For food and fun, here are two places one might miss…

Just off the Plaza Mayor (with its many tourist restaurants) is the Mercado de San Miguel, a renovated market hall where there are many little shops with all kinds of cuisine. A kind of culinary event space, it is great for an extended & varied lunch extravaganza.

The “Madrid Rio,” or parks running along the Manzanares River is a must do, especially with kids on bikes. Not only is it a huge area of bike paths, contemporary landscaping, amazing playground structures, skateparks, pumptracks, and outdoor cafes, it is a great example of urban renewal (the road along the channelized river was put in a tunnel underneath, and the space then used for parks, etc.).