Madrid is like a big child that buzzes
with energy and never wants to go to
bed. This capital city – Europe’s highest
at 650m (2,133ft) – is a party town!
There are green parks, fun shopping
malls, and countless bars, restaurants
and clubs. It’s a crazy, captivating place
to be. As everyone says, ‘if you’re in
Madrid, you are from Madrid’.
WORLD’S OLDEST RESTAURANT
Madrid’s Botín restaurant has been open since 1725. Its
signature dish is cochinillo asado
(roast suckling pig) –
cooked whole in a wood-fired pizza oven. As in most
restaurants, children are welcomed, but there’s no kids
menu. Youngsters in Madrid are used to enjoying the
ceremony and tastes of a hearty meal and happily sit at
the table for hours with their family and friends.
LONG DAYS,
LATE NIGHTS
Being a kid in Madrid
takes stamina. Many
children are up by 7.30am
for the walk or bus ride to
school. Lessons run from
9am until midday, with a
break for lunch and a siesta
(nap). Children might walk home and
back for this, or stay at school if their
parents both work. Lessons then continue from 3pm until 5pm.
Back home, once their homework is done, the warm evenings
are spent playing outside in the street or in parks like the huge
Casa de Campo. The Spanish eat very late, so even very young
children often don’t go to bed before 10 or 11pm on a weekday.
FROM EGYPT WITH LOVE
In1960, Spanish archaeologists helped save temples and
other monuments in Egypt from flooding during the
construction of a dam. To show their gratitude, Egypt
dismantled the ancient Temple of Debod during 1972
and then sent it to Madrid, stone by stone.
That’s an impressive thank you gift!
KITTY CITY
People from Madrid are called
Madrileños
or los gatos
(the cats). The
animal nickname was coined in 1083
when medieval Madrid was occupied
by the Arabic Moors. Alfonso VI tried
to free the city, but couldn’t, until a
young super-agile soldier scaled
the high city walls like a cat and
dropped a rope down for the
other men to climb up.
REAL MADRID
Footie fans go to heaven in Madrid, home to the world’s most
successful soccer club. According to research carried out by the
club in 2015, Real boasts 450 million fans around the world!
Home matches are played at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu
stadium, a hot spot for football fans on Saturday afternoons.
WINGING IT
A curious naked winged man
crashes headfirst into the roof of
3, Calle de los Milaneses. Far
from being a classical ‘fallen angel’,
the Accidente Aereo
(Air Accident)
is by contemporary artist Miguel
Ángel Ruiz. The sculpture shows a
figure who left tiny rural Madrid only
to find an enormous city on his
return 10,000 years later!
PALACIO REAL
Madrid’s royal palace has 2,800 rooms, but only 50 are open
to the public. It’s impossible to forget the time in the dazzling
Salón de Gasparini – 215 of the 700 clocks in the royal collection
tick-tock the hours away here. The walls of the chamber are
covered in silk with real gold and silver embroidery.