It must be hard for an art museum like the CaixaForum Madrid to be located so close to the Big Three: the Prado, the Thyssen, and the Reina Sofía. Or maybe I just don’t get this one.
The vertical garden outside is an intriguing sight, but the building, designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron and much lauded, leaves room for improvement. (What can I say, I’m a tough crowd?) It’s possible that the building itself is the Forum’s main attraction though.
The steel and brick structure houses a cultural center/museum that, like a lot of modern centers devoted to the arts, features a hit or miss lineup. The exhibit a while back on Charlie Chaplin was fascinating. Too bad I couldn’t say the same for some of the other programming. But even if installations of varnished pork on skateboards or shredded euro bills pressed between glass are not your thing (or mine), the center thankfully has free admission, offers a variety of lectures, and has a restaurant on the top floor to while away the time.
Right now the Forum is featuring an art exhibition devoted to Miquel Barceló that runs until June 13, but frankly, I don’t see what the fuss is about – just more mediocre paintings rewarded with esoteric descriptions. Then again, I’m more of a Prado, Thyssen, or sans ludicrous description type of gal, and I often find more art with book covers, street graffiti, or classical museums than in the museums currently devoted to so-called modern art. (So sue me?)
CaixaForum Madrid
Paseo del Prado, 36
Metro: Atocha
Madrid, Spain
There’s nothing secret about La Mallorquina. It’s stood in the Puerta del Sol – the dead center of the city and Madrid’s busiest confluence of streets – since the late 1800’s. It isn’t fancy and you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a 1950’s time warp, but damn do they have good chocolate croissants.
Any day of the week there’s a crowd waiting to order at the glass counters: mature women buying for their afternoon merienda, tourists following their nose or their guidebooks, and madrileños of all stripes stopping in for a sweet snack. And since they’re accustomed to the influx, the shop assistants are rather efficient at getting you out the door with your hands full of pastry.
Then as the seasons change, La Mallorquina offers traditional treats the way they’ve done for years without seeming to change at all: there are festive Roscón de Reyes cakes filled with cream, sweet French toast torrijas dripping with sugar syrup, the curiously-named “saints’ bones” made with marzipan…
Though the pastry shop’s wares seem to disappear in the blink of an eye, La Mallorquina is one Madrid institution destined to withstand the test of time.
La Mallorquina
Puerta del Sol, 8
Metro: Sol
Madrid, Spain
Is it an upscale pet store or a candy-colored eyesore? Well, Pet à Porter is definitely both.
Before Paris Hilton nauseatingly made miniature dogs the hot fashion accessory, madrileños were already way, way ahead of her – they’ve been proudly walking their small dogs around the city for years.
However Pet à Porter probably owes more to Ms. Hilton than they’d like to admit: rows of dog outfits line the racks like fashionable baby clothes, pet collars gleam with fake diamonds, and pet luggage is sold in various shades of pink. Though it’s also a place to get Fifi groomed (or an acupuncture session) and stock up on such banal items as bags of pet food, Pet à Porter definitely has all the pink and fake diamond-encrusted bling your pet probably never asked you for.
Pet à Porter
Plaza de Chueca, 5
Metro: Chueca
Madrid, Spain
It’s that time of year again and Marcha Zombi Madrid 2010 (MZM’10) is just around the corner.
What: A horde of hungry zombies will take to the streets of downtown Madrid before ending the ferocious, yet orderly, parade for some old-fashioned Goth clubbing.
When: Febuary 27, 2010.
Where: The march will start at 19:00 at the Zombie Tree at Avenida Felipe II, 24-26 (Metro Goya) and will end at 21:00 at Plaza del Carmen (Metro Gran Vía or Sol). 666 Gothic Club (at Sala Wind) will then be invaded by zombies from 21:00 to 1:00.
There’s something undeniably attractive about gathering with a bunch of strangers who are in on the same secret as you in order to pummel each other with bed pillows in a highly public place until you’re too tired to go on swinging or you’ve simply taken one too many shots to the face. Nothing says [...]
Who said classic had to be outdated? At Olé Lola the sophistication of a chic chillout bar is firmly wedded to time-honored Spanish fare and symbolism.
Portraits inspired by traditional Spanish iconography line the walls but sport a decidedly modern turn: bullfighters with tattoos, picaresque female mourners in black lace mantillas, and other inhabitants of [...]
I find that no matter how much of a city person you are, an occasional weekend getaway for nothing but rest and relaxation can be just what the doctor ordered.
With the old town enclosed by medieval stone walls, surrounded by a small river and a forested valley, Buitrago del Lozoya is less than a couple [...]
A short stroll around the Mercado de San Miguel is a veritable buffet of ‘food porn’ – in an historic 1916 market with ironwork in the style of Les Halles in Paris. After the market got a facelift and reopened in 2009 with a new lease on life as a foodie destination in central Madrid, [...]
