Madrid - Edmondo De Amicis

I was looking for De Amicis’ “Istanbul” and I found his “Madrid” instead.
De Amicis lived and wrote in the nineteen century, so expect style, vocabulary and mindset of that epoch. Yet, it is an extremely interesting, accurate and even modern account of one of the most fascinating European capitals.
This book was written after the Napoleonic campaigns and before the civil war, of course, therefore the city must have looked very different than what it is today, but I guess that a refined and erudite present day traveller to the capital of Spain could still tell similar things about the Plaza del Sol, the Prado museum or the Plaza de toros.
It is a short book, partly travel diary, and partly journalistic report. And it has definitely little to do with De Amicis’ masterpiece “Heart” (original title: “Cuore”).
I will keep looking for “Istanbul”, but this was a very nice detour indeed.