After Madrid, heaven By Fred and Karen Eckert Talk to any Madrileno - that's what someone who lives in Madrid is called - about his hometown, and chances are you'll hear this remark: "De Madrid al cielo." "After Madrid, heaven." That is probably the best-known saying associated with Spain's capital city. It certainly conjures up an inviting image. Yet Madrid remains one of those great cities of Europe and the world to which most American travelers give little thought when thinking of places that they would like to see. Maybe from living in Madrid the Madrilenos know something that the rest of us might enjoy learning. For besides avowing that only heaven would be a better place to live, they often boost their boast by adding the second half of the saying: "Y un agujerito arriba para verlo." "And a peephole for looking down." Heaven, they are saying, just wouldn't be paradise unless you could see Madrid from there. While only a local would put it quite that way, the Madrilenos are fully justified in being very proud of their city. And certainly correct in asserting that it is well worth seeing. Madrid has a reputation as a city that never goes to sleep, with dinners that can start at close to midnight, bars that stay open all night and traffic jams at two in the morning. You can do that. But what makes this city that lies on a high plateau smack in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula - the highest-elevation capital city in Europe - so very special to us is that it is a place that has truly retained its old Europe charm. Walking away from its Plaza Mayor one day, we were talking about how much we have come to like visiting Spain and wondering how it was that we had taken so long to discover the captivating appeal of Madrid. How did we ever overlook Madrid for so long in so many years of traveling around Europe? We like the sights. We like the restaurants - Spain has great regional dishes, and Madrid offers them all. We like the shopping. We like the Madrilenos - they're lively, charming, friendly. We like sampling tapas, those small Spanish dishes you can enjoy as an appetizer or pile together as a meal. We like starting the day with chocolate con churros, the Spanish breakfast treat of fried dough and hot chocolate that is so thick and rich that it tastes like liquefied chocolate pudding. There's a whole lot to like about Madrid. It would be worth traveling there only to visit a three buildings that lie within about a half-mile easy walking distance of one another. Paris may have The Louvre; Florence may have the Uffizi; St. Petersburg may have The Hermitage; but in a compact area in Madrid that has come to be known as the golden triangle of art, arguably you will find more great works of art per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Madrid's golden triangle - the Prado Museum, the Queen Sofia Art Center and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum - deserves to be on any serious traveler's list of must-see destinations. The Prado - which, of course, easily can stand on its own as one of the top few museums of the world - is the key point on this triangle. Built by one king in the late 18th century to house science exhibits but greatly damaged by occupying French forces before any exhibits were ever installed, it opened as an art museum in 1817, after another king decided to use the then-abandoned building to assemble under one vast roof many separate art collections of the Spanish royalty. That grand assembly of great art collections was significantly expanded when Spain required churches, monasteries and convents to turn over much of their art collections to make them available for general public viewing. Its huge collection - the Prado owns more than 6,000 paintings, some 500 of which are on permanent display - is naturally focused heavily on the greatest Spanish masters: Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, El Greco and other outstanding Spanish artists. No other country in the world has as fine a display of its own country's greatest artists under one roof. Yet, while some critics might say that it is weak when it comes to English, French and German artists, the Prado, in reflection of the spread of the Spanish empire and the artistic tastes of its royalty, does house a surprising strong collection of Flemish, Dutch and Italian works. A visitor can see the highlights of the Prado in half a day, but it is wise to devote an entire day to it and view its full hanging collection. Some complain that it is not an easy museum to navigate, but we found such complaints unwarranted, perhaps because we had followed sound advice and purchased one of the well-done illustrated guides just prior to entering the building. The nearby Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Queen Sofia Art Center), formerly a hospital, is the modern art point on this golden triangle of art, its collection focusing on the works of Spain's three most renowned modern masters - Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro. The centerpiece of the museum is Picasso's famous Spanish Civil War work, Guernica, which was moved here from the Prado. The third point on Madrid's golden triangle of art is the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, housed in the Villahermosa Palace, which is even closer to the Prado than is the Queen Sofia Art Center. At one time perhaps the finest private collection in the world, nearly 800 great paintings plus other works owned by the Dutch mining and shipping tycoon Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, it was lent to Spain for a decade and then sold to the country at a bargain price. The baron, it is said, was generous at the urging of his Spanish wife, a former Miss Spain. It is sometimes said that with its bit-of-everything variety this remarkable collection fills in the gaps in the Prado's collection. All of this - three incredible museums that taken together do indeed form a golden triangle of art alone worth a trip to Madrid - and all within easy walking distance of one another! Actually, all of the areas of Madrid that are of interest to tourists are pretty close together and easy to get around. While greater Madrid now tops 4 million inhabitants and covers a large area, the core of the city - the less than 2 miles between the Royal Palace to the west and Retiro Park to the east - has remained relatively unchanged for a long, long time. This is the heart of Madrid - Old Madrid - this area of monuments, museums, churches, historic buildings, grand squares, broad boulevards, twisting medieval alleyways, restaurants and cafes by the hundreds, and fine shopping. You can walk to most of what you want to see pretty easily, which offers the great advantage of making your own little discoveries along the way, but there are a good subway system and plenty of inexpensive taxis at your disposal. The Royal Palace is a good spot to begin touring the old quarters of historic Madrid. The guided tour through this massive mid-18th-century structure takes two