Hit the streets- Madrid

Madrid, oh Madrid. So much to offer, and yet you pretty much close down between 12 and 5 so everyone can go have a siesta. HAHA, my big plans for the day foiled by something so simple (and delightful) as a midday nana nap. I was, once again planning bikes, instead I had to rely on my on legs! 1st stop, Basillico San Fransisco- home to one of Goya's earlier paintings. Unfortunately, the basillico was also closed for siesta. 

Stop two: Puerta de Toledo

Stop Three: La Casa Encendida

I read about this gallery on a blog and was pleasantly surprised to find that they we're not napping. Instead, they seemed to have their fingers very much on the pulse of contemporary art. I list this as a "must see" for anyone going to Madrid. The above image is from the Hilton Brothers. I'm thinking there might be a whole post dedicated to my discoveries at this amazing little gallery. 

Stop Four: the streets

Madrid has some amazing streets, and quite a lot of street art. while some of it can be very tag-oriented, there are also a lot of people doing interesting things. This was a wall of post ups that i found at the end of calle de Salitre, a very steep hill. As i was walking up it in the 39' heat i was thinking 'there better be something amazing at the top of this hill to make up for the fact that it is absolutely killing me, gasp gasp'. And there was!

This poster is not something that I found, it in fact comes from a photoblog called recuerdos a olvidar which is dedicated to graffiti and other things around Madrid. I threw it in because its quite amusing, and may be of some use to any boys who read this. 

Stop Five: Lunch from Viva La Vida

Viva la Vida is a cute little vego place on Calle Heurtas which I read about on a blog. The way it works is they have a number of Salads and hot vego dishes, falafel, and sauces which you help yourself to and then the price goes by weight. I grabbed a box and as usual my eyes were bigger than my stomach- everything look so yummy I wanted to try it all. In the end it was WAY more expensive than I could really afford but it was worth it. I had vego Paela, a crepe with some weird tasty stuff in it, olives and a carrot ensalada. I took my box of gold down to the botanic gardens at the end of the street and enjoyed it sitting beneath a canopy of leaves. 

Apparently the main aim of the garden is to research into Darwins theory of evolution. You were supposed to look closely at the differences between the species- very interesting im sure. Instead i had a look around and then joined the locals who were having a siesta on one of the many benches. 

After I met up with LC and we went to the Museo del Prado to see some Art, but more about that later.