During the 90′s, when everyone crackled with the sounds of grunge with bands like Pearl Jam and other commercial events of the time, many other high caliber bands were arming the beginning of a new movement, which was parallel to all the alternative scene and that definitely filtered into record labels where not many would realize that the future of music was there. Among these bands, and to summarize some artists we include Melvins, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, along with Monster Magnet and Electric Wizard. The most significant of these cases was that they kept the heavier sound at the time, without being exactly metal, but they led the dynamics of doom metal and rock to places not previously visited. These bands will be essential to understanding the phenomenon of Stoner Rock or Desert Rock that will spread from the late 90′s until today.

Beyond Stoner, heavy rock bands of the late 90′s and onward, discovered new ways of interpreting classic hard rock and heavy metal riffs. They were already new times, and so, the trip left turning away from Satanism, violence or conflicts of the Cold War, very metal-specific thematic themes of the eighties. In the case of the new horde of metal bands, the trip was an interior one, in some cases even cosmical, restoring life to the almost dead genre.

Mastodon is one of the heirs of those bands that learned to go beyond both conceptually and musically. Formed in Atlanta, Georgia, Mastodon knew how to amalgamate grunge sounds with even slower progressions with heavy, fast pure hardcore riffs along with changes of rock and progressive jazz  . In other words: “Sludge Metal”. So, Mastodon demonstrate with their album “Remission” to be one of the first to establish the genre back in 2002. However, it is not until the release of their flagship album in 2004, the renowned “Leviathan”, in which the band will become an inspiration to many other metal-avant-garde projects.

Recently, Mastodon just released their latest album entitled “The Hunter”, which of course keeps their  heavy sound, but now the band is at reconstruction point with high-intensity short songs with less progressive arrangements, pointing more towards classics riffs that make “The Hunter” easy to access to new ears. If you have not heard anything by Mastodon before, perhaps this album is a good starting point and then taking it from there to the first records of a greater intensity. Mastodon will be in Madrid on January 23 at the Joy Club  still known in the capital as “Joy Eslava” despite its name change. For more on Mastodon, visit: http://www.mastodonrocks.com/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Madrid and hear the awesome sound of Mastodon. The rock scene in Madrid is vibrating and is waiting for you to advance into the depths of its underground

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Translated by: Marc
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Today, it is difficult to find places, where you can listen to good music, or see the performance of bands that have much more to play than the normal rock n roll, which pleased everyone. If you see it in a sharp way, many people opt for the rock proposals, just as an additional way of entertainment and dancing. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with it, but rock n roll also has the gift of being experimental, risky and unconventional. Madrid has been traditionally a rocker city.

The groove scene showed so thirty years ago, and its great influence on the rock that later came, not only in Spain but also in Latin America. The history and the emergence of the Madrilenian groove scene, is very different from what is happening today in Spain in terms of rock. Back then, it was a context of dictatorship and the emergence of a herd of young punks, who sought to conquer the world. Today, the rock in Spain seems to be a sort of rest or dormancy, conquered by the frequencies of “indie” and “modern” still waiting, like so many corners of the world, that rock comes back to save us.

In Madrid there are many spaces for rock n roll today. There are bars, clubs and some discos, where you can listen to the best of classic garage rock. However, other trends such as the space rock and krautrock, are somehow limited. There is no city today, where the psych rock is really what dominates the public and rocker style: there is no “Space Rock Heaven”, at least not yet. Nevertheless, don’t let stop you in your search for new spaces for experimental music.

Thus, a space like La Boite has been presenting some of the most important bands of the psychedelic and experimental rock in recent years. Concert bands like: Mugstar, Acid Mothers Temple, Silver Apples, Bardo Pond, Guitar Wolf, among others, prove it. Despite all the abundance of sounds currently available on the Internet, the psychedelic rock remains as one of the last bastions of experimentation to which popular culture can still access.

