ON THE TOWN

Restaurants and bars, movies, theater, dance, sports arenas, even the home… Keep abreast of what’s going on where, and how you can have the greatest fun.

DIM SUM!

At this late date, one would think that there isn’t much left to say about the dumpy 2500-year-old dim sum. But how about if we tell you that the ubiquitous bite-size Chinese appetizers are worth Michelin stars? That’d probably be news to quite a few.

WHAT’S UP WITH GUIDEPOST WRITER-PHOTOGRAPHER BONNIE ROSENSTOCK IN NEW YORK?

Bonnie Rosenstock's chilling and awesome photographs of the Canada wildfire "crisis" that enveloped New York with dense fog, black skies and acrid smells are on the "Crisis" exhibition in the Theater for the New City, Manhattan. Come and feel the crisis in its arresting art form!

SAONA, THE MEDITERRANEAN IN LANDLOCKED MADRID

The Saona restaurants embody the essence of the Mediterranean. This would allude to the fact that Valencia, an iconic Mediterranean city par excellence,  is the cradle of  Group Saona's. The GUIDEPOST visited Saona's latest venue last summer, on Calle Ventura Rodriguez in Central Madrid's famous Plaza España area, for one of our traditional rotating birthday celebrations. The venue was a fabulous choice.

THE MARVELOUS MONET MASTERPIECES AT CENTROCENTRO

The anthological CentroCentro exhibition comprises more than fifty of Monet’s masterpieces so selected not only to take the viewer across his long and prolific career but also to enable the viewer to catch an intimate sight of the Impressionist’s sentiments. The masterpieces were closest to the painter’s heart to the extent that he kept them with him in Giverny till his death. To view the CentroCentro exhibition is to “see” Monet up close.

PUNK AIN’T DEFUNCT

From the pop-up Eighties parties to the production of Good Vibrations, a punk rock musical in Hell's Kitchen, it appears punk is alive and well albeit gentrified. Guidepost sent its original Punk Rockers, the Gut-Wrenching Gourmets, to check out the punk scene. Read their vivid and fast-moving fun report!

DAREDEVIL PEDRO SÁNCHEZ: HOW TO FISH IN THE TROUBLED WATERS OF THE PARLIAMENT (Part 1)

How Acting President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, is invested President and Prime Minister despite the fact that his "progressive" party, PSOE, came out second to the conservative Popular Party in the general elecrtions. Sánchez was invested on the promise of a government that will give Spain a full four-year term of "stability, coexistence and progress."

DAREDEVIL PEDRO SÁNCHEZ: HOW TO FISH IN THE TROUBLED WATERS OF THE PARLIAMENT (Part 2)

The priorities of Pedro Sanchez's government if he was elected president of the Spanish Government as expounded at the plenary of the Congress of Deputies. Note that the Mother of All the Controversies in Sanchez´s program is the amnesty for the leaders of the Catalan procés that aimed to separate Catalonia from Spain.

THE BULLS, THE BULLFIGHTERS AND THEIR WORLD

The Bullfight is an extraordinary spectacle that has evolved over centuries into a very unique, artistic event, filled with boldness, beauty and pageantry. You'll find all these -- and more -- in THE BULLS, THE BULLFIGHTERS AND THEIR WORLD, an in-depth, sensitive portrait of the Corrida For the seasoned bullfight fans as well as for the curious but uninitiated readers, the book is a must-read.

HALLOWEEN THE SPANISH WAY: MACABRE SNACK TO CONNECT WITH THE DEAD

Huesos de santo or saint’s bones should top the list of the macabre delicacies.for All Saints Day in Spain. Feasting on the bones of the saint smacks of cannibalism, doesn’t it? But at their most classic they’re really just good old sweets, white marzipan tubes simulating bones stuffed with yema for the bone marrow inside. Some enterprising bakeshops display the “bones” appropriately in “reliquaries”. HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!

THE PALACE THAT MORPHED (PAINFULLY, NOT WITHOUT BULLET WOUNDS) FROM “CATHEDRAL” TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MONET

Madrid is a historic and historical capital city prodigiously dotted with peerless landmarks. One of these is the Palacio de Comunicaciones.which went from a bustling hub of Spain's sprawling postal network to a white elephant that nobody knew what to do with. Eventually, it became the seat of the government of the nation's capital and a cultural center too that currently exhibits Monet's impressionist masterpieces. Almost any event, great or small, that has something to do with life in contemporary Madrid happens at CentroCentro: concerts, movies, conferences, guided tourist tours, company presentations, art exhibitions public and private ceremonies. . .

THE EUROPEAN UNION IS WITH ISRAEL BUT WILL NOT DESERT THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: "This kind of horror is terrorism. It is an act of war. Europe fully supports Israel's right to defend itself. Our humanitarian support to the Palestinian people is not in question. Yet it is important that we carefully review our financial assistance for Palestine so that it does not go to Hamas. We will have to work to contain the War's destabilising effects, including on the ongoing rapprochement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. We will also monitor closely Iran's posture, given its long-standing support to Hamas.

ARE WE IN SUMMER OR WHAT?

