Reconcile with the city
DAY ONE
morning : after her walk in the park Mrs Dalloway goes shopping
The day must start early . Sleeping until mid-morning has something decadent about it. The Madrid morning has a clear light that you have to go hunting . Sportswear, headphones and running or walking for a forest bath or a Shinrin Yoku , as the Japanese say. Two options are always considered: the Retiro or Parque del Oeste . If there is less time, the most beautiful square in Madrid serves, the Place de la Villa in Paris . The winner is the one from the West, more intimate, less obvious. It's time to breathe green listening to podcasts, although the Japanese would question it and say that what you have to listen to is the sound of nature . The Japanese are right.
After the walk or the race I follow the route. Professional? Detective of beautiful portals and seeker of joyful archival . The neighborhoods of Arguelles and Moncloa they offer amazing jewels such as the Naos bookstore, the Casa de las Flores, a building from the 1930s by Secundino Zuazo, the military homes of Fernando Higueras or the portals of the buildings from the 1960s or 1970s, beautiful to the point of tears. This continuation of the green walk playing architectural spies is, never better said, very uplifting.
Technical stop for a shower. The real moment begins Mrs. Dalloway of the week. The second half of the morning consists of buy what never gives time while leading a slow neighborhood life with a lot of interior monologue. In the first place: **you have to buy bread, but bread-bread**. The best of Madrid is in panic . There's a mixture of nerves and delight whenever you get scolded at this bakery for not reserving a loaf; Passing this drink is a new contemporary Madrid rite of passage.
Panic.
It's also time to go to the market . The one of ** Barceló , despite that feeling that it could be more and better than it is, maintains the neighborhood air , the shopkeepers who offer cheese and fruit to try and stalls as interesting as the one at the ** Quesarte-Martín Afinador . They always succeed with the briefing that is given. Continue the route: **stop in Batavia ** to wallow in beautiful objects. stop in alquian for the same. stop in the little duchess to buy chocolate palm trees for snack (sorry about the croissants), stop at Margarita is called my love to renew the flowers and stop at the Machado to open and leaf through books without a clear goal.
Get lost among beautiful objects
It's snack time , the sacred hour of the aperitif. Nearby options? A classic like The Ardosa , something very neighborhood like Petisqueira or something new like The Commissary . Or both. In the bag goes a book or some magazine without finishing. No looking at Instagram or Whatsapp: that counts as socializing. Time to eat . The dilemma is the same: something classic like the From Maria de Hortaleza , the best acoustics, meat and service in the area or the Mr. Ito , a bright and fresh Japanese. There is no wrong answer.
Japanese menu to honor yourself
Afternoon: me, me and me
After resting and snacking on the chocolate palm tree, it is time to self tribute . Lazy Saturday afternoons are great for manicures, pedicures, facials, or massages. Maintenance is always welcome. ** Slow Life ** immerses you in a slow world with an enveloping aroma of fig. An hour in which someone takes care of us in silence is a necessary hour . Wow, what smoother skin, what higher cheekbones or what Hollywood star feet about to pick up an Oscar. Now we have to go back to real life.
Mid-afternoon is a great time for a very Spanish and very unoriginal hobby: going to shops and shop windows, that expression in disuse. The Neighborhood of salamanca offers a very friendly shopping. The route Stories+COS it is not negotiated. Some jump to see the dancers of Miu miu and buy a gift diptyque. Use Feu de Bois but I don't usually give it away because it seems that I'm letting go of something of mine. big mistake, because this candle is in thousands of houses on the planet. The route of stores continues on the other side of the Castellana, in Salesas. Wow, there's no time: it's dark.
give yourself a moment
Night: life is pure theater
The most fragile moment begins for those who want to endure alone in the city . It's not worth calling anyone. Outreach news: almost-almost everything that is done in company can be done alone. Having some wine, dinner or going to the theater does not need two or three people. One only knows how to do it. Saturday is theater day and Sunday is cinema . How to be a foresight who knows that Madrid is theater city entrance has been reserved in advance to see some of the works of the season. The abbey , the Spanish Theater or the Slaughterhouse They fail little. The Kamikaze Theater , small and unique, is the place to explore. Eye: until November 22 they have a poster The Function to Do . If there is someone left who has not seen this obrón, you can proceed to reserve a ticket now. And when you leave the theater you don't have to go home. You have to digest the work. That is done very well in a bar , with a glass of wine and some croquettes.