Besides being a concert space, La Boite after midnight becomes one of the hottest places to dance and get lost in frenetic rhythms all night. La Boite has become one of the favorite spots for the international LGBT community in Madrid. In La Boite you hear the best sounds of the 80′s and 90′s, as well as the most amazing techno that will make you feel as jumping until dawn. For more information visit the following website: http://www.boitelive.es/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Madrid and discover the wide range of bars, clubs and concerts that this fabulous city has to offer. Madrid’s nightlife has no end if you really want to have fun.

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Translated by: Hans
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If you like living up to the day and boast about having good taste, be sure to follow these suggestions on vintage shops in Madrid, which offers unimagined wonders to fill your closet and cause the envy of many bystanders and friends. So follow our advice if you come for pleasure or on a business trip to this city.

To begin, Lotta is a cute place where clerks are always willing to provide the best services without disturbing or interfering too much. In this store you can find everything you can imagine from the 50′s to the 80′s and all is in very good condition. The prices are quite affordable up to par with the quality, so you can buy a coat of fine wool or accessories from 45 euros to 10 euros. This store is located in Cortez 9 and is open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 to 20:30, it is only closed for lunch.

If you like brands and spectacular pieces of clothing’s, Vintage Madrid is the store you should visit to feel dressed likea super star.  Everything there has a special sophisticated smell and a haute couture color. There are hats, kimonos, handmade shoes and a huge collection of costumes from the 20′s and 30′s. In addition you can find well priced Armani and Dior garments among others. The value for money aspect is an issue, you just have to take a look good and forget about love at first sight, because it can be expensive.

But if you ask me for  a special recommendation, nothing is  better than to visit the Czech Mona, there everything is super vintage, including the store itself which has a circus tent hanging on the ceiling. Located in the Malasaña neighborhood, this shop has become a must for those looking for good prices and quality. So come and search among fashion of the 50, 60 or 70, the shop is located at Calle Velarde 2.

Delgado Corachán is a classic in vintage clothing. It has authentic pieces of the 20′s, 30′s to the 80′s. Besides an incredible assortment of brand clothes preserved in silk paper to prevent contaminants, dust and moisture that deteriorate fabrics. The place has an air of sophistication and is located in a refurbished old winery, very adequate with the style of that period. While it is very cheap, what matters is the authenticity and the quality brands. The focus is luxury and you can try on the clothes you please without any problems. There is an interesting collection of handbags, hats and accessories that complement any outfit. Its address is St. Paul’s Baja Slide 8.

Finally, there is Vintage Biba, a boutique specializing in sophisticated clothes for men and women from the 20′s to the 80′s, all is top quality brought straight  from France and Britain. There are also antiques, sunglasses, bags and interesting accessories. The address is Calle Velarde 1, local 14.

Nancy Guzman

With all this info you can rent apartments in Madrid and succumb to the temptation of vintage. Then, you know, Madrid has everything for a few days of fun and relaxation.

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Translated by: Marc
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Observation and surveillance, either through voyeurism or witnessing violence, have always been there. And nowadays, with mobile phones and digital cameras it is present more than ever. Being aware of this, the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco and the Tate Modern in London have organized the exhibition “Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance, and the Camera Since 1870” in which, through 170 photographs and two audiovisual works, the evolution of the prying eyes over the years is shown.

From the 27^th of October until the 8^th of January 2012, Canal Foundation has been hosting this exhibition that shows diverse topics as eroticism, pornography, celebrity stalking, surveillance, and even death and violence, through the works of recognized photographers and photojournalists as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, among many others.

Cartier-Bresson, considered the photojournalism’s father, always had the leitmotiv of catching the decisive moment, what he called “images à la sauvette”, which is the image capture by stealth. He was, without doubt, the great representative of the “Street photography”.

Curated by Sandra Phillips (SFMOMA) and Simon Baker (Tate Modern), the exhibition was divided into five themed sections:

1 .- The Unseen Photographer (Street photography). In these images, the photographer does not seek perfection of the snapshot, but their ability to anticipate the news and, above all, the photographer’s ability to take the picture quickly.

2 .- Surveillance. Today, everyone’s got access to mobile phones and digital cameras. Everyone has either of these two devices and, therefore, automatically becomes a photographer. Or to be more precise, watchmen and guards from each other. There are some photographs that allow reporting some facts and have the ability to catch the truth of the moment, thus fulfilling its social function. In this section of the exhibition there are contemporary photographers.

