All posts in Tell

Today’s CITY GUIDE is brought to you by Laura!

It only took a day for me to fall in love with Madrid. Against all odds, I didn’t miss the ocean or the beach but was intrigued by the small streets, huge buildings, and the art community. The capital of Spain has so much to offer and I am happy that Allie gave me the chance to share some of my favorite places with you.

When I lived in Madrid I lived right on Calle Fuencarral. Next to Gran Vìa, Calle Fuencarral is the biggest shopping street, with an indoor mall, the Mercado Fuencarral, small boutiques and Spanish retailers such as Custo, Pull & Bear, Oisho, and Desigual as well as restaurants, bars, and pubs. Some of my favorite boutiques and bars are a few streets away from the main street in a small barrio called Malasaña.

Malasañas heart is the Plaza del 2 de mayo. A little square that turns to a flea market on the weekend and that is just far enough from the main streets to let you enjoy a sunny day in Madrid in one of the little cafes located around the square. I usually get a caña at Café de Mahón, a bar that display art by locals, before strolling up Calle Veladere to visit my favorite vintage stores and little boutiques. La Mona Checa, La Cierva Vintage, and Moskitas Muertas. Also located in Malasaña are two of my favorite bars/clubs: The Via Lactea and the Tupperware. Both play amazing music, and while the Via Lactea is a place to listen to music, grab a beer, and play a round of pool, the Tupperware is a funky club to get your groove on.

If you are looking for more main stream places, the Puerta del Sol is the perfect meeting place. Not only is Sol the heart of Madrid and Spain, it is also the point where all the main streets from the city center meet, the place to start a great night out, and to catch a metro to almost anywhere in the city. If you are at Sol, watch out for ‘El Oso y el Madroño’, one of Madrid’s most known statues. If you take Calle Mayor from Sol, you will walk down a big street, hosting two places that captivate the spirit of Spanish food the Museo del Jamón and the Chocolatería San Ginés. Museo Del Jamón, is a typical Spanish bar and restaurant that serves all kinds of Spanish food, with emphasis on ham iberico. Everybody loves the churros con chocolate at the Chocolatería San Ginés. After you get out of a club or bar, you can stop here to get a snack before taking the metro home- If you walk a little further, you will end up at the Royal Palace, the Palacio Real.

The Retiro is the Central Park of Madrid, a huge park with a lake in the middle. It is the perfect place to go and relax, no matter what time of year it is. There are always musicians, dancers, and other artist to entertain the crowds. Make sure to check out the Palacio de Cristal, a building entirely made out of glass, that is used as an exhibition space for El Prado museum. No matter if you feel like taking a walk, renting a paddleboat, or just laying in the afternoon sun, the Retiro is the perfect place to go. Especially, after a Sunday at the local flea market: El Rastro. Located in the more bohemian parts of Madrid, Lavapiés and La Latina, the flea market offers a lot of great Spanish flavor. Go early to shop for antiques, or a little later to enjoy bargaining with the vendors and have lunch at one of the many Moroccan restaurants around.

Today’s CITY GUIDE is brought to you by Anne of Modern Mrs. Darcy!

Louisville has been called “Portland of the East” and “Austin of the North,” but this quirky, compact town shines in its own right. Locals aren’t surprised when their city is named among the “most livable” in the country, or picked as a top travel destination.

Let’t start with what you already know: Louisville hosts the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May each year, and it’s fabulous and fun and worthy of a spot on your bucket list. Louisville is also the traditional gateway to rural bourbon country. Launch your trip from here, or stay right in town and hit the Urban Bourbon Trail–a DIY tour of the best bourbon bars in the city.

But there’s far more to Louisville than horses and bourbon.

Louisville is a foodie town: the city is packed with community gardens, farmers’ markets, and independent restaurants. The East Market district (also known as NuLu, for New Louisville) packs many diverse choices into a few short blocks. Popular picks here include fast and fresh Taco Punk and La Coop, the swanky French place next door.

If you’re looking for a good cup of coffee, try Please and Thank You–a combination coffee shop/restaurant/record shop in the next block–that serves coffee from local roaster Argo Sons. This is a coffee town: Louisville boasts an unusual number of shops (and more importantly, roasters) for a city its size. Local favorites that roast their own are Sunergos, Quills, and Vint, where you can get a Vint Julep: an improbably delicious latté sweetened with smoked bourbon and mint julep sugars from Bourbon Barrel Foods.

NuLu is within easy walking distance of central downtown. If you time your visit right, you can see groundbreaking theater before anyone else does at the annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. The gleaming Muhammad Ali Center is right around the corner, and sports fans will want to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum, impossible to miss because of the 120 foot baseball bat displayed out front.

(If you’re staying in town, the place to go is 21c Museum Hotel, known it by its distinctive red penguins, bejeweled limo, and replica statue of David. Make sure you visit the bathrooms in the lobby.)