Kamikaze Theater
DAY TWO
Morning: loooooong breakfast and intimacy
Let's welcome a second day alone. Sundays are busy days. Let's start as soon as possible and from the beginning: a good breakfast. The Garden Café of the Museum of Romanticism meets the expected requirements: has simple but effective breakfasts , if the weather allows it, it can be taken on the terrace and, very important: has press . The perfect breakfasts are slow, salty, reading and in silence.
The artistic route begins. There are two options: a slow visit to a large museum or visits to temporary exhibitions. Example of the first option: spend the morning in the Thyssen , visiting the permanent and temporary collection. Until January 22 you can see something unique Renoir: Intimacy , an exhibition that has involved an enormous museum effort. Doing something unique on a Sunday is a good plan. In addition, the theme matches the idea of touring the self-absorbed city. The option of two express visits is more hectic but great. I propose this strange couple: Hitchcock Beyond Suspense in the ** Espacio Fundación Telefónica ** and the retrospective of Cruz and Ortiz in the I.C.O. Museum.
A visit to the Thyssen is always comforting
High culture makes you very hungry. Near these places there are a series of perfect restaurants to eat rich, well and in perfect solitude. One is Laveronica, in the Barrio de las Letras, where a plate of pasta with carabineros can generate a lot of well-being. Another is Pachuco House, in Lavapies , where I have never eaten or drunk badly. They are honest sites, with personality and that remain oblivious to trends. Nearby, in the Ave Maria are the Hindu classics. There are many but after many dishes of Chicken Korma, Chicken Vindaloo and square meters of Cheese Naan eaten there I can say that the best is the Bombay Palace.
Laveronica
Afternoon: chlorophyll and cinema
After the dose of spicy you have to walk. In addition, we need the green quota of the day. It is mandatory to have trees or plants nearby whenever possible. The best place is Botanical Garden . Before we stop at NuBel to drink a coffee. What is NuBel? A gastronomic macrospace that is in the Reina Sofía. It's open all day and it's stylish. There are few, if any, similar spaces in Madrid. It is named after Jean Nouvel, author of the building that has had to be respected in the interior design of the project.
Brunch at NuBel
After the visit I am ready to **enter the Botanical Garden**. A visit to this place is a gift that one makes to oneself. If time permits, (and if not, too) you have to sit under the lime trees to read or think or look at the tops of those trees . Wandering through this garden, entering its greenhouse, seeing the colors of the leaves in autumn is so beautiful and so easy. Beware of closing hours: in October it closes at 19 and in November and December at 18 . With the endorphins boiling, we proceed to finish off the weekend. Only one word comes up: cinema. And another one: Verdi. this cinema of Chamberi it is one of the few remaining in the city that resembles the cinemas we have always been to. In agreement: it is nostalgic; Sunday afternoons are a good time to embrace nostalgia . If you arrive early, you can read the newspaper in the ambigu (what a beautiful word) and say hello to someone you know, because at Verdi cinema is still understood as a ritual, not as a formality. Shhh. Silence: the movie begins.
Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid
You always leave the cinema with a feeling of estrangement. The clash between the darkness of the room and the street requires some acclimatization time. The best thing is to walk home, like a character in an indie movie where the girl walks under well-lit streetlights. Or one of Almodóvar. Along the way, a Thai soup with lots of ginger and lime in the tuk-tuk to take away and eat at home. It will be time to call someone and tell them how well Madrid has behaved. Madrid, the übersocial Madrid , take good care of people who dare to be alone for a whole weekend. It is a discreet city, it does not ask questions. In addition, it is generous because nothing is saved. Thank you Madrid. She knew you would behave. I think to repeat.