I went this week-end to Madrid. I left Friday morning with the train because I like to travel this way. It is cheaper, please book with www.renfe.com , than to fly (Barcelona-Madrid is one of the busiest line in the world) and it takes almost the same time if you add all fares. With the train from city center to city center it takes 4 hours … well should have taken 4 hours : it can happen to everyone and with every transport. The train after 10 mn drive just stopped. Because it was in a middle of a tunnel we just had to wait for another train (actually the next one) to push it and go to the next station.It took 2,5 hours. So instead of arriving at Atocha at 12.00, I was there at 14.30.
During the journey one thing was to notice : after Lleida, the desert starts : no more green, no more water. You only see the desert starting.
But the positive point is that I was right on time for lunch time.
One thing you notice straight away once you are in the city end of July : the heat. I forgot how 40ºC and more can be in a city. You immediately look for the shade and manage to walk the closest to the wall you can.
Anyway the hotel booked is very recommendable : central, not expensive, service quality, room more than nice and comfortable : Petit Palace Londres www.hthoteles.com . Very good surprise. Then from Porta del Sol I had lunch at Plaça Santa Anna outside (with the shade) in a restaurant called La Moderna. From there I went to the renewed area called Chueca (nobody wanted to leave there until gays, hotels and fashion places invest the place) . Have a look at www.room-matehotels.com, not opened yet but as far as I saw, very promising.
A quick step forward is the shopping place at Calle Serrano but I wanted to keep it for the next day. I was planned to have aperitif with friends at the bar Lateral, calle Fuen Carrel also in Chueca. Only the time to go back to the hotel, put fresh clothes and we all had dinner at la Viuda Blanca www.laviudablanca.com : all ok from the air conditioned to the wine and food. Maybe a bit expensive (all included about 40€) but near all "places to be" to start the night. After dinner we had the first drink at Café Larios www.larioscafe.com when it started to be busy. It’s a restaurant, then a bar with live concert (jazz or Cuban) and you can carry on ground floor with the disco, mostly 80’s to warm up. More fashion was la Reina Bruja, mentioned by GQ and it is completely the style. Fashion, design, nice place, maybe a bit young but it was still early www.reinabruja.com . Almost the same with Cool (Web site not available but should be www.lecool.com/madrid ) . We went to the party called Stardust for which you can have a look at www.myspace.com/stardustclub . Much more interesting was Wind, Montera, 25 (entrada por Plaza del Carmen, metro Sol). Because it is very busy, noisy, smoky (Madrid is much more relax with cigarette than Barcelona), a lot of people meet in the toilets. Very instructive, sometimes ….
Well it was getting early so we all decided it was time to rest.
On Saturday nothing original for breakfast as I need the English one to start. After 3 liters of water, I could manage shopping at Serrano. In this area are all the brands you look for and many more you don’t even know yet … but soon.
A bit of culture with Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, building made by Jean Nouvel. I was surprised it looks like the Musée des Arts Premiers of Paris from outside but bigger. It is built in an ancient hospital and there you can see the Picasso’s Guernica. Amazing place and very nice temporary exhibition about the eye’s perception. Feel free to go on week-ends, it’s free on Sundays www.museoreinasofia.es
Time for la siesta and dinner was scheduled at 23.30 in the old town at Naïa. It is a bit difficult to find but it’s worth the effort. www.naiarestaurante.com . Of course it is warm, of course it is noisy, of course there is no air conditioned so try to be patient to get your table outside. Because it was already late and we didn’t really recover from the day before we were not in the mood to carry on, which is a shame because there was other places to discover like Indepen-dance www.myspace.com/independancemadrid highly recommended but not before 3.00 and for fans of indie music.
But I keep it for another time. Frankly said, on Sunday I only managed to take the train back.
During the journey one thing was to notice : after Lleida, the desert starts : no more green, no more water. You only see the desert starting.
But the positive point is that I was right on time for lunch time.
One thing you notice straight away once you are in the city end of July : the heat. I forgot how 40ºC and more can be in a city. You immediately look for the shade and manage to walk the closest to the wall you can.
Anyway the hotel booked is very recommendable : central, not expensive, service quality, room more than nice and comfortable : Petit Palace Londres www.hthoteles.com . Very good surprise. Then from Porta del Sol I had lunch at Plaça Santa Anna outside (with the shade) in a restaurant called La Moderna. From there I went to the renewed area called Chueca (nobody wanted to leave there until gays, hotels and fashion places invest the place) . Have a look at www.room-matehotels.com, not opened yet but as far as I saw, very promising.
A quick step forward is the shopping place at Calle Serrano but I wanted to keep it for the next day. I was planned to have aperitif with friends at the bar Lateral, calle Fuen Carrel also in Chueca. Only the time to go back to the hotel, put fresh clothes and we all had dinner at la Viuda Blanca www.laviudablanca.com : all ok from the air conditioned to the wine and food. Maybe a bit expensive (all included about 40€) but near all "places to be" to start the night. After dinner we had the first drink at Café Larios www.larioscafe.com when it started to be busy. It’s a restaurant, then a bar with live concert (jazz or Cuban) and you can carry on ground floor with the disco, mostly 80’s to warm up. More fashion was la Reina Bruja, mentioned by GQ and it is completely the style. Fashion, design, nice place, maybe a bit young but it was still early www.reinabruja.com . Almost the same with Cool (Web site not available but should be www.lecool.com/madrid ) . We went to the party called Stardust for which you can have a look at www.myspace.com/stardustclub . Much more interesting was Wind, Montera, 25 (entrada por Plaza del Carmen, metro Sol). Because it is very busy, noisy, smoky (Madrid is much more relax with cigarette than Barcelona), a lot of people meet in the toilets. Very instructive, sometimes ….
Well it was getting early so we all decided it was time to rest.
On Saturday nothing original for breakfast as I need the English one to start. After 3 liters of water, I could manage shopping at Serrano. In this area are all the brands you look for and many more you don’t even know yet … but soon.
A bit of culture with Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, building made by Jean Nouvel. I was surprised it looks like the Musée des Arts Premiers of Paris from outside but bigger. It is built in an ancient hospital and there you can see the Picasso’s Guernica. Amazing place and very nice temporary exhibition about the eye’s perception. Feel free to go on week-ends, it’s free on Sundays www.museoreinasofia.es
Time for la siesta and dinner was scheduled at 23.30 in the old town at Naïa. It is a bit difficult to find but it’s worth the effort. www.naiarestaurante.com . Of course it is warm, of course it is noisy, of course there is no air conditioned so try to be patient to get your table outside. Because it was already late and we didn’t really recover from the day before we were not in the mood to carry on, which is a shame because there was other places to discover like Indepen-dance www.myspace.com/independancemadrid highly recommended but not before 3.00 and for fans of indie music.
But I keep it for another time. Frankly said, on Sunday I only managed to take the train back.
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