MADRID SUN 21 MAR

During the day

Madrid offers a lot: culture, food, shops, nice parcs, just like any metropolitan city. This is Spain: hot and with lots of passion!

Madrid offers a lot: culture, food, shops, nice parcs, just like any metropolitan city. however, this is Spain: hot and with lots of passion!

Keep in mind that every other commercial activity will close down from +/- 14:00 till 17:00 or even 18:00, siesta hours! They will reopen till 20:00 (supermarkets till 22:00). Banks will even not reopen after 14:00.

If in Madrid during the weekend, for having dinner it will be necessary to make reservation. Restaurants are always ful Friday and Saturday nights. Pass by during the day.

Things to see

The city center features historic places like the Plaza Mayor and the royal Palace (which can be visited as long as the King is not at home...). Madrid has many museums and art galleries: the Prado Museum is one of the world's finest art galleries. Nearby is the new Reina Sofía Art Center, which features Picasso's famous painting La Guernica, a huge canvas which shows the drama and suffering of the Spanish Civilian War in the 30-ties.

Shop till you drop

Madrid shopping is just what you would expect from a sophisticated European capital - plentiful, entertaining, and varied. The Gran Via near Callao offers many shopping options, with still more in the streets leading from Callao down toward the Puerto del Sol, the cities symbolic center. For those with a taste for luxury, the area around Ortega y Gassett and Serrano is jammed with designer stores.

Chueca: the gay area

Chueca is Madrids gay area, with lots of shops, restaurants, bars and sauna's catering the gay visitor. Plaza de Chueca is the heart of the neighbourhood, where the terraces are filled all day by local and tourist guys, watching eachother go by.

Gay swim at Lago

In summers, it's often very hot in Madrid. On such a hot summers day, it's really nice to hang around at the Lago, a swimming pool outside the city (get out a the metro station with the same name). This is the place the locals get a refreshing swim. There are usually lots of gay guys at the upper swimming pool. In hot weekends Lago is usually very popular; sometimes you have to wait in the cue for almost an hour! However, it's worth the trouble....