3/2007
Paula has just returned from Madrid and Andalucia! Her report follows:
Generally, was surprised to find out very little English is spoken even in Madrid. Makes it harder to shop and to eat–my 2 favorite pastimes.
That said, Madrid was much more exciting and vibrant than I remembered it from my last trip–about 6 years ago. Particularly the Chueca area–variously described as the Soho of Madrid and the gay area of Madrid (both may very well be true).
The new airport is a fascinating design by the Richard Rogers Partnership. But isolated from the other terminals accessible only by airport bus–a factor when connecting in Madrid!
SHOPPING
1. Zara – didn’t spend much time,good selection it appeared although sizes were picked over. Zara Multiple locations.
2. Massimo Dutti – owned by Zara–more Banana Republic. http://www.massimodutti.com Multiple locations.
3. Hoss – good for all ages. Cute skirts, dresses, jackets, purses and a bit of costume jewelry. Bought a tiered dress–a little short but great over bathing suits ,a Marni type jacket ,a black fabric purse with colored plastic trim and fabric strap–Marnish also and a long necklace with colored straw discs,etc. Great fun and won’t break the bank. Lots of interesting colors. http://www.hossintropia.com Multiple locations.
4. Sybilla- serious clothes–looked awful on me but very elegant for the right figure. Callejon de Jorge Juan, 12. 915 781 322.
5. Marinoni – same address – little courtyard with some shops,etc. Interesting purses and comlimentary small pieces. Callejon de Jorge Juan, 12. 915 772 521.
6. Agatha Ruiz de la Prada –– very colorful separates for women and children. Fun, inexpensive–pants, coats, skirts, tee shirts and accessories in primary colors, cotton. http://www.agatharuizdelaprada.com Calle Serrano, 27. 913 190 501.
7. Castaner — makes espadrilles for YSL and Hermes–all kinds of contemporary styles and adorable ballet flats sans espadrille bottoms. http://www.castaner.com Claudio Coello, 51. 915 781 890.
8. Farrutx – dull styles from a good brand that the last time I was in Spain (Barcelona, 3 years ago) had super things. http://www.farrutx.com Serrano, 7 (and other locations) 915 769 493.
9. ABC Serrano – mini shopping center with a Zara and several other stores not open on Sunday so I never saw them. http://www.abcserrano.com Serrano, 61. 915 775 031.
10. Yanko – was the premier Spanish shoe brand when last in Barcelona. http://www.yanko.com Lagasca, 52. 915 761 678.
11. Lottusse -– nice shoe selection,up to date styles. http://www.lottusse.com Calle Goya 6/8. 91 577 2014; Serrano, 68. 914 351 695.
12. Adolfo Dominguez – not very interesting from a quick glance. http://www.adolfodominguez.com Multiple locations.
13. Purificacion Garcia — terrific “stuffâ€â€“tee shirts, skirts, a few jackets and purses (although too many had their initials on them in some fashion). http://www.purificaciongarcia.es Multiple locations.
14. Piamonte – had good costume jewelry–lotsa and quite a few interesting purses. Piamonte 16. 915 224 580. Also, Calle Abtao, 25. 914 343 030.
15. Tous – remembered from Barcelona,had sunglasses and purses,now seems mostly gold and silver jewelry. http://www.tous.es Multiple locations.
In addition to Serrano,Claudio Coello, Calle de Jose Ortega y Gasset, Goya, Calle de Jorge Juan, all good shopping streets.
In Cueca, Calle de Almirante has some good shops as does Calle Hoteleza particularly for shoes.
Lastly Boxcalf–is written up for interesting contemporary style–small selection and mostly European brands–Tods,etc. Expensive. http://www.boxcalf.es Jorge Juan, 14. 914 353 429.
Nice Marni store–nice selection–not as large as some of the other Marni boutiques. Calle de Gurtubay, 5. 914 325 097.
