Madrid is so much more than museums and monuments. Its true essence is found in its streets, cafés and pubs where, for centuries, wine, ideas and words are mixed up. Places where, nowadays, between wooden tables and zinc bars, you can hear the buzz of those conversations that are still relevant. In Madrid, art does not just hang from the walls.
Track artists’ footsteps
Few places keep the memory of artists the way taverns, cafés and bars of Madrid do. Spots such as Café Gijón, where the Generación del 27 shared their ideas and developed their creativity, or Bodega de la Ardosa (Ardosa Winery), witness of writers and painters gatherings around beer, wine and vermut. Madrid is that rare place where, if you listen carefully, you can still hear the echo of those conversations.
It is said that through the streets near the ancient Salón del Prado, which today is Paseo del Prado, did not just walked royalty and nobility, but also painters, writers and philosophers that ended its working day in taverns from the area. It is not hard to imagine Goya, characterized by that restless spirit, listening to town rumours in pubs in Madrid while on its mind, at the same time, artworks such as La pradera de San Isidro or the Caprichos were beginning to take shape.
Listen beyond
Leave aside typical tourist bars and dive in the Barrio de las Letras, where wandering is not just bumping into the shadow of every artist that walked through those streets, but also a place where you can still hear their stories. Look for taverns where the wine is served in the same way as they did when all those masters used to go there.
Imagine sitting at the table with Goya or having a toast with Velázquez. Madrid preserves that tradition: that of being an large open-air meeting room, where wine and words are, even now, the driving force behind its culture.