One specific side street is dedicated to pets, with real pet shops on either side of the road, and a few people outside selling their own puppies out of cardboard boxes and sports bags. The main street, c/ Ribera de Curtidores, is the place to head to if you’d like to see antique shops in Madrid, most of which open every day of the week.

There are two extra reasons for visiting the Rastro on a Sunday morning: the first is the live music, from the organ grinder playing Chotis, a popular music and dance from Madrid, to a complete Jazz band if you’re lucky.

The second reason is food: finish your Rastro visit with either the traditional bocadillo de calamares, a battered squid baguette sold in one of the many bars lining the main Rastro strip, or head towards the atmospheric heart of La Latina for lunch in one of the many tapas bars around Plaza de la Cebada and Cava Baja.

TIPS: Go early, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., to avoid the masses. Be careful with your wallet, camera and other possessions, as this is a favourite spot for pickpockets.

Metro: La Latina / Tirso de Molina. The Rastro is on Calle Ribera de Curtidores and surrounds. See map below:

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For the women out there, the racks are filled with canary yellow, electric green, and royal blue. Cuts and styles are similar to 2007, but the flowing tops are a little more fitted and the jeans are starting to widen again. Update your staples from last year’s closet by mixing a flowing yellow top with fitted jeans or a cropped jacket over a bright red flowered sundress. Even the accessories come in Crayola colors, so ring in the spring while still wearing your winter coat by picking up a bright scarf or belt.

The guys shouldn’t stick just to neutrals either, but the colors are slightly more demure than your female counterparts. But you’ll still find tons of colors on the shelves — particularly among the t-shirts, polos, and checked work shirts. Mix in just a little color (grass green, muted yellow, and purple are among the hot tones for 2008) with your work suits and pants to modernize your look. For the weekend, you’ll find lots of cargo pants in stores this year, too, to which the perfect addition is a colorful belt.

The shoes this year are all about color and comfort. Ladies, the flats of last year are still in fashion. Add to that the stacked heels and wedges of this season (all in the same bright colors) and you’re ready to strut the streets. Men’s shoes for work stick with the same lines as last year, but weekend shoes mimic the colors of spring. Play shoes are all about the hip athletic line — Converse and Vans reign the shop windows.

And now that you’ve got the right duds, you’ll surely reign Madrid this season!

We may have lived here years, but some memories never leave us. Is it Marmite, Horlicks or HP Sauce you suddenly get the urge to taste again? How about some Branston Pickle? PG Tips? Maynards Wine gums? But you will search the shelves of El Cortes Inglés in vain. There are just some things you miss.

There is a solution. It’s a shop called, wait for it, … The Things You Miss.

Sitting on the corner of Calle Juan de Austria and Calle Raimundo Lulio, not far from the Plaza de Olavide, this tiny shop sells all those wonderful things you haven’t had for ages or pester friends and relatives to pack in their suitcases when they visit. It’s not quite Arkwright’s Emporium, and it’s not open all hours, just normal Madrid times, but its shelves display not just longed for goodies, but also memories from that other life you once led. Golly, they even had Barret’s Sherbert Fountains!

And just to show how wonderful it really is, even the Spanish shop there!

(Ed. note: And if what you’re craving is American products–from Reese’s to brown sugar to cake mixes and even bagels, head to The American Store or Taste of America.)

Metro: Bilbao, Iglesia, Quevedo Address: C/ Juan de Austria, 11 Phone: 91 447 0785 Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00-14:00 and 17:00-20:00; Saturday 10:00-14:00.

See map below for store location:

See larger map

My favorite so far has been the small, historic Lanas Sixto, where the shop assistant was very helpful and I bought some Katia yarn (a Spanish brand). I’ve been knitting even on the metro—talk about funny looks and comments—and the yarn’s now a scarf in progress. (Lana refers to yarn, even non-wool varieties.)

In the map below, I’ve tried to compile an exhaustive list of city yarn stores and you can view details for each. (If you have others to add or update, add your comment below).

To my knowledge, three shops offer weekly mixed level classes for €60-70 a month: at Inke, mornings and afternoons on various weekdays, at Lanas Alondra (Príncipe de Vergara location), 11:00-13:00 Wednesdays, and at Punto y Seguido, 18:00-20:00 Fridays.

For community, there’s the monthly get-together or tertulia of expat and madrileña knitters at the grand Círculo de Bellas Artes café (€1 entrance). The meet-up is usually every third Thursday; see their blog for more information.

See map below for yarn stores:

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Metro: Ópera, Santo Domingo Address: C/ Campomanes, 13 Phone: 91 541 72 91 Hours: 11:00-21:00, closed Sundays.

J & J Books and Coffee is practically an institution in this city, not only for its books, but for its nightly events that nearly always draw a big crowd of expats and English-hungry Spaniards. Tuesdays are teachers’ nights with discounts on teaching materials, Wednesday and Thursday nights are for intercambios (Thursday is more popular), Friday nights there’s a pub quiz at 11, and Saturday nights are all you can drink for 12 euros (beer on tap and wine). There’s free WiFi too.

