Mad About Madrid

Guided Tours of Madrid

As we are now into Summer, the City Council of Madrid in collaboration with the Fundación Caja Madrid, are putting on a series of guided tours. These guided tours of Madrid are conducted by professional guides with the aim of giving people the opportunity to discover more of the city. Tickets cost around 3-4 Euros and can be bought from the Madrid City Council's Tourist Board (Patronato de Turismo de Madrid) (c/ Mayor, 69);Departure Point - Municipal de Información Turística (Plaza Mayor, 3. Tel. 915 881 636). A full list of the tours can be found on a pdf entitled:

Madrid Guided Tours

Two of the tours are actually held all year round: City Hall and Madrid: Setting of the Court. Please be aware that some companies in Madrid do charge between extremely high prices for some of their tours. I came across one the other day which was charging around £120 per person for a 4-hour walking tour!! Captain Alatriste is a character created by the author Arturo Pérez-Reverte and the "Duel of verse and swords: another view of the Golden Age" tour offers people the chance to see "dramatizations that aim to recreate scenes from the life of 17th century Madrid."

City Hall
La casa de la villa
Mondays 5 p.m.

Legends of Old Madrid
Leyendas del viejo Madrid
Wednesdays 9.30 p.m.

Duel of verse and swords: another view of the Golden Age
Duelo de versos y espadas:Otra visión del siglo de oro
Thursdays 9 p.m.

Traditional taverns and shops of Madrid
Tabernas y comercios tradicionales de Madrid
Fridays 11 a.m.

New adventures in Captain Alatriste’s Madrid
Nuevas aventuras - En el Madrid del capitán Alatriste
Fridays and Saturdays 9.30 p.m.

Madrid, setting of the Court
Madrid, escenario de la corte
Saturdays 10 a.am

Walk through the Madrid of the Bourbons
Paseo por el Madrid de los borbones
Sundays 11.00 a.m.

Related Article
Virtual Tours Around Madrid

Books of interest from Amazon

Lonely Planet Madrid	Top 10 Madrid	Lonely Planet Madrid City Map

**Update** Please note that the information above has been modified and the links sould take you to the Madrid Tourist Board site (www.esmadrid.es). For some reason the Madrid Council has decided to take this page down - it happens a lot with sites in Madrid!!

Salvador Dalí exhibition comes to the Reina Sofía Museum

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Salvador Dalí, the Reina Sofia Museum will put on an exhibition of the artist's work, entitled "Dalí: Cultura de Masas" (culture of the masses), which looks at how the the industrial world influecnced his work. It comprises 400 works of art, from paintings and drawings to documents, advertisements and even films. This exhibition is the first to screen a short film from Disney, entitled "Destiny", which the studio never released in the cinemas.

The Reina Sofía press release says: "Beginning in twenties Barcelona, with its manifestos against painting and in favour of the new industrial beauty, it continues in Paris with the Surrealists (so interested in the cinema and other aspects of the mechanical and industrial world) and ends in 1940 when Dalí went to the United States -a country where the new visual manifestation flourished as never before."

Opening times
Mondays to Saturdays: 10.00 a.m - 9 p.m.
Sundays: 10.00 a.m. - 2.30 p.m.
Tuesdays: closed

Prices
3.01 euros
Free: Saturdays: 14.30 - 21.00
Sundays: 10.00 - 14.30

Books on Dalí from Amazon

The Shameful life of Salvador Dalí		Dalí: The Paintings

Terrazas in Madrid - perfect for summer

Summers in Madrid are always very hot with temperatures often hitting 40° C and above. However, this is the time of year when the whole city takes to the streets and bars and restaurants decamp to the pavements. All over the city you will be able to enjoy lunch or dinner, drink an afternoon coffee or sip a cocktail from one of the many ‘terrazas’ or outside bars. Along the main thoroughfares of Madrid: the Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo de la Castellana, many terrazas open up just for the summer period. Another popular area is Pintor de Rosales (Metro: Argüelles and Moncloa) which is situated next to Madrid’s Parque del Oeste. These terrazas really tend to get going after 10.30 at night and you can often see Madrid’s rich and famous out. The other obvious places to go are Plaza Santa Ana, Plaza Mayor and the Plaza del Oriente.

