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Why Madrid?

May 31st, 2011 | Posted by Courtney in Pierre | What's Happening Madrid - (3 Comments)

Pierre is a French and British world citizen, as he has lived in Paris, London, Barcelona, Beijing, Toronto, but still, he prefers Madrid. He loves discovering new things, tapas and wine, writing, reading and rugby. Pierre has been living and working here since 2008, and now helps expats to find a place to rent and to settle down in Madrid via his company FlatAway.

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Why Madrid?

I’ve been living in Madrid for nearly 3 years now. And as in relationships, three years is the key moment to look back and think about why I love to live in Madrid. Of course, every guiri in Madrid has his own reasons, but I hope my “why  I love Madrid” post will give you some keys to understand if Madrid is the city for you.

To start with, Madrid is a capital city but it still feels personal and human-sized. Having lived in London, Paris, Beijing and Toronto (the economic capital city of Canada), I can tell you other developed country capital cities do not feel the same. They are gigantic worlds where you seldom get a personal connection for your everyday chores. In Madrid, I already had the first year my favorite places where people recognise me, and this is true for my local supermarket, favorite bar, favorite tapas place, favorite restaurant and sports activity. There’s always some Spanish happy to make you feel you belong to the place.

Then, Madrid is still authentically Spanish and Castilian, but international at the same time. Barcelona, for instance, in which I lived 4 months, is more international, to the point it was impossible to find a restaurant with “typical catalonian food” in the city centre. The best calçots, typical catalonian recipe, had to be found out of the city. Madrid has a good old taverna with cocido madrileno in every neighbourhood. And at the same time, it has all the international food you want: Lavapies is there with its great Indian restaurants, and I tasted Russian, Ethiopian, Colombian, Ecuatorian and authentic Mexican food (not tex-mex) for the first time in Madrid.

All in all, Madrid is small and has everything you need at the same time. I live near the city centre, near Bilbao, and I can say I usually walk to all places I go too, apart from work. The centre as such is quite small, and has an impressive number of tapas place, international restaurants, theatres, operas, pubs, shops, universities… Of course, the suburban sprawl and the spanish real estate craze means most of the 3 million people living around Madrid live more and more outside the #6 metro line. But still, if you live in the city centre, you still feel like sometimes as if you were in a town or a village. Go to my favorite square, Plaza Olavide, and feel the village side of Madrid.

As a conclusion, I believe you have more opportunities as a foreigner in general to find a job in Madrid than in any other city in Spain. Madrid has been growing faster than Barcelona over the last 10 years, and my feeling is that the Madrid job market needs more international profiles than it has right now. Madrid until the 90s had few foreigners compared to other capital cities. So it’s catching up, and it is still the richest region in Spain! For instance, I landed a job in Madrid in the largest management consulting company, and guess what? I was the only employee who did not speak Spanish as its mother tongue. So I was then the guiri, and everyone knew in the company knew I was the French and British guy. And it was clearly a factor the recruiters took into account. But that’s another story: I’ll talk about how a foreigner can differenciate and land a job here even with a 20% unemployment rate in another post.

One last thing – In “Eat, Pray, Love”, Elizabeth Gisbert, the main character and author, has to define what is the word for her new city, Roma: “Sex” her Roman friend says. If you could read the mind of the people in a given city, then the single thought on a majority of people’s minds is this word you’re looking for. What is Madrid’s word in your opinion?

Wherever you are, already in Madrid, or just thinking about moving here, I hope this post will make you think and that we’ll exchange about why you chose or are going to chose Madrid! For other specific information on renting and relocating to Madrid, visit my website for Flats, Apartments and Rooms to Rent in Madrid with Free Relocation Support.

If you have any question, or if I can help you in any way, please leave a comment.

Madridly yours,

Pierre – pierre@flataway.com – www.flatawaymadrid.com

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Day trip: Patones de Arriba

May 30th, 2011 | Posted by allisonstendardi in Fitness | Guiri Guest | Traveling outside Madrid - (0 Comments)

Guiri Guest Erin Ridley is a freelance writer who hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Three years ago, she left her corporate life behind to live in Spain with a Spaniard she met in a Madrid bar. Since then, she’s gotten married and visited just about every corner of the Iberian Peninsula, and then some. You can follow her adventures via her blog, Twitter and Facebook.

A city of made of slate. That’s how I always describe the pueblo of Patones de Arriba, which snuggly sits in a mountain crevice on the northern border of the Madrid community. Having visited villages across Spain, I can promise you this one has “nothing to see” (nothing to do – nada que ver) with the others.

Kitty cats seem to rule the 16th century town and its tiny streets that curve and swerve up and around ivy-covered slate buildings. Homes with itsy bitsy doors and impossibly small windows appear better suited for Snow White and her seven dwarves than any sort of modern-day Spaniard. With only 500 inhabitants, chances are that not too many modern-day Spaniards likely call this place home anyway.