3 .- Voyeurism and Desire. The curious eyes of man have always been there, from the annals of history. This exhibition explores topics as eroticism and pornography, with images bordering the forbidden.

4 .- Witnessing Violence. Wars, drugs, mafia, crime, executions. This violent forms of photography, conforms a very productive genre, especially for the yellowish papers. A photograph captures, in a brutal way, the privacy of individuals.

5 .- Celebrity and the Public Gaze. During the late 50′s, paparazzi photographers were born, the ones who, with their telephoto lenses and crouched where they could, immortalized the intimacies of celebrities, then sell these photos to famous publications. These pictures are called “stolen”, where the lack of sharpness is replaced by the value of the document. From this, it began a millionaire industry.

Quite a journey through images that do not leave anyone indifferent, where one asks the use or misuse of the camera. This exhibition comes to the Spanish capital after passing by the Tate Modern in London, San Francisco MOMA and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

http://www.fundacioncanal.com/index_noticia.php?mes=4&sec=5&year=2011&ancla=octubre

Dew DROPS

If you are in Madrid, you cannot miss the exhibition “Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance, and the Camera Since 1870” But above all, do not forget to rent apartments in Madrid

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Translated by: Hans
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Until the 6^th of January 2012, on the terrace of La Casa Encendida de Madrid, the exhibition Migration, A moving planet, will be presented. The exhibition organized by the publication Le Monde diplomatique in Spanish, goes into the issue of migrations, by roughly mapping the global reality represented by large human migrations.

The exhibition is organized around some dramatic photographs taken by photojournalists as Walter Astrada, Zalmaï, Asim Hafeez, among others. It also has the active participation of UNHCR, UN, FAO and the Migration and Exile Research Center (CEME), of the UNED, who submit their best productions of short videos to contribute to the understanding of a little drama made in the large current policy discussions and often overlooked by citizens.

Along with this interesting graphic exhibition, there will also be important contributions of contemporary thinkers and intellectuals about the meaning and the signifier of the concept “migration,” accompanying as disturbing devices.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the “mapping” of Le Monde diplomatique and LaVie Le Monde, in which people will be able to understand the global dimension of this phenomenon and its most relevant aspects, ranging from the human to the economic and political. Articles prepared by the editors of Le Monde Diplomatique will accompany all of these.

One of the most interesting aspects of this exhibition is the opening performance, which has been done permanently until its closure. The performance directed by Jose Sanchis Sinisterra addresses the issue of Spanish people who have emigrated for economic reasons. For this, he takes five voices heard from a cybercafé, while they are in a monologue telling their experiences to family in the distance. The play achieves a striking effect on the viewer, with a voiceover that expresses the bodily absence of the other. It raises concerns about the possibility of living the uprooting, loneliness and marginalization that means to be transplanted into another land.

In this reality there are about 230 million people, among which include legal and illegal immigrants. This great mass of men, women and children of different ages are very dramatic. But if you look at the human scale is even more dramatic, because there is also a big human trafficking business coming with it, especially people whom emigrate looking for the dream of a better life and find nothing but misery, exploitation and abuse.

A prominent aspect of the exhibition is that it manages to sensitize those who have never had the experience of migrating to other places looking for a better life. This reality forces us to look at this situation from a different perspective, and recognize that behind every immigrant, there is a human being who has escaped from poverty, war or political intolerance.

For more information http://www.lacasaencendida.es/LCE/lceCruce/0, 0.73537% 24P1% 3D16 _0_73535_21807, 00.html

Nancy Guzman

Enjoy a wonderful time, while staying in apartments in Madrid This is an interesting, free of charge exhibition, a nice way of having fun watching a reality that we see in everyday, but sometimes do not understand.

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Translated by: Hans
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Until the 6^th of January 2012, on the terrace of La Casa Encendida de Madrid, the exhibition Migration, A moving planet, will be presented. The exhibition organized by the publication Le Monde diplomatique in Spanish, goes into the issue of migrations, by roughly mapping the global reality represented by large human migrations.