Tip: the 'cubatas' offer the best value for money - these are tall glasses of spirits (whisky, rum, gin, vodka, etc) with a mixer.

Here are some places to consider:

Bolero - Paseo de la Castellana 33
Boulevard 37 - Paseo de la Castellana 37
Pabellon del Espejo - Paseo de los Recoletos 31
ABC Serrano - Serrano, 52 - Rooftop Terraza
La Vieja Estación - Avda. de la Ciudad de Barcelona (Metro: Atocha)
El Viajero - Plaza de la Cebada, 11; Metro: La Latina - Rooftop Terraza

Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection opens in Madrid

Today, June 10th, will see the opening of the new Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, which will be opened in a brand new extension to the Thyssen Museum. Two temporary exhibitions will mark the opening of this new annexe: Catalan Painting from Naturalism to Noucentisme and an exhibition of the works of Gerard David. According to the Thyssen museum press release, ‘the 66 works selected for the temporary exhibition offer the public the opportunity to analyse the origins and development of modern Catalan painting, with works dating from the mid-19th to the early 20th century.’

The permanent exhibition of Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza includes works by Constable, Van Gogh, Brueghel, Picasso, Canaletto, Gauguin, Monet and Kandinsky, to name but a few. It has taken over two years to complete the building of this new annexe, cost over 38 million Euros and will be on loan for the next 11 years. The new collection will add a further 220 works of art to the Museum and is housed on 2 floors.

Opening Times
Tues to Sun, from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; closed Mon

Prices
Permanent Exhibition: 4.8 Euros
Temporary Exhibition: 3.6 Euros
Combined Ticket: 6.6 Euros

See Also
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Summer Concerts 2 - Dido, Bob Dylan, the Corrs

Here is another set of concerts for the month of July

Dido
Date/Time: 7th July - 10 p.m.
Venue: Patio Central Conde Duque
Price: 37.91 euros
Ticket Sales: Servicaixa (902 33 22 11).

Avril Lavigne
Date/Time: 9th July - 8.30 p.m.
Venue: Auditorio del Parque Juan Carlos I
Price: 14 euros
Ticket Sales: Fnac, Madrid Rock, Crisol, Tiendas Tipo and BBVA.

Summer Concerts from Lenny Kravitz to BB King and Woody Allen

If you've booked your trip, or looking to book it, here are a list of concerts for the next month in Madrid:

Lenny Kravitz
Date/Time: Thursday, 13th June - 10 p.m.
Venue: Palacio Vistalegre
Price: 34, 40, 45 and 75 euros.
Ticket Sales: Madrid Rock and Halcón Viajes travel shops

Marillion
Date/Time: 18th June - 9 p.m.
Venue: Divino Aqualung
Price: 24 euros
Ticket Sales:Fnac, Madrid Rock, Crisol and Tiendas Tipo

MTV Day '04 (La Oreja de Van Gogh, Álex Ubago, The Rasmus, Coti y Deluxe...)
Date/Time: 22nd June - 7.30 p.m.
Venue: Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas
Price: 10 euros
Ticket Sales: Fnac, Madrid Rock, Crisol and Tiendas Tipo.

B.B. King Blues Festival
Date/Time: 28th June - 9 p.m.
Venue: Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas
Price: 24 to 38 euros
Ticket Sales: Fnac, Madrid Rock, Crisol and Tiendas Tipo.

Bunbury (lead singer with Héroes del Silencio)
Date/Time: 26 & 27th June - 8.30 p.m.
Venue: Palacio Municipal de Congresos del Campo de las Naciones.
Price: 27 & 30 Euros
Ticket Sales: Madrid Rock

Woody Allen & the New Orleans Jazz Band
Date/Time: 1st July - 10 p.m.
Venue: Patio central del Centro Cultural Conde Duque (Conde Duque 11
Price: 35 to 60 euros
Ticket Sales: Telentrada.com – 902 101212 (Caixa Catalunya)