To experience Madrid is to explore its restaurants and eateries, prop up its countless bars, and be swept up in the nocturnal madness of its music scene and clubs. Madrid has always been a city of immigrants and transients, and the result is an unusually open and accessible city. Ambitious programs to modernize the city are afoot, but the gatos (locals) of Madrid can rest assured that their town remains as refreshingly unlike Paris, London or Rome as ever.