Madrid is a rich amalgam of differing worlds. Narrow-laned old quarters and handsome plazas filled with regal statues are bordered by wide avenues and modern skyscrapers. World-class art galleries and museums vie for attention with secretive convents and tiny 17th-century churches. The Plaza Mayor, the city's photogenic main plaza, was once the stage for the Inquisition's horrific autos de fe; today it is filled with strolling families, tourists, lively cafes, and souvenir shops.
Yet hedonism has always played a vital part in the city's lifestyle, and in a spontaneous nonstop way that leaves you breathless. It is said that Madrid has more bars and cafes than Belgium or Holland. And the bars here not only open early but also close late (or never shut at all if you include the after-hours bars), and weekend dawn traffic jams of cars and night buses block the city thoroughfares as revelers weave their way to, from, or between their favorite spots. Madrileños also love to eat well -- be it at a favorite neighborhood tasca or a fabled culinary mecca. Restaurants and chefs serving cuisine from recipes that haven't changed for generations compete for the citizens' affections with innovative newcomers experimenting with fusion and molecular gastronomy. The city's shoppers have their pick from ultrachic stores and boutiques selling the latest in international fashion to street markets where an elusive antique is bargained for a song.
You name it, Madrid has got it.
