Cool Madrid

Es finde y toca algo ligerito. Así que he escogido para mis amigos/as algunas sugerencias en Madrid. Seguro que saben que la capital del Reino acoge varios de los museos más importantes del mundo. Pero aquí voy a referirme a que en Madrid se pueden degustar deliciosos pinchos, bocatas a buen precio, cañas por doquier. No hay que atiborrarse de productos cárnicos en serie. Yo recomiendo "patear" Madrid. Perderse en sus calles. Explorar Chueca, la calle Serrano, tan chic y estilosa, Goya. Disfrutar una tarde en el Retiro. Un domingo en el Rastro. Recorrer el Museo Lázaro Galdeano. Asistir a un concierto en la Fundación Juan March. Caminar tarde en la noche por la Gran Vía puede resultar tentador. Es difícil sentirse extranjero en Madrid. Una idea más: el Café de Oriente, a la vera del Palacio Real. En verano se impone el terraceo. Para ver y ser visto. Para cruzar miradas. Nunca se sabe.

"WINNING TIP: Gaudeamus Café 

You wouldn't realise this restaurant, hidden in the Lavapiés neighbourhood, was here unless someone tipped you off. The Gaudeamus Café is on top of the Escuelas Pías, an old university. It's beautiful and quirky and offers amazing views over the city. The restaurant is on the fourth floor, but don't use the lift or you'll miss the building – it's full of history.
Calle Tribulete 14, Edificio Escuelas Pías, +34 915 282594, gaucafe.comAna81

Culture

Las Descalzas Reales
The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales is a mere five-minute walk from the Puerta del Sol. The impressive Renaissance building used to be the residence of King Charles I of Spain and Isabel of Portugal, but now houses 19 nuns and an impressive museum, as well as the bones of Saint Sebastian, works by Brueghel the Elder and even a masterpiece by Titian.
Adult €5, child/senior €2.50. Plaza Descalzas Reales,patrimonionacional.es
mbru123

Cine Doré. Photograph: Alamy

Galería Javier López
Galería Javier López is a 20-minute bus ride from downtown Madrid in the elegant neighbourhood of La Florida. The modernist building houses an eclectic collection of contemporary artists, ranging from Alex Katz to Hiroshi Sugimoto. Despite the quality of art on display, the gallery is only really frequented by well-informed Madrileños and it offers a rare moment of quiet reflection away from the city's busy centre. 
Free, Guecho 12B, galeriajavierlopez.com
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Cine Doré, Filmoteca Española
In this beautiful 1920s art deco cinema, the main screening room preserves all the atmosphere from the golden days of cinema. Check out the starry sky of tiny lights on a dark blue ceiling just after the lights go down. It's less than £3 to get in and the programme changes every month, with great film seasons, world cinema and occasionally silent films accompanied by live piano music. 
Calle de Santa Isabel 3, +34 913 691125, mcu.es/cine/MC/FE, 
Cristina Pedreira Perez

Mercado de Motores, Museo del Ferrocarril
The Mercado de Motores is a food, clothing, jewellery and homewares market, held on the second weekend of every month in the Museo del Ferrocarril (railway museum) by Delicias metro stop. You can also look at the old trains with their wonderful interiors, or enjoy the sunshine in the large area at the back of the museum, where there is seating and refreshments, including a barbecue. 
Paseo de las Delicias 61, museodelferrocarril.org. Next market 12-13 April
stephaniej32

Círculo de Bellas Artes roof terrace. Photograph: amc / Alamy/Alamy

Círculo de Bellas Artes roof terrace
Enjoy panoramic views of the capital from the roof terrace of the Círculo de Bellas Artes cultural centre. You can see all the landmarks, with the snowy peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama in the distance, and the roofs and terraces of the Barrio de las Letras below. There's a bar and loungers for siesta seekers.
Calle de Alcalá 42, +34 913 605400, circulobellasartes.com
nicewahoo

Wellbeing

Hammam Al Ándalus baths
The beauty of this place is it's still a bit of a secret. There's a circuit of cold, warm and hot baths and a hammam, all decorated in Arabic style and complemented by aromatherapy scents, the playing of gentle Arabic music and the taking of herbal teas. 
From €30pp. Calle de Atocha 14, madrid.hammamalandalus.com
Virginia Stuart-Taylor

Food and drink

Fatigas del Querer tapas bar. Photograph: Paul Taylor/Alamy

Fatigas del Querer
We went here after a tip from a friend. Our waiter gave us lots of advice, told us when we were ordering too much (portions were huge), was patient and always wore a smile, even though the place was packed. The drinks flowed, service was impeccable, the food delicious and the bill very reasonable.
Calle de la Cruz 17, +34 915 232131
Deepali Patel

Beerlingual at La Morena Cantina
This bar is worth a visit at any time for its tapas and 40 tequilas but on Thursday evenings it hosts "Beerlingual", a free bilingual pub quiz. The quizmasters compile teams from willing participants, so it's a fun way to make friends, enjoy a drink and fail at general knowledge in two languages.
Calle del Humilladero 28, facebook.com/morenacantina
Ruth Kelly

