Spain

Las Ventas Arena Walking in the centre, you can’t help noticing a majestic red-brick building constructed in the Neo-Mudéjar style. It’s the Las Ventas bullring erected in the early 20th century when corridas were particularly popular. Bullfights are held from March to October, but Las Ventas doesn’t stand empty at other time as well. Concerts, sports competitions, and various cultural events are organized here. There’s also a small bullfighting museum within the arena. It exhibits the portraits and biographies of famous matadors as well as bullfighting equipment and outfits. Madrid Río Park We often visited the Madrid Río Park located along [...]

Golden Triangle of Art Planning our trip to Madrid, we surely added the visit to the Golden Triangle of Art – a complex of three art museums located on the Paseo del Prado – to the list. The Prado Museum is one of the most famous places in the capital. It has a collection of 8,000 paintings and several hundred sculptures including the works by Velázquez, El Greco, Rubens, Goya, and other renowned artists. When entering the museum, we were given a plan with all major masterpieces marked, but even having it, it’s easy to lose your bearings here. The building [...]

Puerta del Sol – the Place Where All Spanish Roads Start All roads lead to the Puerta del Sol. When you walk around Madrid, it’s just impossible to dodge it – sooner or later, you come to the square. The main square of the capital, whose name can be translated as “Gate of the Sun”, is situated in the heart of the city and is a meeting point of eight streets. It is considered km 0, a geographical centre of both Madrid and Spain. A bronze Km. 0 plaque is built into the pavement before the House of the Post Office. [...]

The weather in Porto got worse by the end of September. North winds brought the real cold, and we were afraid that it would be as cold in Madrid. However, to our delight, the capital of Spain welcomed us with a bright sun. We were enjoying the lovely summer-like weather till late October, which let us explore the city to the fullest. We’d been dreaming of visiting Madrid for many years as it’s both the historical and political capital of the country. The flat we were renting was very cosy and located near the city centre. It was a good apartment [...]