Walk the walk in Madrid, Part 1

The best way to get to know a city when you have just moved there is to simply walk its streets. And walk, and walk and walk. That is what I did in Madrid in my first weeks. Actually, I'm still doing it now, as I hardly got to know the whole city. With Lonely Planet in my bag, I started exploring from the start. In between apartment hunting, I liked to take the spirit of the city in and get lost on its streets. But you know, the getting-lost-with-a-map type of thing, we have to be somewhat organized, right?

Right. There is a lot of advice considering where to walk and what to visit in Madrid, as it is indisputably a very large city, with so many things to do. No matter where you are, when you know you're going to spend a few months, a year or more in that city, there's no rush. You have time to do your walking any way you want to. But you should definitely do it. For the very least, just so you could go back home and be able to answer questions from people who were visiting it just for a week but now seem like they're tour guides or something. Yes, those annoying know-it-all, we've all met them. And most importantly, it's free. So go walk the walks!

My first walk in my first day was a short one in the Retiro Park, as I was living quite close. Then it all depended on what neighborhood I was in while searching for a place to live. I walked up and down on the streets of La Latina, a very special, colourful place, I sat in the very pretty Tirso de Molina Plaza, until I realised I was right next to a bunch of drunk homeless people (but they were peaceful so no worries) and I walked the streets of Las Huertas neighborhood, which might be my favourite part of Madrid, especially when it comes to getting lost in the city by foot. You can explore these three areas in one day and be sure to cross paths with many beauties you wouldn't have thought of, beauties that always have a madrilenian story to tell.

To be continued!