Anyone calling himself a Romantic eventually has to come to grips with Spain. And that means understanding Madrid. For while all of Spain is a place of pleasures audible and visible, of gentle music and ancient architecture, the writings of Cervantes, the paintings of Picasso and Goya, of Flamenco dance and music, it’s in Madrid where it all comes together.

Spain’s capital is a passionate city, different than Paris in its character, but with the same sense of mystery that you find if you travel to Istanbul. And like Vienna it is filled with great art and music, wonderful cafes, and a knowing sense of itself. It’s also a time capsule, where layers of Christian and Moslem (or Muslim) cultures are literally built upon one another.  

The heart of Spain begins at the Puerta del Sol, the center of downtown Madrid and the point from which all distances in the country are calculated. The downtown is a web of narrow streets that, especially after 8 pm every night, is a mass of joyous humanity with filled cafes, musicians on corners and lovers walking arm in arm. Cozy Tapas bars permeate the city with their variety of Spanish appetizers, most cooked in olive oil and garlic and impossible to resist. If Spanish isn’t your language it’s no matter. Many speak English and in Tapas bars all you need do is point to what you want.

In each of the streets that expand spider web-like from the Puerto del Sol, are countless restaurants and Tapas bars. Most tapas bars look somewhat messy, but that’s because Spaniards throw soiled napkins and olive pits on the floor by their feet because it’s considered impolite to leave them on your plate.
       
They are happy places where most likely you’ll stand rather than sit, and are avenues into the heart of Spanish culture. At one of the most character-filled tapas bars in all of Spain, La Torre del Oro in the Plaza Mayor, the city’s historic old center, you’ll find a history of bull fighting on the walls with photos and mementos from and about great matadors like El Cordoba, Antonio Ordoñez, or Curro Romero. Order rabo del toro (bull tail soup) or one of the many other selections and eat among the dramatic photos, many of which are graphic insights into the dangerous life of matadors.

Major sites like the Prado Museum, which offers private tours at a modest cost museoprado.es and the Reina Sofia, where you’ll find Picasso’s Guernica, museoreinasofia.es are famous and must be seen. But there are so many small museums and art galleries around the city, they’re too numerous to explore all in one visit to the city. Ever been to a ham museum? There’s one in the city’s old town.

Stop at the Plaza de Santa Anna across from the National Theatre and people-watch from one of the several outdoor cafes that ring the picturesque plaza; shop at the nearby flea market; spend an entire day looking though streets that surround the 17th Century Plaza Mayor, the original city palace.

Walk around old Madrid, around the downtown core, and you’ll have a delightful exploration of 17th Century palaces, mansions and churches. And it’s a short (20 minute) walk from the Plaza Mayor to the Palacio Real, the residence of the King of Spain, that overlooks the Manzanares River. A series of small and large museums allow for a whole day of exploration.   

For something completely different, take an informative and entertaining personal tour of the city center (limit 8 persons) from the Wellington Society where Stephen Drake-Jones leads informative and irreverent tours of the inner city wellsoc.org . He’s an authority on old Madrid and historic towns and cities throughout Spain having lived in Spain since before the fall of Franco.

Getting around the city is easy. The subway system is easy to use, inexpensive, and cuts through all areas of the city. But, Madrid is a city that begs for walking. For to understand this wonderful city, you must absorb it in small sections - frequent the tapas bars, spend time just sitting around the picturesque squares, slowly allow the city’s richness of character to permeate your mind.