The exhibition is organized around some dramatic photographs taken by photojournalists as Walter Astrada, Zalmaï, Asim Hafeez, among others. It also has the active participation of UNHCR, UN, FAO and the Migration and Exile Research Center (CEME), of the UNED, who submit their best productions of short videos to contribute to the understanding of a little drama made in the large current policy discussions and often overlooked by citizens.

Along with this interesting graphic exhibition, there will also be important contributions of contemporary thinkers and intellectuals about the meaning and the signifier of the concept “migration,” accompanying as disturbing devices.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the “mapping” of Le Monde diplomatique and LaVie Le Monde, in which people will be able to understand the global dimension of this phenomenon and its most relevant aspects, ranging from the human to the economic and political. Articles prepared by the editors of Le Monde Diplomatique will accompany all of these.

One of the most interesting aspects of this exhibition is the opening performance, which has been done permanently until its closure. The performance directed by Jose Sanchis Sinisterra addresses the issue of Spanish people who have emigrated for economic reasons. For this, he takes five voices heard from a cybercafé, while they are in a monologue telling their experiences to family in the distance. The play achieves a striking effect on the viewer, with a voiceover that expresses the bodily absence of the other. It raises concerns about the possibility of living the uprooting, loneliness and marginalization that means to be transplanted into another land.

In this reality there are about 230 million people, among which include legal and illegal immigrants. This great mass of men, women and children of different ages are very dramatic. But if you look at the human scale is even more dramatic, because there is also a big human trafficking business coming with it, especially people whom emigrate looking for the dream of a better life and find nothing but misery, exploitation and abuse.

A prominent aspect of the exhibition is that it manages to sensitize those who have never had the experience of migrating to other places looking for a better life. This reality forces us to look at this situation from a different perspective, and recognize that behind every immigrant, there is a human being who has escaped from poverty, war or political intolerance.

For more information http://www.lacasaencendida.es/LCE/lceCruce/0, 0.73537% 24P1% 3D16 _0_73535_21807, 00.html

Nancy Guzman

Enjoy a wonderful time, while staying in apartments in Madrid This is an interesting, free of charge exhibition, a nice way of having fun watching a reality that we see in everyday, but sometimes do not understand.

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Translated by: Hans
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‘Más de 100 mentiras’ is a fantastic musical inspired in the songs of the great Joaquín Sabina. More than three hours of duration during which we see treason, scams, passions, disappointments and comedy always accompanied by over 25 songs chosen for the show by Joaquín Sabina himself.

The show tells the story of four friends, three small-time criminals and a prostitute, who after the release from prison of one of them, ‘el Tuli’, they try to avenge the death of the fifth member, Samuel, and become millionaires at the same time. The dead man appears as a spirit to his friends and the villain is Fernando Villegas, who was at fault for the imprisonment of ‘el Tuli’ and the death of Samuel. Nearly all of the action happens at Bar Darlings, a meeting point of prostitutes, criminals and outcasts. A plot of deception, friendship and lies, tied together thanks to over thirty songs by the singer and songwriter Joaquín Sabina. We will be able to listen to adaptations of songs like ‘La del pirata cojo’, ‘Pastillas para no dormir’, ‘Contigo’ and ’19 días y 500 noches’ in a flamenco version, as well as many other songs of his albums ‘Física y Química’ and ’19 días y 500 noches’.

The show is a creation by David Serrano, who we know from the famous film ‘El otro lado de la cama’, which obtained an audience of over 2.8 million spectators. Daniel García is the musical director, who also had the same job in the successful musical ‘Hoy no me puedo levantar’, inspired by the songs of the band Mecano. It also has an exceptional musical arranger, Leiva, the bass player, guitarist, songwriter and singer of the band Pereza.

Joaquín Sabina is one of the most prodigious Spanish singer-songwriters. His lyrics are regrets, claims, protests and truths. A unique and second to none style which equally attracts old and young. We’ve all hummed a Sabina song at least once, and we’ve all felt identified with his lyrics. That’s why you shouldn’t miss this unique occasion to witness this fantastic show before it goes to Argentina and Mexico, their next destinations.

