Carlos Ho Diéguez (1981)

I’ll say it: I’m not a big fan of modern art. Often, I feel it’s something that a 4-year old child could do better, disguised by wordy descriptions of what it’s supposed to represent. But there are exceptions. I still remember being deeply impressed by Picasso’s Guernica when I was about 6 years old. And I’ve always liked Salvador’s Dalí crazy surrealism, even more so after visiting his home at Cadaqués and his museum at Figueres.

It’s no surprise then that I went to visit the Dalí exhibition that the Reina Sofía Museum is currently showing during its first week. Named Dalí: All of the poetic suggestions and all of the plastic possibilities, it covers most of the artist’s life with works lent by several collections around the world. I really enjoyed being able to see paintings like The Persistence of Memory, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, and The Metamorphosis of Narcissus, which are normally not in of Spain.

If you also enjoy Dali’s genius and you’re visiting Madrid this year, then you can’t miss this exhibition. It closes on September 2nd. You might want to visit off-weekends, as it’s being immensely popular and the queues are quite long during the weekends.

It’s amazing how often I’ve walked past this little store’s windows without noticing it. It opened about four years ago in a very central street where I often find myself wandering around, given that one of my favorite restaurants, Las Fatigas del Querer (check the Fatigas del Querer article) is located exactly in the same street, and my preferred movie theater, Yelmo Cineplex Ideal (check the Yelmo Cineplex Ideal article) is at one end of the road.

But for some reason, a few days ago, something caught my eye when passing by. I think it was one of the paintings showing Madrid’s Gran Via in a very artistic and modern way. When we entered the place, we found a bunch of interesting items that you normally can’t find in a regular souvenir shop: reproductions of Madrid’s street name tiles, various paintings, drawings and prints depicting some of Madrid’s most popular (not necessarily touristic) places, and magnets with images and phrases related to the capital. If you love Madrid, you’ll love Madrid³’s keepsakes.

Gloria and Javier started this business with one idea in mind: to offer more special Madrid-themed souvenirs to Madrilenians. And they proudly state that most of their clients are Spaniards and people residing in Madrid. So if you want to bring back a memento from your trip to Madrid that would make a local smile when he or she sees it in your home, this is a great place to look for it.

A friend of mine discovered this charming little Neapolitan restaurant by chance, and shared the knowledge with me during the last holiday season. Having been to Naples, I have an idea of what real Neapolitan pizza is (actually one of the best I’ve ever tried), so finding a restaurant run by Neapolitans hell bent on preparing the best pizzas in their citiy’s traditional way was a pleasant surprise. As an Italian I once met told me: “You can only find out if a pizzeria is good by trying their simplest pizzas, like the margherita; it’s easy to chock up the flavor by adding all sorts of stuff”. And boy, Totò e Peppino’s margherita and marinara pizzas, the most traditional (and you could say “simplest”) of Neapolitan pizzas, are good.

But don’t take my word for it. You can ask Real Madrid’s players, who usually eat Totò e Peppino’s pizzas every weekend they play at home, delivered directly at the stadium after the game is over. Turns out that Fabio Cannavaro, a Neapolitan himself, is a friend of one of the owners and recommended the restaurant during his stint in the capital. And ever since, most of the players have visited it, and nowadays grace its walls: right at the entrance, there are a myriad of pictures of Real Madrid’s stars, from Iker Casillas to both Ronaldos.

I live close to the inmensely popular El Retiro park, so I often go there to take a walk, breathe some fresh air, and watch how the year’s seasons go by, as colorful foliage falls from trees and grows back again along with the smell of flowers invading your senses.

During summer, the park is overrun with locals and tourists alike enjoying the great weather. One of its most famous spots, the pond by the Alfonso XII monument, ends up being crammed with rowing boats. It’s quite a nice way to spend some relaxing time.

I did it once, when I was a small child, and my rowing skills weren’t any good at all, so whenever I took the oars, we would just sail around in circles. For a few years, I’ve been wanting to go back and see if I’m better at it now, but I guess the fact that it’s so close to my home got in the way. Not anymore! Last year I had a go at it again with my wife, and we deeply enjoyed it. It’s a lot of fun, including maneuvering around other boats and laughing at your own rowing abilities. And yes, I’ve gotten a bit better at it.

Before our stint in paddling, we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about in the park, where there are some nice spots for that. For example, the Crystal Palace (check the Crystal Palace article) is one of my favorite places there.

-Hannibal Lecter speaking Spanish? No way!

That’s what I said to my sister when she told me she had just watched Red Dragon dubbed in Spanish.

Indeed, it’s quite difficult to find cinemas featuring movies in all of their original sound glory around here. Spaniards are very used to dubbed films, and generally dislike reading subtitles, even though they’re missing a great part of the performers’ acting prowess: their voice. I can’t stand ruining a good movie that way, so I’ve checked my fair share of V.O.S. (versión original subtitulada, or original subtitled version) theatres.

My favorite, both because of its relatively large size (for V.O.S. theaters) and its central location, is Yelmo Cineplex Ideal, a few steps away from Sol. Be aware that you won’t be going into a state-of-the-art establishment, but rather a good enough one to enjoy a movie, with even some of its showings in 3D.

Cinemas in Spain usually offer a discount on a specific day of the week, which in this case is on Mondays and Wednesdays, so those are good days to drop by. But you can also benefit from a discount on weekends, thanks to a coupon that can be printed online (valid until 18th June).