All stories about "Madrid"

In the Sity has a map that's likely to be handy for lots of travelers passing through Spain : the free Wi-Fi hotspots in Madrid.

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Spain ups the high-speed transit ante with a new rail link between Barcelona and Madrid. After years of delay, the route now boasts daily service via 17 trains. For around €180 per ride, travelers can go from Barcelona to the heart of Madrid in just over two and a half hours. The Spanish government "says it will have more high-speed train lines than anywhere else in the world by 2010." [BBC]

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The World Taximeter is a simple tool to estimate taxi fare in a variety of cities. Currently covering Barcelona, London, Madrid, New York, Prague, Rome, and San Francisco, the fares seem pretty accurate for a coupe New York tests -- though it seems to have difficulty locating simple street addresses for start and endpoints, preferring to map with preprogrammed local points of interest. Now show me taxi fare from Times Square to Ghirardelli Square. [World Taximeter]

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I just realized that super-hip and swanko Hotel ME Madrid -- which we mentioned last year -- is the property that was originally supposed to turn into a Hard Rock Hotel, annoying the locals with talk of "vibes" and an unforgiving door policy. So it's no Hard Rock, but in fact is even more pretentious and exclusive! Take that, locals. [via]

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It took us a week to get through to this Mexican restaurant Taqueria del Alamillo, and the first available reservation was for two weeks later. What!? Rare for a little eatery in La Latina, but well worth the wait. Well ... almost.

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"We're going to watch a cabaret at the Monster's pit, wanna come?" Of course, I couldn't say no and that's how I discovered The Sideral Club -- an underground indie rock bar in Malasaña. The place has undergone a several changes in the last 3-5 years and it hasn't exactly got its identity clear yet. The Sideral Club plays host to a mixture of rock, techno, indie, and brit pop music, and picks up post-midnight. Inside, it looks like a dark garage illuminated by starlight and packed with a crowd of 1920's hipster-meets-goth types. The club is well-known for their shooters and it's not uncommon to find people having body shots here. Every Thursday, the space downstairs turns into the "Parada de los Monstruos" (literally Monster Stop) where they have free mini-shows that could be anything from a poetry recital, to a spoof of the Rocky Horror Show, or a lesbian cabaret. The acts have stopped until 2008, but unless you're just looking for a quiet beer, that's when you need to go. Located on Calle de San Joaquin 9 near metro Tribunal, the Club is open open Monday-Saturday 21:30-3:00 and entry is free.

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You won't be surprised that I don't know why it's called El Gran Vuelo (The Great Flight), but it's my new favorite hangout in Madrid's hipster barrio Lavapies. Only a few months old, the bar, located at Calle Miguel Servet 4, features maroon walls and yellow lights, young unshaven bar staff, a cocktail list should you want something with a twist, and serves generous glasses of wine. Regularly changing local art expositions adorn the wall, and soft live music and small-scale theatrical performances grace the stage, attracting a bohemian crowd. Surprisingly, they have a half-decent website, so you can actually keep track of its happenings without having to stop by. You can tailor make the night you want to have here -- dress up chic or dress down in sneakers, and you will fit in appropriately. And so far the place doesn't attract hoards of people, so pay a visit to El Gran Vuelo if you want to escape the loudness of Madrid any night (except Monday) from 19:00-2:00.

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What are you waiting for? Get out there, be erotic, have sex, stimulate your senses, feed and embrace your deep desires! This is the fundamental thought behind Madrid's first Pornography Festival, planned for April 2008. The festival works towards promoting the glory of sex as a form of adult entertainment and shaping the acceptance of explicit pornography as a means of exploration to be enjoyed without succumbing to social stigma. High-class and arty!

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A charming wine-lounge in barrio Anton Martin, El Patio de Lucas (Calle Fernando VI, 11) is one of those places that automatically puts you into chill mode as you enter. A dim, candlelit area with curtain lightshades right out of Romeo and Juliet, the place is perfect for a quiet drink after work or an intimate though casual date. It isn't a restaurant, even though that's what its business card says. But El Patio de Lucas does serve basic Spanish tapas to pick on with your wine. You need to ask for it and even take the plates to your own table, but that's not uncommon in Madrid. The place is low-key and although young and trendy, it doesn't have web presence of any significance. However, it's never empty. Open daily 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m., it's a great option on weeknights or if you don't want to hang in the noisy city center.

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Rock Palace is Madrid's pseudo-secret rock-punk-heavy-metal hangout in Madrid. Hidden in the quiet residential barrio of Palos de la Frontera, just outside the city's tourist center, you need to have the exact address (Calle General Vara Del Rey, 6) to spot it. Rock Palace hardly advertises (doesn't need to!) and regularly holds free concerts of well-known rockers that always go house full through solid word of mouth -- check out the recent Jon Spencer concert. They have a grungy bar open daily from 10 a.m.-11 p.m., where you'll often find corporate suits letting loose their inner rocker at lunch or right after work.

