I´m in the middle of my week in Madrid. The city has never looked better. Arenal was not a pedestrial street the last time I was here. Also Fuencarral - previously a shabby street - is now lined in designer boutiques. When did all this happen? I was here about two or three years ago, and it definitely was not like this.

I´m having a great time. Between revisiting old favorites and discovering new places, a week is definitely not enough. I´m thinking of returning for a month and staying in an apartment as soon as I get the chance.

I´ve also had two weeks of the best November weather I´ve ever had traveling in Europe in November. During my week in Seville it was like summer during the afternoon and pleasantly cool at night. In Madrid it was cooler, but I never needed any outerwear at all. I carried a sweater around but only put it on a few times late at night.

They are doing a lot of work Donna . Check out Calle Alcalá from Sol towards Sevilla .. All the sidewalk has been widened . They´re doing the same in Calle Serrano .. At the moment it´s Una Pesadilla , but when it´s finished it´ll be great !
Fuencarral has always had the great shops , but the traffic was always a nightmare . You couldn´t actually stand back and see what the various shops were . When the sales ( rebajas ) start you get some amazing bargains in Fuencarral .
And if you´re looking for shoes try Augusto Figueroa in Chueca .. Quite a few women´s shoe shops down there .
Enjoy !
Steve .

Some things have improved, THAT'S FOR SURE (and Puerta del Sol is the best example), but other things remain under construction - like the Plaza de Isabel II (a.k.a. Plaza de Opera) and Plaza de Castilla.

The pedestrianization of some Old downtown streets is definitely for the better although enduring the first few years of change includes growing pains.

Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself, Donna Cuervo!

Saludos, MadridMan

I noticed on calle Serrano that they seem to be digging a subway or something that goes on for blocks. What is that?

I had a look at those shoe outlets on Figueroa. Since I work in retail, I have more clothes, shoes and accessories than I could use in two lifetimes and get 80% discount on anything I could possibly wear to work, so I´m not really looking to buy those kinds of things when traveling, but it´s fun to look at what they have and compare it with what we sell.

I walked down Figueroa on my way to my favorite seafood place in the area - Ribeira do Mino. Have you guys been there? It´s really an experience. I was there once before, and it was just as good this time. Very reasonable prices for what you get.

i was there last december with a bunch of Spanish friends after watching the Real Madrid beat Estudiantes in basketball at VistaAlegre, talking about Ribeira do Miño, great mariscada and Ribeira white wine chill....!