Fellow Spanophiles, I will be making my second trip to Madrid in late September and will be wanting to partake in the joyous celebration of life known as "tapaer". If my memory serves me well, it rarely does, the proper manner to delieght in tapas is to make a 14 stop tour of the local tapa bars. I think the 14 stops correspond to the 14 stations of the cross. If this recollection is correct, then I'll need some recomendations on what path best achieves this aim. I know tourists abound in Madrid, but I would like to see some local establishments as well. Gracias a todos

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Hi Shawn,

Have a look at the Madrid pub crawl thread
http://www.madridman.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000008.html

This guy takes tourits on a tour around old Madrid. I hope I can join one of his tours. I'm sure it will be good fun to meet other people and he knows the city and the bars quite well.

Regards,

Antonio

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The best tips from your favourite hostal in Madrid.
Hostal Chelo at http://www.chelo.com

The best tapas I've found are located in the caves, off the Plaza del Sol. It is quite a lively atmosphere, and it's close to a lot of dance places after your tummy is full! My favorite is the Mushroom house and the spanish omellete(Casa de Tortilla), they are located practically next to each other!
Salud!

As far as tapas I heartily recommend what me and some good friends are starting: www.walksofspain.com

Saludos!

[This message has been edited by JARABOAN (edited 08-28-2000).]

I think that I can sum up a tapas tour in one place: La Latina.

It's in the older part of Madrid and you probably won't find that many tourists there (compared to Santa Ana & Huertas),but the tapas are excellent! Try any of the places on C\ Cava Baja - my favorite place there is a really small bar (only 5 tables) called Casa Lucas. We also like Carpenta, Alemendra 13 (very traditional and always full) and of course, Casa Labra (the birth place of the Spanish socialist party)

Have fun!

I agree with Madrileña that La Latina is a fabolous place for tapas. Since it is situated in the heart of Madrid Middle ages area where you feel as if transported to past times. If you like the area, which center is "Plaza de Moros" and "Plaza de San Andres", do not miss Sundays at luch time when young people (sometimes hundreds) meet to have some "cervecitas" (beers) and listen and dance to drum music.

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Enjoy Madrid´s night life with: http://www.walksofspain.com

[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 08-27-2000).]

Bueno,

I heartly endorse the reccomendations of madrileña. La Latina is the place to be. I have yet to stroll through the Puerta del Sol tapa bar scene as suggested by Rubia66, but I will( House of Mushrooms sounds great, I love the champiñones españoles). I found a couple of local tavern in the Plaza Puerta Cerrada that I have reveled in. The first named La Escondida is owned by Chicho who was celebrating his cumpleaños yesterday and in honor of this occasion was providing chatos, cañas, and a terrific array of Spanish morsels FREE! The majority of his customers are regulars from the neighborhood, so the celebration had a family like atmosphere. This type of atmosphere is sadly unavailable in the US. The clients ranged in age from 18-45, and all seem to enjoy the merriment and hospitality equally. The second a much smaller bar in the same neighborhood named Bar San Román, but only identified from the street by the ubiquitous Cruzcampo sign and the name of the owner, Vicente. It is a very friendly establishment with a hard working owner who very liberaly provides canapes to his guests ( I use guest, as I never felt just like a customer in the American sence of the word. Sadly, with such a strong US Dollar the prices seem so cheap that it is hard to concieve how they can offer so much( attentive service, tapas, etc.) for so little. Consequently, I have felt guilty about the smaller tips that are left here. They deserve so much more!

BTW, I have finished my aprenticeship, Call me a Member!!!!

Hasta Pronto, Vale!

[This message has been edited by Shawn (edited 09-25-2000).]