Hola to spring: the cafe at La Central bookshop.
Annie Bennett suggests where to watch the passing show — and where to join it — as spring warms the city of Madrid.
Spring in Madrid brings the welcome reappearance of the terrazas, with waiters across the city frantically unstacking tables at the first sign of warmth.
I've been living in Madrid on and off for 30 years, and love how the downtown barrios have been transformed. Shops, bars and galleries have popped up on the ground floors of buildings all over, but look up and you'll invariably still see someone in a dressing gown, quietly taking in the scene from a wrought-iron balcony.
Mercado de San Miguel is a great meeting and eating place.Credit: Getty Images
Although there is plenty to do, it's still great sometimes simply to sit with a coffee and take in the passing show.
The perfect day
I would start with an exhilarating bike ride along the new track by the Manzanares river, stopping to look up at the slate spires of the city's churches. Then I would see an exhibition or two, maybe at Ivory Press (ivorypress.com) or CentroCentro (Plaza de Cibeles 1; centrocentro.org), which is a new cultural venue, with a great terrace bar, in the ornate former post office.
The neighbourhood of Chueca.Credit: Alamy
Then I would walk through the Chueca and Malasana neighbourhoods, popping into shops and bars, no doubt bumping into friends. We would probably meander towards the Plaza de Olavide and spend the next few hours at one of the pavement cafes.
Perfect night out
The Mercado de San Miguel (mercadodesanmiguel.es) is a great place to meet friends for a glass of wine and something tasty to eat from one of the many stalls. We would probably go on to share more tapas at Juana la Loca (Plaza Puerta de Moros 4) or Estado Puro (Plaza Canovas del Castillo 4; tapasenestadopuro.com), and end up with cocktails at a pavement table in one of the little squares in La Latina.
Favourite view
You can see right across the city from the roof of the Circulo de Bellas Artes, a cultural centre with a lot going on (circulobellasartes.com).
Favourite walk
I love walking down from the Plaza Mayor through Los Austrias - also known these days as La Latina - the oldest part of the city. The area has become fashionable in recent years, so there are trendy cafes alongside the traditional bars. I wander down to Calle de Bailen and stop at Las Vistillas, where there is a terrace bar with fabulous views from the Royal Palace to the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains.
Where I tell my friends to stay
The new Artrip hotel in the Lavapies neighbourhood is excellent value. It has lots of designer touches but no fussiness. It is great for people who want to get into the local vibe and is near the Reina Sofia museum (artriphotel.com).
For an anniversary or birthday, I usually recommend the glamorous Westin Palace. Staying there always feels special - spending hours over breakfast and then moving straight on to cocktails is not unknown (westinpalacemadrid.com).
Friends really like the Hesperia Madrid because it is near a lot of the restaurants and is in a non-touristy area. The two-Michelin-starred Santceloni restaurant is rather fabulous, too (hesperia.com).
Favourite bars
It's all mismatched chairs and blackboard specials at Muy, which serves tasty snacks and a changing list of unusual wines - all available by the glass (+34 91 559 5784). For stiff drinks and cocktails, I love The Passenger, which is done up like a luxury train carriage, complete with windows showing landscapes flashing by (Calle Pez 16).
Favourite restaurants
I spend a lot of time in the Conde area, and often eat at La Dichosa, one of the best gastrobars in the city. Eva, the owner, is great at suggesting wines from lesser-known regions of Spain for us (ladichosa.es). Around the corner, Con 2 Fogones is my favourite for a bargain menu del dia lunch - €10.50 ($13) for three courses and a glass of wine (condosfogones.com).
Favourite cafe
The quality of coffee in Madrid is variable, shall we say, but Toma Cafe in Malasana takes the whole process very seriously and produces outstanding results (tomacafe.es). I also really like the cafe in the new La Central bookshop just off Plaza del Callao. It's perfect for diving into if the crowds on the Gran Via and Calle Preciados get a bit much (Postigo de San Martin 8; lacentral.com).
Take my advice and ...
Get straight into the city's rhythm by doing a lot in the morning and having a civilised glass of local vermouth before a leisurely sit-down lunch. The afternoon stretches until about 8pm in Madrid, which leaves plenty of time for shopping and more culture. If you don't want to wait until 10pm for dinner, tapas bars are lively from about 8.30pm, but don't usually get packed until an hour or so later.
What I'll be doing in 2013
I'm looking forward to the big Salvador Dali exhibition at the Reina Sofia museum (April 27-September 2; museoreinasofia.es). That will be followed by Surrealism and the Dream at the Thyssen-Bornemisza (October 8-January 12, 2014; museothyssen.org), which also promises to be great.
I will no doubt also be spending a lot of time at the dynamic Matadero cultural centre. The new Cineteca shows documentaries and other non-fiction films (mataderomadrid.com).
A book for inspiration
Madrid Tales (Oxford University Press) is a terrific new anthology of short stories set in the city by writers including Javier Marias, Juan Jose Millas and Elvira Lindo, translated into English by Margaret Jull Costa.
Telegraph, London
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