Madrid on the Cheap

NOTE: I apologize for not having posted in over a week and a half. I'll just attribute it to laziness and leave it at that. There will be at least three new posts this week, including this one.

So, you've just flown into Barajas and grabbed the Metro to Sol. You're standing there, hungry, sober, and ready to have some fun. But what's this? You're a poor college student? Never fear. With this personally, um...researched...guide, you'll be able to have a grand old time in Madrid. The location for each place is in parentheses, stating the closest Metro stop.


Food and Drink

El Museo de Jamon (Various, Sol) - This chain has roughly five locations in Old Madrid, the most visible of these being on Calle Mayor one block southwest of Puerta del Sol, the city's zero point and center. They have ham sandwiches on fresh baked bread for 1 euro. Ask for a "bocadillo de jamon" or three, and then go munch on them as you walk around the bustling streets that surround this, the tastiest museum in Madrid.

Cien Montaditos (Various, Gran Via, Opera, Atocha) - Another chain with many locations across Spain, mostly concentrated in Madrid. The one located just north of the Opera house has a wonderful view of Plaza de Oriente and the Palacio Real, and the one in Gran Via lets you watch the afternoon crowds migrate from Gran Via (literally, Broadway) to Sol. They specialize in tiny 4 inch sandwiches on mini-french bread rolls, filled with every combination of ingredient imaginable. Every Wednesday, every sandwich and drink on the menu is 1 euro. That includes 1 liter "jarras" of beer, clara (beer and lemon soda), and tinto de verano (red wine and lemon soda). Literally every single Wednesday that we've been in Madrid, a huge contingent of the Stanford in Madrid folks have made the pilgrimage to Montaditos to satisfy those late-afternoon cravings.

El Tigre (Gran Via or Chueca) - This is the best bar for your money in the city. Entire nights have been saved by "El Tigre's" incredible deals. For 6 Euros, you can get a 1.5 liter mojito (blindingly strong if you're a girl and you flirt with the barmen) and a full plate piled high with one of the better collections of tapas available in Madrid, typically croquetas (fried mashed potato dumplings), ham/chorizo on bread, tortilla espanola (a thick egg, potato, and onion omelette), and rings of breaded calamares (squid). El Tigre fills up at 10 PM every day of the week, and by midnight, there's hardly any room to move around inside. The crowd is a wonderful mix of Madrilenos and abroad students, as word has spread around the city praising the virtue of this tiny tavern just off the main drag. To get there, walk east from the Gran Via Metro stop and turn left on Calle de Hortaleza, then take a right on Calle de la Infanta, or walk south from the Chueca Metro stop until Calle de la Infanta and take a right. Additionally, make sure to talk with the Brazilian bouncer that works the front door most nights; not only is he a third-dan black belt in jiu-jitsu, but he also happens to be a really nice guy.


Fun

Walk Around! (Everywhere) - I cannot emphasize this enough: Madrid, especially the Old City, is meant to be walked. The sheer number of amazing monuments, plazas, and buildings that you'll find within a mile of Puerta del Sol is incredible, from the softly lit green and red glow of the Tio Pepe sign high above Sol to the Austrian architecture that surrounds Plaza Mayor, to the playground in Plaza de Oriente that has a breathtaking view of the Palacio Real. The Metro might get you from place to place more quickly, but then you miss all the sights above ground. Treat yourself, then, to a self-guided walking tour, as roundabout as it may be, around one of the best walking cities in Europe.

Get Your Art On: El Prado and La Reina Sofia (Banco de Espana, Atocha) - If you were making a list of some of the finest collections of art on the face of this earth, then Madrid would definitely merit serious consideration. El Museo de Prado holds an impressive collection of works by old Spanish masters such as Velazquez and Goya, as well as a slew of other extremely recognizable and famous works including Fra Angelico's "The Annutiation" (which I guarantee you've seen on the front of a Christmas card...) and Hieronymus Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights". If you go from 6PM to 8PM any day of the week or 5PM to 8PM on Sunday, you don't have to pony up the euros to get in. If you get there a little early for the free admission period, there's a gently sloped hill by the east entrance that's perfect for a quick siesta under the sun, usually accompanied by the sounds of a man making his way through beautiful Flamenco pieces on his acoustic guitar. If your tastes in art tend towards more recent work, then you'll want to head a bit further south on Paseo del Prado, onward to La Reina Sofia, Madrid's modern art museum. The imposing exterior facade of the building makes it look like a prison, granted, but it's definitely worth your while to weather the unsettling first impression and head on inside. There you'll find the most famous piece of Spanish artwork, period: Picasso's "Guernica". This gigantic (11.5 by 25.5 feet) painting depicts the 1937 bombing of a town in northern Spain during the Spanish civil war. This work was Picasso's attempt to render war in all of its ugliness and naked horror, and, as it's lasting importance and fame suggests, he obviously was onto something when he painted this jarring and fragmented nightmare. In addition to this, there are many other works by Picasso, Dali, and Miro. From 7PM to 9PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 2:30PM to 9PM on Saturday, and 10AM to 2:30 PM on Sunday, you can enter free of charge.

El Templo de Debod (Plaza de Espana) - In the early 1960s, the construction of the Aswan Damn in Egypt gravely threatened existing ruins downriver, so Spain joined an international effort to prevent damage to these priceless archeological treasures. To thank Spain for its aid at such a key juncture, Egypt donated the Templo de Debod to Spain in 1968, and it was reassembled piece by piece in Parque del Oeste, just north of the Palacio Real, in Madrid. Parque del Oeste is located on the western edge of Old Madrid, and to its west, steep cliffs drop off into the Campo del Moro below. As a result, there is a largely unobstructed view of the western sky from the Parque del Oeste and the Templo de Debod, which makes this the premier spot in the whole city for watching the sun set. As the sun slowly descends, the park is aglow in gentle orange light and the sky turns various shades of pink and purple, as you can see in the photo above. The Templo at night is truly a sight to behold, and you don't have to pay a penny to admire these transplanted ancient treasures rising up from a tranquil reflecting pool, basked in the rays from the falling sun. And best of all, here in Madrid you don't have to ask the pharaoh to make sure the sun comes back up the next day.

Los Jardines de Buen Retiro (Retiro) - New York City has Central Park, Chicago has Grant Park, and Madrid has El Retiro, a public park that sprawls across 350 square acres of the eastern portion of the city center. Aptly named the "lungs of Madrid" for the immense quantity and variety of trees that reside on its grounds, El Retiro is one of the Sunday morning destination for Madrilenos of every age. While there, people grab a bench to pleasure read, sit in the shade for a picnic with friends, or go for a brisk jog down El Paseo de Estatuas (a long avenue flanked by statues of famous dead people) or along miles of other paths that snake across the park. If you're feeling a bit more adventurous, head on over to the Estanque del Retiro, a huge pond where you can rent boats for a lazily time floating underneath the weekend sun.

I hope that you've found something that suits your fancy in this admittedly abbreviated guide. I'll be doing similar articles later this summer for Rome, Florence, Venice, Dubrovnik, and Istanbul. Hasta luego!