Madrid hotels collection

The sky over Madrid recurs in the canvases of the Prado, and one sees why on leaving the museum: a dry, very high blue that makes the brick look redder and the granite of the plinths greyer. The city is done on foot, from the Retiro, where Madrileños row on Sundays, to the streets of the Barrio de las Letras, where writers' words are set into the paving stones. The Salamanca district lines up its wrought-iron balconies and its doormen; the Plaza Mayor keeps its arcades. One dines late, lingers in the squares, and walks until night falls, which takes a while.