Hen Weekend in Madrid
Mar 30th, 2006 | 05:30 AM
#2
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,260
Likes: 0
Unfortunately, if you had included "what should we wear?" or "can we wear white tennis shoes during a hen weekend in Madrid?" in the tile you probably would have gotten more response but just to help out..TTT
Mar 30th, 2006 | 06:23 AM
#5
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 633
Likes: 0
I returned from Madrid a few weeks ago after being shepherded around by my husband's 24-year-old niece, who's living there and editing a cultural magazine. Seems like she discovers new spots every day, but here are the ones we tried (sorry, I have names but no addresses, but they were all in walking distance of Plaza Mayor). They all were frequented mainly by local people, often in groups, who were way younger than us (we're pushing 50).
La Mi Venta, a wonderful dark and atmospheric bar festooned with jamon, a couple blocks from Palacio Real -- great tapas!
Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas, a relatively expensive but fun restaurant just off Plaza Mayor -- full of locals and featuring strolling musicians. Directly across from it is another "cave" bar with karaoke (fun but not necessarily everyone's taste).
Los Angeles, a very fun tapas bar full of 20-somethings, with large picnic-style tables that would work well for a large group of rowdy women.
Taberna Tempranillo in the Latina (?) district, the best of all! Again, full of beautiful 20-somethings with three lively (and unusually friendly) bartenders and a cool wall of wine bottles. Purely by accident we ordered the most fantastic seared duck after we saw it served at another table.
La Mi Venta, a wonderful dark and atmospheric bar festooned with jamon, a couple blocks from Palacio Real -- great tapas!
Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas, a relatively expensive but fun restaurant just off Plaza Mayor -- full of locals and featuring strolling musicians. Directly across from it is another "cave" bar with karaoke (fun but not necessarily everyone's taste).
Los Angeles, a very fun tapas bar full of 20-somethings, with large picnic-style tables that would work well for a large group of rowdy women.
Taberna Tempranillo in the Latina (?) district, the best of all! Again, full of beautiful 20-somethings with three lively (and unusually friendly) bartenders and a cool wall of wine bottles. Purely by accident we ordered the most fantastic seared duck after we saw it served at another table.
Apr 4th, 2006 | 03:24 AM
#6
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,282
Likes: 0
Hi. Just back from an ace weekend in Madrid as part of a party of 3 x 30/40-something couples. We loved the whole grazing thing, moving from one tapas bar to another & finishing at the all night chocolate & churros place. (Sadly our clubbing days are over.)
I'll try & write more when I get the chance, but basically the centre of the tapas bars/restaurants area is the Plaza Santa Ana, where all the establishments have tables outside on the square. Tourists there but also many locals. Plaza Mayor seemed to be all tourists, however; this didn't mean it wasn't a nice place to sit out & spend an hour or two, but it did just seem to be aimed at tourists & was more expensive - partly because the so-called "tapas" there weren't really - they were more like main courses.
Also, in the meantime, see if you can find stuff posted here by Maribel who married a Madrileno & has provided lots of good info, including suggested bar crawls.
I'll try & write more when I get the chance, but basically the centre of the tapas bars/restaurants area is the Plaza Santa Ana, where all the establishments have tables outside on the square. Tourists there but also many locals. Plaza Mayor seemed to be all tourists, however; this didn't mean it wasn't a nice place to sit out & spend an hour or two, but it did just seem to be aimed at tourists & was more expensive - partly because the so-called "tapas" there weren't really - they were more like main courses.
Also, in the meantime, see if you can find stuff posted here by Maribel who married a Madrileno & has provided lots of good info, including suggested bar crawls.
Apr 6th, 2006 | 08:00 PM
#7
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Sallyann -- go to www.maribelsguides.com for Maribel's excellent free guide you can print out, highlight, and take with. She has several spa recommendations in there that might be fun for your group, including the one mentioned by . . . wait, was that someone else's hen weekend question? . . I thought lincasanova or one of the resident Spain experts we are lucky to have on the board answered with the Arab bath info in one of these postings. Anyway, something like that might be a fun afternoon treat.
