Sunday, February 21, 2010

Could this be better than NYC?

The girls at El Tigre
Ahh croquetas...best tapa ever!
Eric and I at Liquid. He's always down for whatever.
Real Jardin de Botanical
Vertical garden!
Street art on Paseo del Prado
Book fair
Mmmm Indian food

I know I know. Very bold statement to make. But with all of the different neighborhoods, street markets, gardens, museums, authentic restaurants and bars, historical monuments and more...Madrid is becoming my favorite city. Not to mention it's just a little more enticing to visit a place when it has a Spanish name. And when a solicitor is throwing flyers at me or trying to scam me into a night club...it's easier to ignore him because I usually have no idea what he's saying! Oh the perks of only having one semester of Spanish under my belt...

This weekend I have done some great exploring and am able to check a few things off my list of "what to see." Friday afternoon I met up with Erin to explore the neighborhoods of La Latina and Lavapies. We found a great bar for wine y tapas in La Latina and then walked to Lavapies to see the more ethnic side of Madrid. There are lots of immigrants there who have made it their home, so we found a delicious Indian restaurant. I don't know how much longer I could have lasted without a samosa or some palak panner.

When exploring Madrid, I have learned that the best meal to try at any restaurant (besides tapas of course) is the menu del dia which is the lunch menu of the day. It's usually 7 to 10 euros and comes with wine and three courses. If you want to be full and get a taste of what the restaurant's specialties are, it's a great choice. I'm not sure how many of them I can afford, but on the weekends I love to have one.

Friday night I went to Kapital, the largest club in Madrid. It was a little too crazy for my liking with seven different themed floors. The place was definitely hoppin'...and so were my friends, so I didn't get back to my room until I took the 6am metro home. I'm still going to stick by my original goal to become a Madrilena, but nights like that make it really difficult. It's going to be interesting when I return to America where people go out at 10pm and go home at 2am. I'll still be eating dinner then.

Saturday afternoon Monica and I enjoyed a beautifully sunny day in Madrid by visiting the Real Botanica Jardin and walking from the Atocha metro stop all the way down the Paseo del Prado. Though the garden wasn't in bloom yet, its landscape was gorgeous and the greenhouse was full of exotic plants. There were also cacti and palm trees all over the garden...which got me pretty excited for the warm weather to come. We saw the vertical garden outside of Caixaforum, a book fair, the Prado, Plaza de Cibeles and more. (Disclaimer: it wasn't a completely authentic day in Madrid because we couldn't resist going to Vips for lunch. It's basically an upscale Friendly's in Europe...)

Last night we went to El Tigre and a gay club called Liquid in the Chueca neighborhood. El Tigre is famous for its tapas and drinks, and is one of my favorite places to go. Chueca is very gay-friendly, and there is so much partying in the streets, you really don't even need to pick a bar or club. In such a predominantly Catholic country, where you couldn't even get a divorce until a few decades ago...it is amazing to see two men making out in the middle of the street. GO MADRID!

Today was a very lazy Sunday in preparation for midterms week. How enthralling. Exams don't begin until Thursday, so I'm looking forward to more exploration of the city tomorrow after class. Tonight our Senora made a great dinner with a stew consisting of cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and garbanzo beans as the main dish. She's doing her best to help me survive in meat-filled Madrid, and is succeeding.

And to conclude this entry, and give credit to my home, I must admit that even though I am in love with Madrid, nothing beats Broadway :)

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