Sorry guys – R was not in shopping mode,so not much in men’s news.– Zara,Purification,Dominguez all carry amounts (small) of men’s things. Not much in the way of leather for spring that we could see. Unfortunately.
STAYED
at the Westin Palace–great location–could walk to the 3 museums, Chueca area and to the Serrano shopping area. http://www.westinpalacemadrid.com Plaza de las Cortes, 7. 913 608 000. Used one of the concierge staff–Mr. Nembrini to help (via email) plan our dinners, obtain tickets to the Tintoretto exhibition at the Prado and railroad tickets for use in Andalucia(much less expensive than RailEurope on line).–Cannot praise him enough.
FOOD
–Joined friends for lunch our first day at a Basque restaurant near our hotel–
Errota-Zar http://www.errota-zar.com Calle Jovellanos, 3. 915 312 564. Interesting older building–upstairs,old-fashioned dining room. Had our first hake (merluza) in typical garlic, parsley sauce–always good! Served a small cup of an excellent veg.soup as an amuse. Spider crab salads, also chipirones (baby squid) for mains. Nice food, well prepared, traditional but not exciting.
Dinner at ARCE in Chueca–walked (went to a tapas bar first for an aperitif)–ate at 10:00 every night. http://www.restaurantarce.com Calle Augusto Figueroa, 32. 915 220 440. Although there was an ala carte menu, everyone seemed to have the menus of which there were 3. They all came with wine, which you could upgrade if you chose. Moderately priced. Very much a bistro–chef/owner came to take the order. Spoke only restaurant English! Very friendly. If you want to know what we ate, let me know! Highly recommended.
Sun-Had lunch at Jose Luis, a tapas bar/restaurant–very common everywhere-bar in front and restaurant in back. Well located near Serrano shopping (sometimes open 1st Sunday of the month), Museo Galdiano. Upscale crowd. Interesting food. Had menu in English for tapas as well as Spanish. Better to ask for both. The Spanish one was much longer and, with a dictionary, pretty easy to figure out. We couldn’t get a Spanish Menu Master but would highly recommend ordering one in U.S. if any interest in food. Serrano 89 915 630 958. (recommended by Mr. Nembrini)
Sunday dinner at Casa Lucio–very popular Madrileno “hangoutâ€-sort of like a NY steakhouse with several little rooms and an extensive menu. http://www.casalucio.es Cava Baja 35 913 658 217. This is where we sampled a speciality–scrambled eggs (but what a difference) with sauteed potatoes cut like FF’s and added to the mix! Most everything in many of the places-particularly the tapas or more casual ones–consists of fried food (fish particularly) and various kinds of potatoes (mostly fried)–R was in heaven! I missed out on trying baby eel (VERY EXPENSIVE) which I later found out the couple at the next table were sharing–looked like linguine eaten with little wooden utensils. Compartir is “to share†in Sp.–very valuable word.
Ate 2 lunches at Sergei Arola’s new casual but very contemp and chic restaurant recommended by Mr.Nembrini(who else). New to Madrid and called D’E. Juan Bravo, 12. 915 771 662. Very Italian with individual and sharing size pizzas–very interesting ingredients, salads, bocadillas (sandwiches), some with only one ingredient and tiny as in the tapas bars and some that are larger with several interesting combos. For dessert, you get a chit and go into a separate patisserie room and pick what you want(yummy)–open continuously from about noon till 1:a.m. Both tables (reservations taken) and a bar/counter
Ate dinner at El Chaflan. Avenida de Pio XII, 34. 913 506 193. 1 star-most contemporary food we had, very light and interesting but quite Spanish. Could (very clever) get half portions of both starters and mains for 60%. Not very crowded-15 min cab ride.
Last night ate ate at Santceloni. http://www.restaurantsantceloni.com Paseo de la Castellana, 57. 902 108 840. One of the two 2 star restaurants in Madrid. (other one is La Broche–Arola(who is an Adria disciple). Lovely, large elegant room with exemplary 2 star service. Excellent–not terribly Spanish but a lovely experience.
