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Costumes and Party Supplies in Madrid

Costumes and Party Supplies in Madrid

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Living abroad is full of all sorts of adventures, including many reasons to celebrate.  You never know when you’ll be invited to a costume party or have the need to throw a surprise birthday party, so it’s best to act like a superhero and be prepared!

I recently had the experience of needing a costume and found myself at a complete loss, especially since I don’t actually like dressing up and didn’t have the box of random ‘dress up’ items we usually pull from at home when situations like this come up.  Thankfully, a good friend of mine had done her homework and knew just where to go to find the perfect costumes!

We took the metro to Sol and walked a short way down Calle Mayor to reach Il Barullo – a party supply and costume shop.  They had quite a selection for such a small shop and we found exactly what we were looking for.  Il Barullo has you covered whether you’re planning a 1st birthday party for your little one, a graduation party for a hard-working grad student, or are ready to get decked out for Halloween!

Il Barullo
www.barullo.com
Locations in Chamberi, Chamartin, and Centro

2011 Holidays in Madrid

2011 Holidays in Madrid

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Feliz Año Nuevo from the Guiri Guide team!

The Spanish public holidays for 2011 in the city of Madrid are as follows.

  • January 1 – New Year’s Day (Año Nuevo, national holiday)
  • January 6 – Epiphany (Epifanía del Señor, national)
  • Easter: Easter Thursday (Madrid and others) and Easter Friday (national)
    • [for 2011, these Easter holidays are the 21st & 22nd of April]
  • May 1 – Labour Day (Fiesta del Trabajo, national. Falls on a Sunday in 2011)
  • May 2 – Community Day (Fiesta de la Communidad, Madrid community only)
  • May 15 – San Isidro (Madrid capital only. Falls on a Sunday in 2011)
  • June 23 – Corpus Cristi (Madrid community & some others)
  • July 25 – Santiago (Madrid community & some others)
  • August 15 – Feast of the Assumption (Asunción de la Virgen, national – in Madrid called Virgen de la Paloma)
  • September 9 – Santa Maria de la Cabeza (Wife of San Isidro, Madrid capital only)
  • October 12 – Spain’s National Day (Fiesta Nacional de España, national – also called Día de la Hispanidad)
  • November 1 – All Saints Day (national)
  • November 9 – Almudena (Madrid’s female patron saint – Madrid capital only)
  • December 6 – Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución Española
  • December 8 – Feast of the Immaculate Conception (La Inmaculada Concepción, national)
  • December 25 – Christmas Day (Natividad del Señor, national)
Weekend Away: Zaragoza

Weekend Away: Zaragoza

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Last week we ducked out of Madrid to Zaragoza for the, Fiestas del Pilar, a massive Spanish festival whose roots date back to like 40 AD. The Virgin Mary appeared to St James the Apostle on a marble pillar and asked him to build a church where he was standing.  The particular spot was on the Ebro river in what is now Zaragoza. The party is officially on October 12th (which is also Spain‘s National Day – when Columbus discovered the Americas) – though in Zaragoza the party is a week long. The Virgin of Pilar is the female patron saint of Spain.

Zaragoza is actually a city of about 750,000 people that is situated about half way between Madrid and Barcelona. It is the capital of the region, Aragón. It has some incredible sights like the Basilica del Pilar and my personal favorite, the Aljafería Moorish Castle built in the 2nd half of the 11th century. It then fell into the hands of the Christian kings.  Most impressive though is the Islamic design throughout. Note that on Sunday’s it has free entrance. Just go to the ticket window and ask for a ticket. The fee on other days is very low, about €3,50 and €1,50 for students.

Goya was born near Zaragoza so you will find his work throughout, in the Basilica de Pilar and in the Museo de Zaragoza. Some other nice sights are Roman contributions to the city, in their stone bridge and theater. If Roman is your thing here is a possible walk for you to take.

We stayed at Hotel Caesar Augusta which is no more than a 10 minute walk from the center and very nice. The room was large and comfortable and there was a breakfast buffet each morning which was €5 per person and substantial.