Downtown is flanked by Waterfront Park, a fairly recent addition to Louisville’s vast park system. Louisville loves its parks, which were thoughtfully woven through the city more than 100 years ago: famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed Louisville’s park network, and these parks are heavily used today.

Visit the Cherokee Triangle’s Willow Park, lovingly known as the most popular park per square foot, and home to weddings, summer concert series, art fairs, and everyday lounging. The park is overlooked by a series of stunning homes, one of which is speculated to be the model for Daisy’s house in The Great Gatsby.

The park sits in Louisville’s charmingly quirky Highlands neighborhood, which is home to “restaurant row.” Favorites include the former speakeasy Jack Fry’s and Seviché, which serves award-winning Nuevo Latino fare. Hipsters flock to the neighborhood for its unique shops and thriving farmers’ markets.

Louisville’s a great place to live, and a great place to visit. You may come for the horses and bourbon, but you’ll stay for everything else. Enjoy your visit!

*Skyline photo by peacemel

Today’s CITY GUIDE is brought to you by Giulia of Barcelona! PS I adore her photography. Check out her blog!

Barcelona is a pretty special city because it offers just so many different things and there are so many good places to shop and eat that I’m often overwhelmed by the choices when giving recommendations.

The most famous places, la Sagrada Familia, el Parc Güell, el Museu Picasso etc are nice to see if you are a tourist but I always recommend moving to other neighborhoods to eat and walk around because that’s where the best of Barcelona is. This city guide is full of recommendations but, honestly, the best thing to do most of the times is to wander and try a bit of everything you find interesting.

There are different areas and each has a different vibe so I don’t think I could ever choose a favorite. The city is relatively tiny and you can walk from one place to another or use public buses, metro or trams.

BORN

This is one of the old, medieval, parts of Barcelona. There is so much goodness there. Here I recommend…

Starting with a laid back breakfast at El Café del Born with a book. Or buying a mascarpone croissant at Hoffman Bakery (or a healthier pastry at Reykjavik organic bakery) and eating it on the steps of Santa Maria del Mar, which is my favorite cathedral in Barcelona.

Buying some macaroons at Bubö or some chocolates at Demasié to take home and make someone really happy. Visiting the beautiful houses in carrer Montcada and the Santa Caterina Market, which has a rainbow colored mosaic roof (and a great restaurant inside it).

L’EIXAMPLE

This area was planned and developed after the medieval walls of Barcelona were finally torn down in 1860s. The most significant buildings were designed by modernist architects, being Gaudí just one of the many geniuses of that time. There are two main paral·lel streets, Passeig de Gràcia, where you can find La Pedrera, La casa Batlló and many other modernist buildings (and the floor sidewalk tiles were designed by Gaudí); and Rambla Catalunya, which is calm, with outdoor terraces and a fewer cars. Here I recommend….

Visiting La Pedrera. (If you don’t have enough time, I would do this instead of La Sagrada Familia.) Lunch at Mordisco, which is very nice, makes wonderful food of all kinds and has the best carrot cake. Or at Mauri for old fashioned tapas and cheese croissants. Shopping in Rambla Catalunya and Passeig de Gràcia (those streets are very nice but some of the best shops are in the streets that connect the two main ones, so don’t forget to wander around a bit.)

BARRI GÒTIC

This is another medieval part of Barcelona to spend a wonderful morning or afternoon just wandering. Here I recommend…

Stopping at the Sant Felip Neri square, just because it’s beautiful. Walking in the little soap, paper, bike or book shops all over the tiny streets.

Having a great breakfast or afternoon merienda at Dulcinea, for the best and most authentic hot chocolate and melindros (cakey, soft cookies). Or at Caleum, which is much more like a tea room and usually smells amazing. Visiting random art galleries and small museums. And, if you like ancient stuff, the History Museum of the City literally has a real Roman city in the basement. Those ruins always impressed me so much as a kid.

RAVAL

If you go to Barcelona you’ll end up in las Ramblas because that’s where every tourist ends up. It’s not one of the best parts of the city, but there are a few places that will help you survive the chaotic Rambla experience, especially if you move West, towards the Raval neighborhood… Here I recommend…

Bar Lobo for tapas, where you should try to sit outside. Escribà, which is one of the oldest patisseries and offers very tiny portions of hot chocolate, if you just want something warm and delicious but have eaten too much already.

A fabulous gelato in Sant Agustí square. (Unfortunately, that place has no name and after talking to the owners I learned that they are still thinking about it. The ice cream is wonderful though!) Looking at the skaters at MACBA, the Museum of Contemporary Art. And then eating empanadillas or pizza at Mucci’s.

BARCELONETA

This is not one of the first places I would take someone visiting for a few days, but it’s one of the nicest areas (not the neighborhood, but the beach itself) to simply chill out. They’ve recently restored the space near the new, super fancy W hotel with many restaurants and I’d really recommend it, if you are in the mood for paella. If you want something cheap to eat by the sand instead, Woki market for noodles or Buenas Migas for focaccia are my most favorite.

*Featured image by Jsome1