To have a coffee in a literary setting that's oozing atmosphere and tradition
in Madrid requires almost no effort.
Just walk to Pasillo de Recoletos,
look for the address plaque that says "21" and open the door to Café Gijón.
Read the rest of: "Café Gijón"»
¡Feliz Año Nuevo desde Madrid! By the way, this is
Madrid's Puerta del Sol on New Year's
eve (right around midnight). Did you know that Spaniards eat grapes
instead of drinking champagne during the countdown?
You're supposed to eat exactly twelve during the
last minute of the year - that works out to be one grape every five
seconds, if my degree in Mathematics was worth anything at all.
If you linger or hesitate then it's bad luck. All
grocery shops around Puerta del Sol sell seedless grapes (is that cheating?), neatly packed by
the dozen.
This is a wonderful sunset view of Los Austrias - my favorite neighborhood in Madrid. Of course,
my camera gets weird in such light, but you get the point. It is beautiful.
If you look closer, youll notice a plexiglass wall separating the sidewalk from the banisters. It is there
for a good reason. Many people, perhaps thoroughly impressed by such views, have
chosen to plunge to their deaths from this very point of the bridge - and by the way, there's a
street below (Calle Segovia). Imagine how annoying it used to be for the drivers when some
suicidal freak would just make a mess right in front of their car.
