Madrid.. Madrid.. Madrid.. (Lavapies and Paseo del Prado) Te quiero Madrid.. I love you Madrid! :)

This is more like a picture post as I would like to share some snapshots of the city centre of Madrid.  We are fortunate to live in the city centre, again with the trade off that we are far from nature (but Madrid has beautiful and kid friendly parks full of trees which simulates feeling of nature) and that our units are smaller.   We can probably live in a chalet or in a bigger unit in a suburb or in the outskirts of Madrid but we made the adult decision to stay within the city.  

For today´s post, I would like to share with you the areas of Lavapies and Paseo del Prado.  

Lavapies is know for its fusion of Asian - Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian flavors and cultures.  There are Spanish locals residing in the area but a big part of the local business are managed by Asian businessmen.  There are also Spanish food areas and we have visited more than a couple of times, the Spanish classic coffee shop Cafe Barbieri.  Lavapies  has significantly improved through the years.  It is home to the Lavapies Metro, Lavapies Plaza which is neatly maintained by the Comunidad de Madrid.  There are several playgrounds which allow the children to have a good time.  

 Lavapies Signage

 Metro Lavapies

 Resto 1

Stores

 

 Lavapies Housing units

  Indian Resto

   Roadsweeper of the Comunidad de Madrid that keeps the city clean

 O Paso del Lugo, a classic Spanish resto.. Really good food!! 

Plaza de Lavapies 

 

Paseo del Prado is a long avenue that connects to the Paseo de Castellano a long avenue where the business district of Madrid is located.  The nice thing about Paseo del Prado is it is very near to the Atocha Train Station, the biggest and busiest train terminal that connects to all points of Spain, it is close to Retiro Park, Caixa Forum, Neptuno, Ritz Hotel (currently under construction) Jesus de Medinacelli Church and the famous Paseo del Prado.  

On Sundays, the Comunidad de Madrid closes one lane so that the tourists, locals can freely walk withouth worrying about the stoplights and vehicles. 

As this area is very touristic, there are a lot of food franchises (Burger King, McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC)  but it also houses a lot of classic Spanish restaurants. 

 Neptuno

Signage

 Calle de Jesus and Basilica de Jesus de Medinacelli  

 Hotel Palace, right in front of Prado Museum 

                                                      Paseo del Prado 

 Museo del Prado  

                                        Caixa Forum and its famous vertical garden  

Paseo del Prado has many trees which add up to the beauty of the area.  

Hope you like this blogpost and for sure, you will not miss it when you come here in Madrid!  Thank you!!!