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You are here: Home / Archives for Destinations / Europe

Europe

Where the Locals Eat Out In Madrid

February 16, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

It is almost impossible to have a bad meal when you are visiting Madrid. There are restaurants, cafes and bars which will suit everybody’s taste and price range. But when it comes to finding good restaurants you will want to know where the locals eat out in Madrid. If the food is good enough for the locals then it will be good enough for you!

One place that is well-known to the locals has no name but the locals know it as Tienda de Comunista in Chueca by the square. It opens at 9pm and it is always full. From all the reviews on this restaurant, you should definitely try to find it.

La Playa is a place where Madrilerios often go for their lunch. Many of them eat what has been eaten for generations and this is the place to satisfy that need.

La Taberna de San Bernardo is the restaurant where the locals head to on a Saturday evening. Normally the restaurant is quiet but it becomes transformed when the locals arrive.

Le Café is where the locals come from the offices for their lunch. You need to get here early because it can be impossible to get a table otherwise.

Bar Melo’s is an easy place to miss but it is a famous bar for great food. This is another restaurant that is packed on a Friday and Saturday evening.

Café del Real serves the great chocolate cake and carrot cake, and you can get various types of coffee. Many locals come here on a Sunday afternoon.

Café Labra is one of the favorite tapas bars for the locals. It is an old café established in 1860 and one of the dishes the locals eat is dried codfish. You should try it in this bar. This bar has a history as the place where the Spanish socialist party was formed.

Casa Perico is a restaurant that is used by only a few people who know about it. When you enter the restaurant, it is hard to believe you are in a restaurant but the food is exceptional.

Wok is a reasonable priced Asian food restaurant. This is one of the better Chinese restaurants in Madrid. As the name suggests all the food is cooked in a wok.

Restaurante Sobrino De Botin is in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest restaurant in the world. It features in many novels about Spain. The food is excellent but, because of the number of people wanting to eat here, it is not the place for a leisurely meal.

Filed Under: Europe

Where the Locals Eat Out In Barcelona

February 15, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

When you are in a foreign country, it is often tempting to eat at some of the big chain restaurants and eat the food you would normally eat at home. If you do that, then you may miss out on some of the best food you have ever eaten.

When you visit the local market, take a look at where the locals are eating. Many of these little cafes will be cooking fresh food using local products. You will need to use common sense when you choose where to eat, but again, if it is full of locals then it is probably a good place to eat.

One of the best ways of finding the local restaurants is to ask a local person. Be careful who you ask, because some people such as taxi drivers are given a commission if they recommend a restaurant. Local people are proud of where they live and they will be more than happy to tell you the best kept secrets.

Dong Lin Chinese Restaurant is a restaurant serving authentic Chinese food and there usually isn’t a tourist in sight.

El Quatre Gats is a restaurant where Picasso visited and took his first commission…the cover on the menu. Many young artists come here to hang out.

Euskal Etxea is another great Tapas bar. Grab a plate and order a drink. Eat until you have had enough and then pay your bill.

Costa Gallega is full of local shop workers and business people and that is a great sign that the food is great.

Cal Pep Restaurant is another restaurant full of local people having their evening meal.

Restaurant Pitarra is a place where many local politicians eat and, from the photos on the wall, most of the Parliament has eaten here at one time or another.

Organic is always full and one of the best places for vegetarian foods.

Hofmann is somewhere different to eat. This is hidden away at the cuisine school and it is where many of the top chefs have trained. The current students have the opportunity to try all the different skills they have learnt.
Can Mano is the place to come if you want to have a noisy evening at a packed table. The food served here is excellent and you can have prawns for breakfast.

Filed Under: Europe

Where Do The Locals Dine Out In Seville

February 15, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

To find the best places to dine out, you need to find out where the locals eat out in Seville. If you wonder whether a restaurant or bar is a good place to ear, and you look before 8pm, you will find very few locals dining out. Many don’t eat until 11 pm.

For breakfast the locals will typically have coffee, a roll filled with ham, a tomato and olive oil. You will find many people at the El Faro.

If you want ham, you should go to the El Patio San Eloy. There, they will be serving it with small, filled rolls.

Bar Nieves serves coffee and a tostada which is ham, cheese, tomato and olive oil served on warm tostada bread.

La Taberna de Alabardero will allow you to choose from many local dishes to sample. You will find stuffed eggplant, macaroni with squid and papaya sauce, rabbit with potatoes or hake in a coconut sauce are among the many choices.

Cerveceria Giralda near the Cathedral is the place for Tapas. This used to be a Muslim bathhouse but here you will find many locals enjoying the tapas and the local wine.

Pizzeria San Marco serves the best pizza in town. It also has Italian food. Since this is a popular place with the locals, you should reserve a table. They are also closed on a Monday.

Lizarran Tabernas Selectas is often filled with locals and you might be the only visitor in it. The tapas here are both hot and cold and they may be at places on the bar counter. You need to decide which of one of them you want to eat and put them on a plate. Every tapas has a wooden stick in it and when you have finished eating you hand the empty sticks to the person serving. They will count the number of sticks and charge you for the number you have eaten.

Restaurant La Cueva is a very popular restaurant and they serve a great fish casserole.