The show will take place from the 1st of December until the 8th of January 2012. The chosen theatre for this entertaining musical is the legendary Rialto Theatre in Madrid, a warm and friendly stage which has recently had the musical based on the history of the radio station 40 Principales.

You can buy your tickets for the ‘Más de 100 mentiras’ musical on the official show webpage http://www.masde100mentiras.com, as well as other internet ticket sales retailers. The prices range from 69.90€, which is a seat in a preferential area, to the 35.50€ on the upper tier. If you’re travelling in a group to see the musical, check out the special discounts for groups by calling 902.497.749.

Fernando Paterna

When you travel to the city, remember that the most comfortable and affordable option to spend a few days in the capital is to rent apartments in Madrid It’s the option which gives you the most freedom and which best allows you to organize your timetables. Madrid is an ideal city to visit in December for its Christmas lights and decoration. Don’t miss out on visiting the main attractions of the city and get to know its most interesting party venues.

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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When back in 1994 Walt Disney Pictures released The Lion King, the 32nd animated film, there was nothing to predict the brilliant success that over time this story would have. In fact, the project, which took place alongside that of Pocahontas, was regarded as secondary, betting the Disney staff by the latter. Both films were a success, but The Lion King got also more positive reactions.

In 1997, Broadway adapted the film in a musical, and since then, it remains in its billboard without interruption. Over 14 years of success, it has earned six Tony Awards in 1998, including Best Musical and Best Musical Director Julie Taymor.

The soundtrack of The Lion King was featured by Elton John and Tim Rice, and it has been awarded on numerous occasions: Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Soundtrack (Hans Zimmer) and Best Original Song (“Can You Feel the Love Tonight “), respectively, and Grammy for Best Musical Album in 1999, among many others. In the musical The Lion King, viewers can enjoy three new songs composed by them.

After traveling through 13 countries, where nearly 60 million people have already seen the show, The Lion King, “The musical that moves the world” comes to Spain to be presented for the first time in Spanish. It is the largest musical production that has come to our country. It has sold nearly 100,000 tickets its release.

On the 20^th of October, the show had its debut at Lope de Vega Theatre on Madrid’s Gran Via, attended by personalities from the film, theater, television, the mayor of the city, as well as other representatives of the public life. Julie Taymor, the creator and director of this show, also attended the gala, which has been a major theatrical release of the season.

With a spectacular staging, full of color and set in the African savannah, the musical features 21 musicians and 53 actors, seven of whom are African, a sine qua non to convey the African spirit of The Lion King. Actors represent the scenery blend artistic elements specific to Africa, Asia and the West, and all-savanna landscapes, flowers. The characters wear African masks, which lets you see their animal expression.

The story of The Lion King is a version of the classic tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s character. This time, the protagonist is a young lion named Simba. The lion puppy, who is called to succeed the throne to his father, is viewed with envy by his uncle Scar, who will try by all means kill him and usurp his place.

But not everything is tragedy in this story. Thanks to his friends Timon and Pumbaa, Simba learn about the value of friendship and a key word, “Hakuna Matata”. A philosophy of life that will help him deal with his problems. How? Very simple: leaving the past behind, with nothing to fear and living without worry. Ataraxia, the end of the day. For more information: http://www.elreyleon.es/

Dew DROPS

Get apartments in Madrid and come to Lope de Vega Theatre to see The Lion King, a worldwide successful musical.

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Translated by: Hans
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All you need to know about the Rastro flea market in Madrid, which is perhaps for the Samoa writer Albert Hanover, one of the three vertices of the magic triangle of the city. The irrefutable proof of this, as Hanover tells in his enigmatic poem Nieve en las estribaciones de todos los lenguajes nuevos (Snow on the slopes of all new languages), was the discovery in the Rastro flea market in Madrid, of the books by Ramon Gomez de la Serna, creator of the maximum greguerias popularizer of aesthetic and literary avant-garde in Spain, perhaps the most strange and beautiful thing to find.