hours, and still the mile-long path that you wander along leads to only the highlights of its 2,800 rooms. Some of the rooms - such as the throne room, the banquet hall and the private apartment of its first occupant, King Carlos III, with its 2-ton crystal chandelier - are so opulent that you truly do have to see them to believe the raves about their splendor. As you walk through the Royal Palace, it's wise to keep your eyes open for paintings by Goya and El Greco. If you are lucky and you are in the palace at about noon, you just might be in its room that is full of gold clocks when all their bells and chimes go off. You could spend several hours at the Royal Palace if you opt for more than just the official tour. In addition to the palace proper, there are a few museums on its grounds. Especially interesting is the Royal Armory, which is located within the palace and which feature a dazzling array of armor worn by 16th- and 17th-century knights as well as some interesting instruments of torture. Also of special interest is the Royal Carriage Museum, which is located outside the palace in a nearby building in what used to be a royal park. The elaborately decorated carriages, mostly of 18th-century vintage, include one donated by Napoleon. The current king and queen make their home at a much less imposing palace on the outskirts of the city and use the Royal Palace only for state functions and other rare official ceremonies, at which times it is closed to the public. Whenever we visit the Royal Palace, we like to take the time to stroll over to its lovely Patio de Armas. Stand on this spot perched high overlooking the Manzanares River, take in the view of the mountain passes that lead to Madrid, and you can see why the Moors built their first Madrid fortress on this same site back in the ninth century. Oddly enough, Madrid, capital of Catholic Spain and cultural center of the entire Spanish-speaking world, does not have any cathedral that comes even close to rivaling those we have marveled at in Seville, Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela. What might pass as Madrid's most interesting church, the Cathedral de Santa Maria Real de la Almudena, happens to be right next to the Royal Palace. It didn't officially open until 1992, in a ceremony presided over by Pope John Paul II, and it took a century to build, mainly because of political and bureaucratic disputes. The cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world, is worth a visit, but we were more impressed with our stroll through the Plaza de Oriente, an elegant and pleasant parklike spot just across from the Royal Palace. It is lined with huge stone statues of the Spanish kings. They were meant to be mounted on the railing along the top of the palace, but Queen Isabel of Farnesio claimed that she was worried that they would cave in the roof while others claimed that she was annoyed that her own likeness did not dominate the display. The statue of King Felipe IV that stands at the center of the Plaza de Oriente is not only especially attractive but also of some historic significance in its own right. While statues of this particular type pose are common now, it was the first equestrian bronze that was ever cast with the horse rearing. To configure the statue's weight so that it would not collapse, the Italian sculptor who made it, Pietro de Tacca, received the assistance of none other than Galileo. The pose itself is from a Velazquez painting of Felipe IV that the king dearly treasured. Only a short distance from this splendid little spot is another Madrid landmark we always enjoy seeing - the monument to the great Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes in Plaza de Espana. It features a statue of Cervantes elevated above his two most famous characters, Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza. Once while walking from the Cervantes monument to the Royal Palace, we suddenly heard the clicketyclack sound of many horses and soon found ourselves watching quite an impressive honor guard parade as a group of brilliantly decked out horsemen headed for some ceremony at the Royal Palace. Roughly halfway between the Royal Palace and Retiro Park, a vast green zone with lakes, fountains and lovely gardens, is the Puerta del Sol, sort of the crossroads and nerve center of Old Madrid. Ten streets converge here, and so do three metro lines. This is where you will find Kilometer 0, the spot from which all distances are measured in Spain. A plaque on the sidewalk marks it. While certainly not one of the city's most attractive spots, this crowded plaza is a favorite meeting place for Madrilenos. This is where you will find the Oso y Madrono (bear and strawberry tree) statue that is the official emblematic symbol of the city of Madrid. Many miss it - it's right at the point where the Calle de Carmen, a favorite shopping street, meets the plaza - because it is overshadowed by the plaza's huge equestrian statue of Carlos III. Nearby is our favorite spot in Madrid, Plaza Mayor, one of the loveliest squares in Madrid - in fact, one of the largest and grandest squares in Spain or Europe. Marked off by graceful old buildings with endless rows of small balconies, the plaza is surprising quiet; it is closed to motorized traffic. It's a wonderful place to just stand and ponder the history. This is a plaza that officially opened in 1620 with ceremonies celebrating the canonization of five Spanish saints, a plaza where kings were crowned, where royal marriages took place, where knights held tournaments. This is the best spot in Madrid to listen to street musicians, look over the works of local artists and shop in quaint little boutiques. Or just sit among the Madrilenos and enjoy a coffee under the Spanish sun.IF YOU GO For more information: For brochures, call (888) OKSPAIN. For detailed information, contact the Tourist Office of Spain, (212) 265-8822; e-mail, oet(at)kspain.org; Web site, www.okspain.org. Getting there: In cooperation with U.S. carriers, Spanair ((888) 545-5757) flies directly from Washington, D.C., to Madrid every day except Tuesday and Saturday and currently offers attractive special fares. Accommodations: For location, service and value, the best choice is the Villa Real. For reservations there or elsewhere in Madrid, call Marketing Ahead, (800) 223-1356 or e-mail mahrep(at)aol.com. When to go: Spring and fall are the best times, but we've also thoroughly enjoyed visiting Madrid in February. Guidebooks: Fodor's "Madrid & Barcelona" is the best choice. Its suggested itineraries for walking tours are outstanding. Safety: Madrid has a reputation as a very safe destination, but it is wise to take the usual common-sense precautions that you would take in any European destination that draws tourists. Entry documents: Spain does not require a visa for U.S. citizens - only a passport. Fred and Karen Eckert are free-lance travel writers. Visit Copley News Service at www.copleynews.com. (c) Copley News Service

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