A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “San Isidro Opens With Eloquence”, 21 MAY 1982 »
With opening words from the elegant and almost unintellibly literate Francisco Umbral, El Pais columnist and self-ordained “public scandal,” the Festivals of San Isidro made May in Madrid a memorable and musically delightful experience. Calling on the Madrileños to join in the festivities planned by the Madrid City Hall, with blessings from the tender Tierno Galvan, mayor and host for the week-long fiestas, Francisco Umbral delighted the crowd with his assonant, consonant, alliterative and onomatopoeic prose lauding Madrid for its beauty and dignified decrepitude
BARCELONA? SURE, BUT GIVE ME MADRID ANY TIME! »
Barcelona may have an abundance of fine architecture and offers a good deal of artistic pleasures to everyone and anyone. But it lacks that warm home feel that one gets in Madrid. That sense of having arrived at a place where one belongs
HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT GETTING PICKPOCKETED? »
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So have fun in Madrid – or any tourist places around Spain, for that matter – but be alert and always be on your guard
MADRILEÑOS AND THEIR SUNNY AUTUMN: AREN’T THEY BLESSED! »
Afternoon sun dapples trees in front of the Royal Palace in early Fall
By Chris Collins
Now that
FIESTAS OF SAN ISIDRO, THE MOST CASTIZA OF THE FIESTAS IN MADRID, ARE NOW ON! »
It's not just the religious rituals and dancing the chotis. It's also about sinful gastronomy. You could put on weight just by looking at those chorizos! Yummy, though.
SAN ISIDRO CELEBRATIONS: FREE CONCERTS ON PLAZA MAYOR & TEMPLO DE DEBOD, 14 & 15 May 2017 ! »
The zesty Marileños are binging on Smart, Dumb and St. Clare Donuts, squid sandwiches, Spanish omelet, oxtail stews, a religious pilgrimage to the tune of guitars and tambourines, street parties, bullfights and concerts. Lots of free concerts!
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “Thought for Food — Plaza Mayor Pleasures” (PART 2) »
Forty-two years ago, in 1975, Jeffrey Owen wrote a guide to tapas bars and restaurants in the famous Plaza Mayor for GUIDEPOST. Many of these places are still in business and it should be fun to compare them as they are today with how they were almost half a century ago from Jeffrey’s account
A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “Thought for Food — Plaza Mayor Pleasures” (PART 1) »
In 1975 Jeffrey Owen observed: "The Plaza Mayor remains the heart of much of what remains of old city life in Madrid – festivals, processions, Sunday strolls and nocturnal merry-making, sun-sitting, café-lounging, tapa–hopping and al fresco dining." GUIDEPOST suggests this is still true in 2017
MAGICAL MADRID: FOR THE MERRIEST HOLIDAY SEASON & NEW YEAR´s DOWNTOWN, MIDTOWN & UPTOWN »
Topnotch places in Magical Madrid for a most sensational Holiday Season!
SPAIN CELEBRATES PECULIAR NEW YEAR’S EVE »
“The students trooped to the plaza to celebrate the end of the old year and ring in the new which will not even begin until after the Reyes in 2016”
