Gaudeamus igitur...
A neat, small place with its simple shiny beauty. Little more to be said. You´ll have a view over the roofs of Madrid and can sip your Italian style coffee from big cups at a decent price. Special mention to the decor and indoor lighting. Thanks to my guitarre friend, I became acquainted to this select place in downtown down down Madrid ;)
La Central del Raval /carrer Elisabets
If you are just about to stroll down the Ramblas, in the part that goes staight down to the Columbus statue, you should consider visiting beforehand the library "La Central" in the carrer Elisabets, just turning to your right hand side, soon after having passed the famous metro station of "Catalunya".
You will be amazed to find peace. Pleasure. Much paper. And a few perls of widom. "La Central" is the secret navel of the city. It´s where you can find the few intellectuals that might be around. Where you can get silence from the crowds without travelling far. But, of course, you will travel far: the books, in many different languages, not only Catalán and Spanish, will blow your mind away. On the second floor you will find an extended section for philosophy. The nicest volumes, also very recent publications of distinct writers, are waiting there just for you to take your flight.
"La Central", is the navel point of Barcelona, the power place where you can dive into the worlds´deepness.