Melo's tapas bar
This is a family tapas bar with a buzzing atmosphere. The zapatillas(40cm-long sandwich of lacón con queso) are simply unbelievable. Wash it down with a cool bottle of Ribeiro wine. The waiters (all members of the same family) are legendary in Madrid for their ability to remember everything everybody wants.
Calle del Ave María 44 
Alejandra Bize"

Nice sexual advance

La presente entrada quiere sugerir ideas para, dicho mal y pronto, no meter la pata, en un encuentro con una persona del otro/mismo sexo, que ejerce cierta atracción sobre uno/a y con la que, si la cosa se presenta propicia, pues queremos hasta "ligar". Mis amigos/as de EE.UU. practican el "dating", lo que nunca he llegado comprender. Al parecer si uno tiene un date con una/o, ha de ponerse el disfraz de pecadora, sexy, apetecible. Existe una intención de que la cita cuaje en algo serio. De lo que yo pretendo hablar aquí es sencillamente, en no incurrir en avances sexuales impropios con la persona que ha tenido la gentileza de acompañarnos. Somos adultos/as, o lo que expreso va dirigido a adultos/as, así que nadie debería asustarse por la mala educación de otro. En mi caso personal, no se me ocurre compartir medio segundo de mi precioso tiempo con un ser que, potencialmente pueda llegar a provocarme temor. Eso es de sentido común. Las sugerencias escogidas no dejan de resultar algo bobaliconas en los tiempos que corren. Pero si le sirven a alguno/a para pulir sus habilidades sociales, y dar buena impresión como persona civilizada, no sobran.

"But for those still in doubt, you could always run through this handy checklist of questions:
• Is the way in which I'm making this advance likely to scare or alarm the person?
• Has the person already made it clear to me that they are uninterested in my advances?
• Does the speed at which my vehicle is moving rule out any likelihood of a response to this advance? 
• Is this "advance" actually just a shouted and uninvited assessment on my part of this person's attractiveness/body/genitals?
• Does the context of this situation (a job interview, for example) make a direct sexual advance offensive or inappropriate?
• Am I actually, all things considered, just being a bit of a dick?

If the answer to any of the above is "yes", then perhaps what's happened here is that you have accidentally confused sexual harassment with a respectful sexual advance". 

The global democratic vacuum

Compramos lo que nos venden. Somos lo que consumimos.El mundo en el que habitamos lo diseñan las corporaciones a las que tarde o temprano adecuamos gustos primero y más tarde hasta valores morales. "Un mundo despolitizado, blando, basado en el consenso, enfocado al consumo creciente", así lo describe George Monbiot en el artículo que les invito a visitar. ¿Queremos ser como las/os modelos que nos asaltan por todas partes?. ¿Funciona la democracia global?.

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• • George Monbiot
  • The Guardian, Tuesday 8 April 2014
  • Jump to comments (308)

One of Unilever's ‘real women' series of advertisements for Dove. Photograph: PA

"How do you engineer a bland, depoliticised world, a consensus built around consumption and endless growth, a dream world of materialism and debt and atomisation, in which all relations can be prefixed with a dollar sign, in which we cease to fight for change? You delegate your powers to companies whose profits depend on this model.

Power is shifting: to places in which we have no voice or vote. Domestic policies are forged by special advisers and spin doctors, by panels and advisory committees stuffed with lobbyists. The self-hating state withdraws its own authority to regulate and direct. Simultaneously, the democratic vacuum at the heart of global governance is being filled, without anything resembling consent, by international bureaucrats and corporate executives. The NGOs permitted – often as an afterthought – to join them intelligibly represent neither civil society nor electorates. (And please spare me that guff about consumer democracy or.... 

Comer sabroso y sano

Uno puede cuidarse sin padecer el "síndrome de comer a la fuerza", es decir,  la molesta sensación que hacer un sacrificio para alimentarse bien.
Los platos que he escogido los he probado. Para el desayuno prefiero un café muy flojo y cereal, avena con bebida de soja. Si me apetece agrego frutos secos variados, con al menos dos nueces. Las lentejas se preparan en puré, ensalada o en la sopita que se sugiere. Si las prefieren como ensalada con aceite de oliva y vinagre y algo de sal, están perfectas. Y el salmón es un comodín delicioso. Todas las sugerencias son amables con el sistema cardiovascular.

Un desayuno rico y sano

Shredded Wheat with a twist: pair a full-flavoured berry compote with toasted nuts and seeds, low-fat yoghurt and toasted Shredded Wheat.

This nutritious, tasty combination is a great start to any day.

La comida nutritiva y con un toque español: Lunch: Squash, lentil and ginger soup

Nutrient-packed and surprisingly filling, this butternut squash soup can be served with whole grain bread.

Did you know that pulses, such as lentils, count towards your "five-a-day"?

La cena de salmón :Dinner: Moroccan salmon with courgette tzatziki

Use coriander, cumin and paprika to make a lightly spiced crust for salmon fillets. Grill and serve with vegetable couscous, steamed beans and a cooling courgette tzatziki.

Oily fish, such as salmon, are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which may help protect against heart disease.

Bebidas: Drinks

Hydration is key to good health. Water, herbal and fruit teas and low-fat milk are all excellent. Fruit juice provides vitamin C, and counts as another step towards your "five-a-day".

Why not try a date and bannana smoothie?