Streets and walking, Madrid

This beautiful building is one of Madrid's head of former insurance company. The Metropolis Building is an exquisite piece of architecture. The summit of building was originally crowned with phoenix but 1975 Metropolis bought the building and crested the apex with statue of victory in the place of the phoenix. The statue of victory – the roman goddess Victoria - was designed by Federico Valera.

at the corner of Calle Alcala and Gran Via

Of course this is building which is belong to Spanish telecommunications company. From the Edificio Grassy you can already see the tower of the Telefonica. The building is built between 1926 and 1929 and with 88 meters high building was one of the largest in Madrid. It is built in American style by Luis S. Weeks who is also American.

Address: Gran Via 28

A neighboorhood with small streets. artists and yuppie-people live here. the cobblestone streets are embellished with small fountains. at night the streets get overcrowed by partypeople. In malasan the msut see's are Plaza San Idlefonso wit its fountain. Iglesia de San Ildefonso, Iglesia de Sant Antonio and Iglesia de st Martin.

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The best way to see Madrid is to start out in the Puerta del Sol, and just let the crowds determine where you end up. This is the Heart of Madrid. The first time I came here I decided not to seek out even one famous tourist atraction. I ended up at all the famous places, the Prado, the Retiro, Atocha, Charmartin, la Cibeles, etc. but without knowing it. Instead of buying a tourist guide the first day to find out where to go, I bought a tourist guide the morning I left and found out all the places I had been. From El Sol everything in Madrid is within walking distance. I fell so much in love with this city that I let my return ticket expire and stayed on for 4 months, sleeping on a park bench and ending up teaching English to a family of 5 in exchange for room and board. Best experience of my life.

There is the Mayoralty (Casa de la Villa) on Plaza de la Villa. Palacio Lujanes has been constructed in the XV century in the Arabian style. Palace Casa de Cisneros has been constructed in XVI century in the Renaissance style.

Yeah, I mentioned about my "lack of height" before. I am too short to take the pictures of this little colorful fruits between the leaves. But I have pictured and tasted them in my home city. So I can easily recommend them. But I am not sure picking up fruits at the streets is permitted or not.
Madroño is a wild fruit and has a strange taste. It is juicy, sweet (not too sweet!) and soft. We call it "kocayemis".

Whenever you have time, you should take this walk and shop and see whatever is on the way. Start at Puerta del Sol. Walk on Calle del Mayor. Visit Plaza Mayor. Then continue down Calle de Mayor. At the end, turn right and visit the Almudena Castle. After that, go see the Royal Palace. Take a rest at Plaza de Oriente in front of the Royal Palace. Go down Calle del Arenal and go back to Sol. There is excellent shopping on Calle del Mayor and Arenal. I would recommend this walk to everyone. You can shop and see a lot in this walk.

I think that walking "of the beaten path" trough Madrid it´s a must see activity... The truth is that almost all the tourist activities are so near that you can afford getting lost and have a great experience finding your way out to your next activity... Just try not to look very "touristic" and take care of your stuff... But really... trust me... walk and watch... There is something great in every corner.