 To escape the traffic and the noise of Lavapiés/Embajadores district (south of El Rastro), head to the rooftop of La Casa Encendida. Located on busy Ronda de Valencia, La Casa is actually a hidden oasis of calm.
This free-admission community education center / gallery / multimedia library / performance venue has a wonderful rooftop where you can sit, relax, read, meditate or chat with other visitors – you choose. If you get hungry, there's
a café downstairs, not to mention all the other things the center offers.
WHAT: Rooftop relaxation
WHERE: La Casa Encendida ( www.lacasaencendida.es) Ronda de Valencia, 2; Madrid 28012.
Read the rest of: "Rooftop of La Casa Encendida"» 
If skate-sailing is your thing and Paris your kind of town, I have the perfect location for you. By all means, try doing this on the Quai d'Orsay next to the Air France terminal. You'll have the fresh wind from the Seine, more than enough space for maneuver and the attention of both tourists and motorists. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you where to get the gear (I don't know). But surely, if skate-sailing is your thing, you do. So, smooth sailing!
Read the rest of: "Skate Sailing in Paris"»
 Like every good European, I am fond of food and like it to be as fresh as possible. I've
always looked for the best ingredients to make my cooking exceptional for my wife, friends
and family, as that's whom I usually cook for. Getting my groceries fresh from the market
or straight from the farmer has always been my goal, because everything tastes better from
the people who take care of their produce and work hard to bring the raw ingredients to our
fridges.
In Montreal, I was overjoyed to find that there's more than one farmer's market open seven
days a week. One of my favorites (not only for its nice building, which I really like) is
the Atwater Market, situated very close to the Lachine Canal path, making it the perfect
stop after a walk or a bike ride...
Read the rest of: "Marché Atwater"»  If the above title makes you go "¿ La Hora de QUÉ?", you're not alone. Only a short year ago, I myself did not know what "horchata" meant, much less what it tasted like.
As it turns out, it tastes pretty good. If you're in Madrid, dubious, I'll tell you were to go to order a glass that will remove all your doubts...
Read the rest of: "La Hora de Horchata"» If you know anything about Ottawa you probably know it as the capital of Canada and not much else. That's most of the story. Unless you work for the government, there's not much to do in Ottawa, particularly after sunset, aside from an all-you-can-eat lobster dinner and a cozy bed...
Read the rest of: "Ottawa: I came, I saw, I left"» Quick, where to go in Montreal on a Thursday night?
Think beer, pool, conversation and a little live music by a good local band on a miniscule stage – not to mention the spirited roar of Canadiens' fans.
Located right in the middle of
Plateau Mont Royal,
L'Inspecteur Épingle is a bar where a variety of
characters congregate to drink affordably priced pints of beer. Patrons are often perched on bar stools or lounging at corner tables beneath plasma TV screens, either listening to or ignoring the game and raising their voices just above the clinking of glasses and background music...
Read the rest of: "L'Inspecteur Épingle: Raise Your Pint, Follow the Puck"»  I have not, traditionally, gone out and done very much on St. Patrick's Day. For a while, this was because I stopped drinking (oh, so many days wasted on sobriety). And for a while, this was because I was going through a cranky phase and didn't want to combat drunken masses crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in a New York pub. These are no longer concerns for me. As for temperance, I have returned to my Scotch-Irish roots. And as for drunken crowds crammed into pubs, I have discovered that I actually enjoy the convivial revelry of such a gathering.
So in the year 2007, I decided it was time to go out and have fun on St. Patty's Day, even if my Irish ancestors were Protestants. England shipped my Scottish ancestors to the Americas as slaves, and I still rooted for them during the world Cup, so I'm over things, even if others are still fighting over Cromwell.
But somehow, I ended up celebrating the first half of St. Patty's sitting in tapas bar Las Ramblas. Nothing says Ireland quite like tapas and white berry pomegranate sangria...
Read the rest of: "St. Patty's Spanish Style: Las Ramblas Tapas Bar"»  I am amazed and grateful at the variety of cafés in Montreal. It is a city where people love to bring their office or school work to coffee shops, since most of them offer Wi-Fi. Hot beverages are essential during the colder months, but there is a difference between hitting the chain coffee shops and arriving by chance to a café in the middle of the very eclectic Blvd. St-Laurent..
Pi Café (Café π) is basically a mixture of coffee shop, workplace, gallery, chess venue and a place for tranquility. I've been there a few times, and it is a wonderful place to enjoy a café latte or tisane while you pull out your book, computer or schoolwork in a reasonably quiet environment.
..
Read the rest of: "Café π: Coffee, Tranquility and One Hip Bathroom"»
|