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I've always found it weird (and to some extent eerie) when I see non-Indians worshiping Krishna and dressed like Indian pandits. I respect that people want to follow Hinduism, but being an Indian myself, it's hard to come to terms with a Spanish guy called Carlos who has renamed himself "Arjuna," has shaved his head, draped himself in orange robes, and is singing bhajans (Indian spiritual hymns) in Hindi. Anyway, the most important reason for anyone to visit Madrid's Krishna restaurant -- located inside the Hare Krishna Cultural Center at Calle Espiritu Santo 19 in barrio Malasaña -- is the food.

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Flower power meets new pop art is the best way to describe the Madrid franchise Whatever, even as it re-establishes my fetish for Spanish shop names. In this case, although a cool name, the store isn't nearly blah enough to warrant its name. So I'd say, with the variety of things they sell, "whatever" here is synonymous with "everything." If not quite everything, they do stock a limited yet funky variety of clothes accessories (scarves, socks, hats), shoes, bags, gifts, and the odd chair or stool. The store has a bright, colorful, and happy energy. They have 6 shops in Madrid -- one in Toledo and one in Malaga. The two most central Madrid stores are on Calle Preciados 40 (metro Plaza España) and Calle Fuencarral 67 (Metro Tribunal). And they are pretty advanced for a Spanish company, as they have a website and you can even buy online!

Whatever [Official site]

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The place is hidden behind Gran Via and doesn't have signage, but you'll know you've arrived when you see the huge lines outside. This is the Wurlitzer Ballroom -- Madrid's rock, punk, soul, and garage club that's also one of the only places open till 6 a.m. And it's free. The Wurlitzer doesn't play the conventional dancey-disco that Madrid is known for. Instead, you'll hear everything from Motley Crue to the Ramones to Gun's N' Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers to Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin. The crowd suits the tunes, with plenty of ripped jeans in evidence. Don't get discouraged by the line; it move eventually, and there are enough Chinese around selling €1 beers to keep you going. The ballroom has regular concerts almost every day of the week; the schedule can be found here.

Wurlitzer Ballroom [Official site]

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French for "well turned out," I'm not sure why an underground (literally) blues bar in Spain has a French name; but as I have established many times here, there is no point trying to find logic in names of Spanish hangouts. La Coquette is hidden on Calle de las Hileras 14, between metros Sol and Opera right in Madrid's commercial center, and plays live blues Tuesday-Thursday. Entrance is free, and drinks are priced reasonably too, but the only tapa you'll get is sunflower seeds -- but that's a typical snack here in Spain. The tiny place has been running for 25 years, and it looks like a large brick tunnel with graffiti; tables are set in a U-shape so that everyone can get some view of the band. That ensemble is made up of locals that sing blues in English, so as long as you don't pay attention to the mild pronunciation errors, they're actually really good. Though very smoky, the bar has a hippy-alternative feel -- even those smoking pot weren't asked to stop. The music starts at 11 p.m. and the place gets stuffed, so it's advisable to get there around 10 p.m. to secure a spot.

La Coquette [11870.com]

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I was reluctant to go to this Italian restaurant run by a Venezuelan and Columbian (why didn't they open a Latin American place?), but Croccos actually serves the best Italian food I've had in a while. I ordered a sizzling parmigiano reggiano, baked ham, cheese, and brinjal rolls, and a margarita pizza -- yes, I ate all of it. Located in Plaza de la Cebada 9 in barrio La Latina, Croccos is hard to spot; you might walk past it thinking it's a cheap bar. But venture inside, and the smell of fresh Italian food will not let you escape; you have to walk inside, past the bar, to get to the small, romantic dining area. The service is warm, smiley, and fast. Although it's always full around dinnertime, on weekends it's not hard to get a table without a reservation, as the turnaround is quite quick. I've been there twice, and both times we were dining next to Madrileño actors -- so it seems to have celebrity approval as well.

Croccos [Salir.com]

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I smiled when I walked past a small restaurant called Este o Este ("This or This"); it had a decent three-course menu of the day -- including desert and coffee -- for a meager €9, so I decided to check it out. Located in the city center on cool Calle Manuela Malasaña 9, the place looks like a small, dark, virtually abandoned restaurant. But the minute you walk into the eating area at the back, you'll find it quite full. It's tiny and cozy, with nothing but small tables for two, all really close together. Not a recommended place if you want to have a private conversation, but a definite winner if you're into eavesdropping over lunch. There are only two menu choices at lunchtime, but they're typically Spanish, generous in portion, and delicious. At night they offer a full menu for dinner. Open all days for lunch, and closed only on Mondays for dinner.

