People living in Madrid

[[NO]Subedai]

Hello to all spanish people!! I used to play daoc a bit now but quit, but now im going to be living and working in Madrid as an English Foreign Language Teacher. Can anyone living in madrid give me a rough low down on were the best and worst areas for apartments are. Oh and mainly were there are inet cafe's and stuff were u can play games such as wc3, ill have 2-3 hour gaps in my schedule so it needs to be filled with gym,learning spanish, swimming, chilling and playing few games. So if any1 can help me on the last 1 ill be real happy

Ollie

 

[Sir_Otreil]

I live in Madrid, but well I havent any idea about any apartment area...maybe you can PM Zarza, he lives here in Madrid too, and maybe he knows where you can find any nice apartment...
About cyber-cafe's mhh in Madrid there are many,or well at least there were many...in the area where I life there were 2, but they closed... you can find a few of them in middle of madrid, all depends where you going to life... you can check in this website about apartments: http://www.spain-select.com/prov.asp?prov=15 all depens how much you going to spend in an apartment...
About swimming pools, gyms... I know a few places near my house... but there are many too... well when you find any apartment tell me the area and I will check if I can help you, because Madrid is is big...

 

[- English -]

i give it 2 week b4 u play daoc again korgon u too adicted etc

 

[Vasconcelos]

Well it just depends on ur budget n preferences:

-if u have a wide budget n willing to live in an area with lots of culture and entertaining options, young ppl, lotsa nationalities etc... i would say the downtown area is the best place. Try to search places in this areas Huertas, La Latina, Opera, Chueca (only search here if u are gay or dont mind to mix up with 'em ). Some years ago the rents were rather cheap but know i doubt u can find something decent for less than 600€ /month, tho u can allways share your place with a housem8 or roomie.

- areas like SanBernardo, Bilbao, Arguelles are good too, but theyr expensive.

- if u prefer to avoid noisy buisy areas i would choose neighbourhoods in the North of the city (Prosperidad e.g), and im sure u can find some good lill flats there for about 500€ or less

- i guess u are looking for the usual stuff a young person wants to do in a new town, so if i were you i would avoid the suburbs. True you can find cheap places there, but its booooring to have the good ole 80 yo widow or the 3 kids and a dog couple as neighbours (no offense for this ppl )

About netcafes etc.. there are loads across to town, but dont be fooled with the Locutorios: places where inmigrants from Southamerica or Africa do their international calls, short inet conections etc... Im sure thats not the stuff u want. About cybercafes with gaming community i cant tell you much cuz i never used them but guess i would try a google search using www.google.es n starting by "cybercafes+madrid".
Inet conections are quite expensive, from 40€/month for a stable 2mb Telefonica ADSL line, to 30€ for an ADSL2+ 20mb Jazztle or FranceTelecom line (try this spanish sites www.jazztel.es www.telefonicaonline.es www.eresmas.es www.ono.es www.telia.es if u are interested)

Gyms
Loads, i mean loads around. No matter wot area of the city. From the lill old ones to the massive international gyms like HollydayGym, Bodyfactory etc... I would choose those ones if u have one near (which im sure u will, there are loads) cuz for about 50€/month u have 24/7 gym, sauna, n swimpool access normally

Afraid i cant help you with the spanish learning part (u guess why )

Some links

http://www.campusanuncios.com/Ofertahabitacion-Madrid-4-6.html
http://www.compartepiso.com/buscar_localidad_ofertas_alquilar.php?pro=31
http://madrid.loquo.com/spanish/cat/312

Another good way to find places is visiting the uni campuses, student residences etc.. there used to be lotsa adverts about rents, rooms, etc.. in the tabloids there.

One last advice: if u rly want to learn spanish try to avoid mixing up with another foreigners. Theres a strong eurocommunity here, specially from italy, france, portugal, uk n some yankies. You will end improving your english (which im sure you dont need to ^^ ).

Good luck on you quest m8, if u wanna know some other stuff pm here.

 

[Vasconcelos]

Other interesting info:

- BigMac menu: 6,80€
- decent lunch menu 10-12€
- cinema ticket 6,50€
- metro+bus 10 "charges" ticket 6,20€
- opera, theatre, ballet etc.. 20-30€
- musseums 3€
- rum&coke shot: from 7 to 12€ depending on the local n hour
- disco pass: 18-25€ depending on which one
- shop bag of fruit, vegetables, milk, bread, pasta, meat etc.. 30-40€
- time schedulles: stores open at 9am n close at 8pm. Schools: 9am to 5pm. Jobs: normally 9am to 2pm and 3pm to 6pm.
- ppl use to wake up at 8am, have lunch at 1:30-2:30pm and dinner at 9-10pm. Theres no tea time etc.. but a lil break at 11am or so.
- weekend nites: only youngsters go out before 10pm. Usually the pubs close at 3-5pm but the larger ones and the discos close at 6-7pm
- weather: bout 10Cº min and 20Cº max in autumm (October-mid Dec); cold winters bout 0º min and 10º max (mid Dec- March); mild springs 10º min 20-25º max; and heavy hot summers, specially July n August with max of 35Cº. Dpeneds on the year it rains more or less but nothing remotly compared with UK ofc. On winter it uses to snow some days.

 

[[NO]Subedai]

Wow dood thanks for all that info I found a place for 350 euro´s, my budget is quite small as i prolly earn max of 1200 euro a month,in Fuencarrel, ye heard its a bit of a gay´s area but its uber nice apartment. its about 10 min bus ride from Plaza da Castilla, and its got a metro link right outside opening up in few months. Its a single room in a shared apartment, the other person living there is a 22yr old spanish girl so its cool. I guess its a little further out but its so nice that im not so bothered, and its got a swimming pool and stuff about 2metre outside my room. I now gotta find the teaching job now hehe and them everything is sorted, thanks for all the advice it really helps ;D