still love this city. I think I may have to come back again!