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In Spain, the most authentic bars and cafes are what we call "old man bars." This is where, at all hours of the day, you'll see wizened Spanish tios hanging out, drinking beer as early as 9 a.m., watching football, or just ranting endlessly to each other. These bars are normally run by one of their mates and his wife, and they're filthy, cheap, have the best tapas (as they are made in-house by Spanish wives), and are always full. Although they're typical of Spain and not terribly pleasant, Bar El Palentino (Calle Pez 8) is an exception to the rule. It's all that an old man bar can be, but it's located in the trendy Malasaña barrio of Madrid, has information about the coolest happenings in the city, and is frequented by a groovy alternative Spanish and expat crowd. The service is warm and homely; it's called Palentino because the owner dude is from the northwestern city of Palencia. I asked the old aunty bartender woman for a business card (which of course they didn't have), so instead she gave me her little coin-purse which had the details of the place printed on it. Ain't that nice!?

Bar El Palentino [111870.com]

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Bar Bulevar, on Calle Santa Teresa at the corner of Plaza Santa Barbara in Madrid's city center (metro Alonso Martinez), is one of the grooviest bars I've been to in a while. Its wooden furniture and funky walls with colorful lighting give it a blend of the chic while remaining both alternative and down-to-earth. They have all sorts of hard, soft, and hot drinks, though there's only a limited menu of tapas to choose from. The bartenders have the biggest smiles, and the crowd is young, hip, and very in touch with what they want. Last year, as a promotional stunt, the place was selected by Fox Television as a "paradise" for cartoons The Simpsons, Futurama, and Family Guy, complete with besuited characters from the various shows inhabiting the bar. Make of that what you will.

Bar Bulevar [Cityvox]

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In my humble opinion, outside of New York and perhaps Berlin, the only place you would get to see a photography exhibition where asses are the objects of focus is in Madrid. And so last week the Fundación Canal opened their ass-tastic exhibition Ocultos (hidden things). The show displays 67 images exploring a variety of ways to observe, appreciate and gawk at people's posteriors. Sexy asses, old and wrinkly asses, cute asses, porn star asses, clothed asses with wedgies, cave-men asses -- name the type of ass and you will find it photographed here. It's actually pretty interesting to see how a backside can be made into the subject of classical modern art. Renowned international artists including Capa, Cartier- Bresson, Mapplethorpe, Man Ray and Lucien Clergue, and Spaniards Joan Colom, Rafael Navarro, Ramón Masats, and Isabel Muñoz among many others provide the work. The exhibition will be on to goggle at until the 6th of January 2008.

Ocultos [Official Site]

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An interesting fact about Madrid is that there are very few Spaniards here who are originally from the city. Most are from around the country or the neighboring villages. So with a significant number of Asturians in Madrid, it is of no surprise that there are some pretty authentic Asturian cider bars in the city, and Casa Parrondo Sidreria is definitely one of the most famous. Situated bang in the center near metro Santo Domingo on Calle Trujillos 4, the place is always heaving with Asturians there to eat typical food from their home province and drink some good cider. Asturian cider is bitter and is poured from the bottle about a meter above the glass; you're supposed to scull the cider while it's frothy after being poured from a height. If you're lucky and the place isn't crowded, the bartender will pour the cider for you. Otherwise be prepared to spill most of your cider trying to drink it the Asturian way.

Casa Parrondo Sidreria [LaNetro]

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Opened in 1995, the Geographic Club is slightly out of the center of Madrid on Calle Alcala 141, near metro Goya. This place is groovy in that it's a geographic museum that's also a bar/restaurant. With what looked like the machinery of n hot air balloon in the middle and portraits of late travelers and adventurers from all over, the place is immediately impressive as you enter. It's divided into three parts -- two bar areas and a restaurant on a platform above -- and is known for international food and cocktails. When I went there, the crowd was older and sophisticated, and the fact that they were drinking "Sex on the Beach" made me smile; it's hardly the drink you expect to see people slurp in a learned Geographic Club. Unfortunately, none of the bartenders could enlighten me on the thinking behind the bar and its decor. Other than the artistic, adventurous theme, there's nothing special about this place, and it gets further disappointing as they charge you €5 for a coffee!

Geographic Club [LaNetro]

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Madrid isn't exactly packed with Thai restaurants. There are probably only three in the entire city, and all are hard to find. One such, Bangkok Cafe, is right in the city center by Sol, on Calle Bordadores 15. The sign outside is old and dull, so you have to keep your eyes wide open just to spot it; the entrance is around the side. Once you enter, you could as well be in a Thai home. Small and colorful, the place may seem cramped, but the petite tables are quite well separated from each other, giving you all the privacy you need. The food is elaborate and authentic: the tom yum has just the right spicy sizzle, the barbecue chicken with peanut sauce is finger licking great, and the pad Thai is delicious, as is the spicy coconut green curry. Thai food is officially my favorite, something I realized after being in Thailand for four weeks, so I happily give this place my stamp of approval. Portions are generous, though it's a little expensive with a minimum spend of about €25 a head. Open daily for lunch and dinner, the restaurant closes most days at midnight.