As if the fairytale pueblo weren’t enough to fill your craving for getting out of the city, it also happens to have a pretty spectacular backyard. The town’s sweet slate-cobbled streets fade into dusty mountain paths bordered by wild flowers and the skeletons of buildings past. Hiking through the ruin-speckled hillsides that cradle the town, you can imagine the livelier atmosphere of days gone by – before most of the residents relocated down the hill to Patones de Abajo.

Only about a 50-minute drive north of Madrid, Patones de Arriba makes for the ideal urban escape. And if you’re anything like me, then you’ll have worked up a Spanish-lunch-sized hunger by the time you arrive. Which means that you won’t have any problem putting back some cordero lechal (lamb that has only been fed milk). Upon arriving, I suggest you immediately tackle your hunger at El Abuelo Manolo. The restaurant, which sits at the top the hill, has expansive views of the valley, and serves up cordero that my father rates as one of his top five favorite meals ever (my dad, Michelin, same thing right?).

After eating, a stroll through the village is just what the Spanish doctor ordered. And depending on how much cordero you ate, a hike through the trail-laced mountains might be even more appropriate.

To get to Patones, you can either take a bus from Plaza de Castilla, or drive north on A-1 to Nacional 320 toward Torrelaguna.

To read more about my many excursions to Patones de Arriba, you can visit my blog La Tortuga Viajera.

Museo del Jamon

May 27th, 2011 | Posted by allisonstendardi in Allison | What's Happening Madrid - (1 Comments)

Museo del Jamon, literally, museum of ham, is very popular here in Madrid. This bar and restaurant chain has locations all over the city, and boasts an incredible selection of ham, not surprisingly. This is a great place to check out para comer buen jamon (to eat good ham. Heck yeah.)

In addition to ham, they offer other Spanish favorites in the form of raciones and their menu del dia. Museo del Jamon is also quite nice on the wallet. Their menu del dia offered at the Alcala location (featured in these photos) is less than 10Euro. They also have a 1Euro menu. Yes, a 1 Euro menu. Are you thinking dollar menu? Because I am. But instead of a thin McDonald’s cheeseburger, it’s a ham on croissant, with a cana. There are other pairings as well, which make for a great quick, cheap snack in Madrid.

If you’re in the market for buying some jamon, this is a great place to come, as they have practically every type of jamon available in Spain (iberico, serrano, you name it).  Take a number, wait your turn, and order up. Yum, yum.

Time for a Summer Shopping Spree

May 25th, 2011 | Posted by AnneGA in Anne | What's Happening Madrid - (1 Comments)

In Need of a Summer Shopping Spree?

After living in Seattle for the past 11 years, my wardrobe hasn’t had much demand for warm weather wear.  Seattle is truly one of the most beautiful cities on earth, especially when it’s sunny, but there’s a reason why most homes don’t have air conditioning – it just doesn’t get that hot except for a few weeks in the peak of the summer!

So what’s a girl to do when the temperatures in Madrid start creeping up and she finds her closet full of cozy sweaters and no sundresses?  Why, go shopping of course!

The only problems are that one; I’m not a huge fan of malls and prefer to shop in smaller, local boutiques.  And two; my husband and I are living tenuously on my non-profit salary and student loans.  Not the ideal situation for a summer shopping spree.

However, some girlfriends of mine helped me solve my warm weather woes with an outing to Centro Commercial Xanadu – a mall about an hour outside of Madrid by bus.  They turned shopping into a fun adventure as we caught the bus at the Principe Pio Metro/Bus station on a rainy Saturday morning and introduced me to Primark – a store similar to the American “Old Navy” with tons of summer deals to be had.  You can also find many other Spanish shopping stand by’s like H&M, Mango, Zara, Springfield, and much, much more.  We even topped off the day with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cones from the food court!

It may not have been my ‘style’ of shopping, but it was really fun and I managed to get some great summer stuff without breaking the bank!

You can find driving and bus directions here – for those of you in Madrid, it’s easiest to catch the 528, 534 or 539 at the Principe Pio station.  It drops you off near the freeway, but you can’t miss the enormous, bright colored building – Centro Commercial Xanadu.  Oh, and they are even open on Sundays.

Happy summer shopping!

Centro Commercial Xanadu

Autovia, A5, Salida 22
Arroyomolinos, Madrid 28939

902 263 026

So you think you’re a Guiri?

May 24th, 2011 | Posted by Courtney in Courtney | What's Happening Madrid - (0 Comments)

Guiri Guide is looking for a couple adventurous and enthusiastic expats in Madrid who also happen to have the propensity to write and share.

Our Guiri Guide writers have a thirst for experience and a positive attitude when it comes to their encounters. Moving to a foreign country is never without its dramas but with our Guiri community of support, it can be enjoyable. A true Guiri Guide writer lays out the “Welcome” mat for new expats and then continues as the neighborly host through and through. Do you have what it takes!?

Contact us to learn more or to ask questions at guiriguide@gmail.com