Ramón Villeró / VIAJES MAGAZINE

I am walking through the streets of old Madrid under the blue sky of the first days of December. Sol, Plaza Mayor, Santa Ana and after I decide to warm up in one of their typical bars, enjoying a salad, grilled squid or some of Madrid’s typical tripe.

Madrid is like a huge maze to discover slowly, while you stop at some of the best venues. However, no hurries. There will be time in future opportunities to discover new spaces and landscapes.

On rainy days, visiting the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Prado Museum and the Centre of Art Reina Sofia will allow us to be spectators of art in capital letters.

With good weather, terraces impose themselves even in winter, another option is to visit to the, sometimes forgotten, Debod, temple where ancient Egypt art, transported from the Nile, survives. From that spot, from the Mountain Park, the visitor sees the extension of Casa de Campo, the heart of the city.

Heading south, we went to Plaza de Oriente, the Royal Palace and the Almudena Cathedral, places that speak about kings in Madrid and other dynasties that have written the history of Spain. Very close to these buildings, we can find somewhere to eat, “The Lando“, one of those restaurants that enchant because of the excellence of its dishes.

Another of my favourite spots, after visiting the elegant shops of Salamanca, Recoletos and approaching to Christian Louboutin, is to walk through La Puerta de Alcalá and, from there, heading to El Retiro. Little by little, people discover the park through its slopes and groves to end contemplating the beauty of the Crystal Palace, a building where indifference is not conceived and that today is the responsible of many exhibitions of contemporary art.

To end a perfect day, a dinner in one of the finest restaurants in Madrid, Santceloni in Castellana 57, or maybe in Ramón Freixa, and then back to the hotel, the best is to stop for a drink at Dry Martini in Gran Melia Fenix, an institution in the Madrid nightlife. A comfortable place where you can sample a large list of cocktails at the bar, decorated with huge taproom of Jorge Diezma, or in the busy outdoor terrace when summer evenings arrive.