It's October and the temperatures seem to have gotten stuck in the 30sºC in most parts of Spain. Folks who have begun to take out their Fall gear as soon as the calendar marked September, the onset of increasingly cold weather, have had to shove them back deep into the caverns of their closets in favor of light clothing. The Spaniards didn't need the Wetaherr Bureau telling them the weather is "extraordinarily and intensely warm" for this time of the year, But the Weather Bureau is telling them, anyway. It's climate change, what else is new?

THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE: THE WHY, WHICH AND HOW OF IT

The concept of the European Capital of Culture puts culture at the heart of European cities. It highlights the richness and diversity of cultures in Europe and celebrates the cultural features that Europeans share. To date, more than 60 cities across the EU and beyond have been designated European Capital of Culture four of which were Spanish cities.

SPAIN ACROSS THE YEARS. PART 1: Sanguinary Civil War, Ferocious Fascism, and the Dawning of a Better Life

Here is an enthralling personal account of fascism and the Franco dictatorship by the author who was in Spain in the mid-1970s on the University of California Berkeley’s Education Abroad Program: "The last time I set foot in Spain in 1974 and 1975 fascism and the Franco dictatorship were in their last last legs. Returning 47 years later I braced myself for experiencing big changes."

SPAIN ACROSS THE YEARS. PART 2: FAULTLINES IN A VIBRANT DEMOCRACY

Guernica, a powerful anti-war statement · Going through the battlegrounds of the Spanish Civil War where a historical walkabout could get booed · Casa Pepe, a sojourn into fascism and the Franco dictatorship · A new encounter with the Cordoba of the Three Cultures: "Relearning its exceptional period of harmony gave me hope, making my trip to Spain nothing less than epic."

THE REAL MADRID

Any and everything about the fascinating capital city of Spain — and the Autonomous Community of Madrid — from its rich history through its vibrant present to what the future holds, recounted from every angle imaginable.
This category, however, goes beyond Madrid; it embraces stories of what occurred, are occurring, and will probably occur in the Spanish nation whose capital is Madrid.

  • YOUR DATE WITH THE VIRGIN OF LA PALOMA AT THE HEIGHT OF SUMMER 2023

    To honor the Virgen de La Paloma, "patrona popular de los Madrileños": Religious activities, Chotis , Concerts, Shows, Contests. . . A most "castiza" fiesta in the heart of Old Madrid!

  • VERANOS DE LA VILLA 2023: COME JOIN THE FESTIVAL IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE IN MADRID!

    For those who are staying put in Madrid because they want to, or can't travel outside for one reason or another, or those who have come visiting the nation's capital, LOS VERANOS DE LA VILLA is organized with you in mind. Come join the fun in the city whose love for fiestas is boundless!

  • SUNDAY, GRIM SUNDAY

    The leftist parties suffered a debacle in the recent local elections thay they were not prepared for. The elections were a dress rehearsal for the upcoming parliamentary elections which were advanced by President Pedro Sanchez to 23 July of this year and from which a new President of the Government will emerge. As such, it's not quite likely that the "pregressives" could rise from their ashes even when that second defeat could mean the dismatling of Spain's welfars state.

  • A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “The Valley of Lozoya: Rascafría & El Paular,” 14 August 1970

    The pine forest of El Paular in the Valley of Lozoya is the most beautiful of all Spain, so the people who live there claim. Thousand-year-old tales, as romantic as any ever told in Spain, originated in the valley which lies just behind the Guadarrama Mountain Range, visible from Madrid. Not only tourists and historians find a store of history here, but fishermen, hunters, hikers, skiers, bird watchers, swimmers and mountain climbers too. The visitor’s first surprise is a luxuriant green valley dotted with vegetable gardens, a contrast to the bleak Castilian plateau. But there was a time in the long history of Lozoya when, despite the prodigious gift of beauty from Nature itself, the valley lay in ruins.

  • MADRID’S MACHISMO ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

    Madrid is reputed to be the Capital of the Land of Machismo, home to the hotheaded Latin Lover who, self-serving, acts as though -- if not thoroughly convinced that -- he knew what was good for women and expects his womenfolk to take note. Whether this is pure myth in today’s modern Madrid or there’s a lingering truth to it, it should be interesting – elucidating –  to see how Madrid celebrates International Women’s Day.

  • SNAPSHOT: NATURE TURNED INCANDESCENT FOR THE HOLIDAYS

    Here's an option for you this Holiday Season: spend an evening among Nature (the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid really). Could be enchanting!

  • CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WAY UP HIGH!

    Looking for Christmassy fun up in the clouds? You’re in the right place if you’re in Pozuelo de Alarcon, northeast of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. Because that’s where Madrid’s tallest Ferris wheel goes round and round this Season. On descent, it whirls at the heart-stopping speed of 126 km/h. And you get a memorable view of Madrid for miles around into the bargain. Who knows, you might even bump into Santa, with sackful of gift on his sleigh, when you're up there in the sky!

  • BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, CHRISTMAS IS HERE! Free worshop on Ceramic painting for Christmas Decor

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