Las Teresas is a place where the locals come to drink their coffee con leche in the morning. The also come back in the evening to drink beer with their tapas.

El Rincon is one of Seville’s best kept secrets. This restaurant is popular with the locals and it is thought to be one of the best restaurants in the area.

When you find a new restaurant, see if it is empty or if it is popular with the locals. If you find the locals eating there, you can almost guarantee that you have a great meal ahead of you.

Filed Under: Europe

Tricks To Getting Cheaper Airfare

February 14, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

Anytime you can have the opportunity to save some money on your airfare tickets, you should jump on it because many people unfortunately miss out on some of these because of not taking the time out to look for them. It is the best part of being able to travel really because the benefits of saving money do not just end at the airport, this will make it easier for you to enjoy yourself when you do actually reach your destination.

If you can figure out how to find these cheap airfare ticket deals you will just be amazed at how simple it really is to purchase them. The internet offers many options available to you, for these purposes. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to consider buying a return ticket. Many of the airline companies will offer you some rebates on your returning flights, and they are just slightly different than the one way tickets would be. If you know the exact date in which you should be returning, then you should consider trying to purchase these tickets in plenty of advance. You may end up realizing that some airfare ticket prices are considerably higher when they are in higher demand.

By finding the right websites to browse through, while you are searching on the internet for cheaper airfare ticket prices you are allowing yourself the ability of finding some of the cheaper packaged discounted deals that are available to you, for all over the world traveling purposes. Make sure that you visit atleast a few of these discount ticket sites on the internet before you make your final choice, because if you jump into something too fast, you might find that you have certainly missed out on some better deal offers.

Larger airline companies will have more expensive airfare tickets available to you because of the enormous amount of advertisements and marketing that goes into keeping them so popular. Try to avoid purchasing airfare tickets from many of these bigger airline companies because you will be floored by the expensive airfare costs. By choosing a smaller airline company, you will be ensuring that you will get cheaper priced airfare tickets and at the same time be provided with all of their ultimate services.

If you are totally determined in finding some cheaper airfare tickets for your flying purposes, then all you have to do is keep your options open and always be very flexible with your flying schedules. Investigate in all of your possibilities because you may find that finding cheaper airfare tickets is easier done sometimes by simply purchasing a packaged vacation deal or by choosing to purchase a last minute airfare ticket. Many people do not know of all of the savings that they could be enjoying because they have possibly never checked into their options. It is time to start doing the researching necessary in finding cheaper, more affordable airfare tickets, because it is available to you, if you really want it.

Filed Under: Europe

Traveling to Europe

February 14, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

Traveling to Europe is like traveling through time. Each country will take you from the triumphs of the past centuries to the discoveries of the present. Elaborate palaces, gothic churches and other great structures reflect the beauty that is Europe.

Your travels to Europe can start off with a visit to the Tower of London. Formerly used as a prison house, the Tower now holds the crown jewels of England, making it one of the country’s most popular tourist spots. Another feature that any traveler to Europe should not miss is the Yeoman of the Guard, known as Beefeaters, who still wear the uniforms that date back from the rule of the Tudors.

Another place that travelers to Europe should look into while in England are the Houses of Parliament. Collectively called New Palace of Westminster, this seat of the British legislature is composed of several buildings, including three towers: Victoria Tower, Middle Tower and the very popular Saint Stephen’s or Clock Tower, which houses the Big Ben.

France also offers much when it comes to sight seeing. The Musee de Louvre currently houses the famous Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci as well as the Venus de Milo. Also travel to the Paris’ Eiffel Tower and the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. A visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral or Disneyland Paris will also make any traveler to Europe sigh with contentment.

Amsterdam is also another European traveler haven. Visit the house of Anne Frank- a girl whose diary accounts of German concentration camps were published years after she died. Also tour the Rijksmuseum, which houses one of the largest collections of Dutch and Flemish paintings in the world, including those of 19th century painter Vincent van Gogh.

Though Italy has been primarily associated with fashion, the country also offers an old-world charm that would make any traveler to Europe swear to come back. Their return is assured, according to tradition, if they toss a coin into Rome’s Trevi Fountain, which was designed by Nicola Salvi.

Traveling to Europe, particularly to Rome will of course not be complete without a visit to the Pantheon, considered as one of the few surviving ancient temples in the world. Equally impressive is the Colosseum, the gigantic amphitheater that witness the combats of gladiators. Though already partly destroyed, the Colosseum continues to fascinate travelers in the country.

Known as the shopping and fashion haven in Italy, Milan is also a major center of arts and architecture. Any traveler to Europe will certainly enjoy traversing Piazza del Duomo, at one of which stands the Duomo, a huge Gothic Cathedral made of white marble.

Lover of arts will not be disappointed when traveling to Europe especially to Madrid (Spain) where the finest museums in the world can be found. Among them are Museo del Prado, which is the most famous in the group; the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia named after the current Queen; the Thyssen-Bornemisza art museum that houses close to 800 paintings; the Lazaro Galdiano Museum; the National Library, which houses every book published in Spain; Museum of Bullfighting; the National Museum of Decorative Arts; and the Cultural Center of Madrid.

Filed Under: Europe

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