For some reason trains from Madrid to Zaragoza are crazy expensive (more than €100). We took an ALSA bus (4 hours) for roughly €22 from Avenida de America station.  Another bus leaves from the airport.  The buses are new and comfortable and can often have movies playing. It made one stop half way at a rest stop which was nice too.

We liked Zaragoza though I recommend you go during the Fiestas del Pilar. For all your Zaragoza information needs here is their official website.

Weekend in: Lugo, Galicia

Weekend in: Lugo, Galicia

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Lugo is a good stop off en route to Galicia from Madrid. It takes 4-5 hours to drive depending on speed (there are cameras so watch out for the signs). It is also a good stop en-route to the beautiful northern beaches of Galicia.

The town has a roman wall which is 2 1/4 km long circling it with a walkway along the top enabling strollers to get a good view of the city. Inside the wall, the old town is mostly pedestrian.The town centre is small and easy to walk around but it’s relaxing and there is plenty to keep you occupied. We spent a couple of hours lying on a bench in the immaculately kept green plaza in the centre.

The town is set about 1km up on a hill from the river where there are natural springs and the potential for some spa treatments. There are also the remains of roman baths but we didn’t make it to see them.

There are a range of restaurants and a typical Spanish street of tapas bars. My favourites were: Verruga where we had navajas (razor clams) plus free tapas of moules and squid in ink, and El Riba that had special vermut and great foie gras

As with many towns in Spain, the Cathedral dominates the skyline. It dates back to 1129AD and has roman, gothic, baroq and beo classical influences, all clearly visable. Opposite the main facade is one of the main entries to the roman wall walk way.

We stayed at Hotel Mendez Nunez which I’d recommend. It was 60euros a night with clean and spacious rooms in a great location and only 60euros/night.

Fiestas in Spain, and the upcoming wine fiestas

Fiestas in Spain, and the upcoming wine fiestas

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Two weeks ago in a small town (population  <20) I was trying to have romantic dinner with my boyfriend – overlooking the valley of the Rio Sil in the Riberia Sacra – but instead of listening to the gentle busting of the leaves of the trees and crickets, all we could hear was cheesy Spanish pop music. This weekend was the town’s annual feria. My general feeling for these things is that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em so after dinner we popped up the road to the square to take a look. It was 11.45pm and everything was calm, in fact there was just one person behind the bar. When asking if we were too late, we had the response no! (silly foreigners that we are) but it’s dinner time so everyone has gone home to eat… come back at 1.30am when the night entertainment gets going.  Did I mention this was Sunday night? Welcome to Spainish Ferias.

Every town in Spain has a least one feria per year and there are too many to list here. The themes are common: drinking, chatting, laughing and usually some kind of dancing. Sometimes culminating in running with bulls. They are loud, raucous and fun. In fact  many if my friends and I plan events around some of the major ferias and now there is just the excuse…it’s grape harvest time in the wine regions.

  • Last week end was the start of Fiestas de Otoño in Jerez (click here for more info on the area).  It’s origins are in the grape harvest and it how has three main themes: Wine tasting, horses and flamenco. Or you could visit in May when San Lucar has it’s feria for the manzanilla.
  • Rioja, the largest of the Spanish wine producing areas (although  Ribera del Duero is quickly catching up) and therefor has a fiesta to match. The festival is held in Logroño around the week of 21st September. More in this can be found at: www.lariojaturismo.com
  • Requena in Valencia has a well known pre-harvest fiesta at the end of August, more info at: www.fiestavendimiarequena.com

The  moral of my story for Spanish Festivals is that they are great fun, and you may want to plan trips around them to experience Spanish partying, but if this is not what you had in mind for a getaway, check before you go. I have just signed up toan English newsletter for all the Spanish Fiestas at: www.spanish-fiestas.com to make sure that I know about the events in advance. Whilst you are living in Spain, make sure that you experience at least one major fiesta, I doubt that you will regret it.