Bangkok Cafe [Lonely Planet]

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60-cent beers, lusty atmosphere, Spanish tostadas (toasts), clumsy service -- but with a smile; I normally don't need much more for a good night out. Located at Calle Magdelana 32 (metro Anton Martin), Las Horas ("hours") is so called because of the number of hours people spend in this pretty hole. It looks like an illuminated hidden forest from inside, with trees painted everywhere, wooden furniture, and colorful little lights on rusty pink walls. The place is great for pre-clubbing drinks and can be found rather packed Fridays through Sundays when they're open till 2:30 a.m. (the 60-cent beers are a Thursday 9 p.m.-midnight special). The year-old bar plays Spanish and English retro stuff and is open daily from 4 p.m.-2/2:30 a.m. For celebrity-spot suckers, the joint has been given the seal of approval by Spanish actress Elena Anaya.

Cafe de las Horas

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A typical old-man's bar in Madrid, the main reason Cerveceria Alemana is famous is because Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, and Ernest Hemingway used the toilet there. Or at least they hung out, and you figure they had to hit the head occasionally. Although the name sadly translates to "German Beerhouse," it's actually one of the most tolerable places to visit in Plaza Santa Ana as it maintains the old-fashioned decor from 1904, and the waiters still work in their penguin suits. The menu offers Spanish and German food and all sorts of local and international beer; the joint has perhaps the best spot on the Plaza, and it's not very expensive for the location. A great place to people watch and get the feel of a historic bar in Spain that has lasted through two world wars, the Franco dictatorship, and the Spanish Civil War. Located at Plaza Santa Ana 6, the bar is open from 10:30 a.m. to midnight on weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends.

Cerveceria Alemana [Virtual Tourist]

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I have an automatic distaste for touristic venues, but the consistent long lines outside Hotel ME Madrid Reina Victoria, in Plaza Santa Ana, shotgunned my curiosity. The line was for The Penthouse -- founded and operated by nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber, who is also Cindy Crawford's very hot husband. Located on the seventh floor of the Hotel ME, the chillout terrace was opened in April this year with 1,000 invited guests that included many local celebrities. I suppose the celebrity connection is what encourages the bouncers (sometimes referred to here as "gorillas") to be uptight at the door and only grudgingly grant entry.

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La Catrina because of the big black iron door it hides behind at Corredera Alta De San Pablo 13 in barrio Malasaña. The little Mexican bar that says it has "todo bajo el cielo," i.e. "everything under the sun." is a grungy gypsy spot that serves the best margaritas and finger-licking guacamole. It looks almost cultish when you enter, but you'll like it instantly. The concept of La Catrina was first introduced by late Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada, who made images of well-dressed skeletons representing Mexican aristocracy. Funnily enough, these images today are recognizable as icons of death on the Día de los Muertos (Day Of the Dead) celebration. La Catrina is basically a busy multicolored corridor that's always welcoming, plays good music, and is just plain cool.

La Catrina [11870.com]

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I was invited to El Rincon Del Arte Nuevo for a concert, and from its name ("The Corner Of New Art") I thought I'd be taken to some arty space where people sing once in a while. It turned out to be a small, snug, alternative bar where you have to rub shoulders whatever you do. Located close to barrio La Latina on Calle Segovia 17, it turns out that this is one of the few bars that plays live music every night, including Mondays! Renowned Spanish artists such as Melendi and Javier Batanero play there, and jazz, flamenco, blues, soul, soft rock, and Brazilian samba are the kinds of music you'll hear every night. Another kick -- no cover charge. They'll burn a hole in your pocket by charging €6 a beer, but if you're a sucker for live music, this place will definitely hit the spot.

El Rincon Del Arte Nuevo [Official site]

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If you're not up for a two-hour, €40 flamenco show, yet still fancy something low-key, flamenco-driven, and filled with young Spaniards shouting olé, you've gotta go to Cardamomo. It's a small, cozy, red and black flamenco bar lit with candles and playing the hottest flamenco tunes. They have live flamenco guitarists and dancers who perform every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday starting at 11:30 p.m. (which translates to 12:30 a.m. Spanish time). With the music and the crowd -- men in black with ponytails and dark-haired stunning Españolas -- clapping away, singing, laughing, and drinking sangria, you'll be joining them in no time, as the energy is contagious and seductive. Located in Sol on Calle Echegaray 15, entrance is a mere €5, which includes a drink and the show.

Cardamomo [Official site]

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