Hanover bought it right there in an old edition of the Austral Collection during a rainy morning, learning like that his first lesson about the Rastro, it is worth to mention that this is a different planet, where the climate itself is light rain, not only because it greatly reduces the number of visitors by promoting the transit through its streets, galleries and places (the Rastro only opens on Sunday, so there are often abundant sunny days that turn the place into a succession of restless human tide that require a too slow step sometimes), but because the streets between the Plaza de Tirso de Molina, The Glorieta de Embajadores and Puerta de Toledo, have a special charm when the pavement is slick and cool rain and the puddles that are formed seems to reflect a parallel reality in which the Rastro itself is where the most unlikely objects seem to acquire a life that unforced everyday and give the common feeling to acquire magical properties that the shroud in which special tools and functionalities would seem that there are things essentially contradictory .

As Ramón Gómez de la Serna said, the miracle and the most characteristic feature of the Rastro is precisely this unique blend of surrealism and casticism. Unusual and ordinary coexist in the Rastro, they are transformed and complemented each other so that if there is no place in town so unmistakably (by name, layout and location of streets, businesses typical of the city artisans old, the galleries of antique shops that form small colonies apparently taken from an account of a second-hand book of those who share the trail with asphalt on old Singer sewing machines, hats of felt or tapes of the girl combs, the narrow traditional bars and Madrid specialties, vermouth, the glass of wine and reeds well poured with the shrimps or snails …), then there is no more conducive to the rise of reality to the whole category of poetry.

Paul Oilzum

When you rent apartments in Madrid remember that if you come to the Rastro, a little rain is recommended, and remember to watch your wallet, make the necessary strategic stops to regain strength in the bars of the area and remain open to perpetual astonishment.

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Translated by: Hans
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In the last decade, Madrid has considerably increased its offering of vegetarian restaurants, both in terms of quality and quantity. Far away are the days when it wasn’t easy to find a menu without meat in the city. However, what’s difficult now is to choose from the wide and growing range of restaurants that can be of everyone’s interest to visit.

On Calle Argumosa, in the colourful and multicultural district of Lavapiés, shining with its own light is El Granero de Lavapiés, winner on various occasions of the award which prizes the restaurant in Madrid which best applies Feng-Shui in the whole city. Despite what our associative chain could lead us to think about the previous information, it’s not an Oriental restaurant, but an uncluttered restaurant with a countryside atmosphere which, just like its name says, transmits to perfection the idea of well cooked homemade food which constitutes its biggest identity sign. It usually offers a seasonal menu made with fresh products that shine with their own light, such as rice fillets with almond sauce, gazpacho, or vegetarian ‘migas’. It’s also possible to go for the complete house dish, which includes brown rice, legumes and steamed cabbage carrot salad.

On the other extreme of the spectrum we find restaurants such as the sophisticated La Isla del Tesoro, located in the rocking district of Malasaña, more specifically on Calle Manuela Malasaña 3 (http://www.isladeltesoro.net/). La Isla del Tesoro stands out for its eclectic and exotic decoration, a wide range of wines and risky dishes which are evocative and elaborated. Despite not being a particularly cheap place, it offers a daily menu from Monday to Friday for only 11 euros at lunch time, and it has developed a wide range of vegetarian tapas.

If we move towards La Latina district, in the surrounding area of the beautiful and atemporal Plaza de la Paja, we come across Viva la Vida, a colourful restaurant with a tropical atmosphere which works as a shop and as a buffet-restaurant, where it’s also possible to buy food to take away. In summer it has the advantage of having a terrace on the top of the square and, during the whole year, it’s a favourite of the vegans for its wide range of this type of food. The price of the food, which is served by one self before paying, goes with its weight. Savoury costs 1,80€ per 100g and the sweet (one of its specialities are the cakes made for vegans and coeliacs) 2,20€.

In the same square, just a minute from there and also with a terrace, is El Estragón (http://www.elestragonvegetariano.com/), a restaurant located in an old two-floor tavern typical from the old town, whose menu offers a wide range of succulent and generous ovo-lacto-vegetarian dishes.

Paul Oilzum

These are some of the varied ideas for the samplers of vegetarian food who rent apartments in Madrid and don’t know where to go when they have to recharge batteries after all the long walks that the city requires.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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