Metro: Noviciado Address: C/ Espíritu Santo, 47 Phone: 91 521 85 76 Hours: Monday-Thursday 11:00-24:00; Friday and Saturday 11:00-2:30; Sunday 16:00-22:00.

Bacchus Bar and Bookshop is the newcomer to the bunch and is positioned perfectly in a student-heavy neighborhood. In the style of J & J, it has a bar, plenty of books, WiFi, and nightly events. Mondays from 8 to 9 there’s a tertulia (get-together) in English for the non-native speakers out there, Tuesdays there’s an intercambio at 8 with happy hour the two hours before (to get you loosened up, one would suppose?). And their quiz night is Wednesday at 9.

Metro: Moncloa, Argüelles Address: C/ Meléndez Valdés, 52 Phone: 91 544 73 78 Hours: 17:00-1:00 (24:00 midweek), Sunday 11:00-1:00.

See map below for bookshop locations:

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1. Underground: This place is packed with clothes from the ’50s to the 90′s, and I mean packed. Peek into the back room and you’ll see bags and bags of more pieces. Perhaps they have underground storage too?

2. Holala: This Malasaña shop’s an eclectic mix of used clothing and the quirky new things by Zombie Studio. Take a romp through these retro designs.

3. Humana: This is the most reminiscent of Goodwill stores, in that their purpose is humanitarian and recycling. Their five Madrid locations offer a little of everything at low prices.

4. Corachón y Delgado: This is an upscale vintage boutique with plenty of accessories and designer clothing.

5. Lotta: Another nicer vintage shop worth browsing with hand-picked name brands, lots of dresses.

What other places do you know of in Madrid to buy unique vintage (or vintage-style) clothing?

See map below for addresses of all stores mentioned above:

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In Madrid, though, life is not so bad for those who seek vegetarian-friendly shops or restaurants. First, you’ve got NaturaSí, an Italian natural foods supermarket chain with three locations in Madrid. I buy everything from oats and organic chocolate to tofu and tamari here. Another of the biggies is Ecocentro—a natural foods “center.” In addition to the restaurant with many appetizing options. Finally, in Lavapiés, you’ve got A salto de mata, which is a smaller natural foods store with a serious focus on buying its products locally.

Among the many vegetarian dining options in the city, the organic market and buffet Viva la Vida is excellent for a quick meal. Conveniently located on Calle Huertas, it offers a mouth-watering buffet for 1.80 euros per 100 grams. Make sure to save room for a piece of carrot cake after your meal. El Granero de Lavapiés, on Calle Argumosa, also deserves a mention for its delicious home-cooked, and mostly organic vegetarian food. You’ll feel like you’re at home too, in their welcoming dining room.

See map below for the places mentioned above.

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The holidays are upon us and it’s time to decorate your piso. Christmas trees, holiday lights, nativity scene figurines. Where in Madrid can you shop for decorations?

In a word – Plaza Mayor. The scene of a traditional, frenetic holiday market, the various stalls of the plaza offer all of the above and more. You’ll find entire stalls dedicated to the nativity scene and its players; the creation of a belen in Spain is clearly a labor of love. Detailed baby Jesus can set you back 100€ while smaller, less-important figures are available starting around 9€; stables run well into the hundreds. At the other stalls you’ll find artificial trees (ranging in height from one to ten feet), strings of lights, stockings, and poinsettias.

Although you can also certainly pick up your Christmas tree in the plaza, why not do something good for the world at the same time? Stop over at the Environmental Sciences School in Ciudad Universitaria where they offer potted holiday trees for “rent.” Pick out yours (free delivery for those measuring over 1.25m), dress it up for a few weeks, and once the holidays have passed return the tree to the school. They’ll then plant the tree in their own gardens or out in the wilderness surrounding Madrid. Trees start at 20€ and top-out at 160€ for a 12-foot monster.

Happy holidays and happy shopping!

We’ve covered the bases for you on food shopping, but with what equipment are you going to prepare and serve all that lovely food you’ve just bought? There are, of course, many places to buy kitchenware in this town (from your neighborhood “Euro Bazaar” on up the scale). But if you’re looking for high-quality, hard-to-find, or professional materials plus incredibly knowledgeable staff, head over to Alambique.

Alambique is home to everything from knives and whisks to pots, pans, and ice cream makers, but what really sets it above the rest is that it offers cooking classes of all kinds—right in the store. Among the classes at the school this fall were “Sushi and Sashimi,” a class on cooking with garbanzos (chickpeas), another on knives, as well as series of classes for beginning cooks and those with a little more experience. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Most classes are two-and-a-half hours long. Prices range from about 40 to 90 euros.

Metro: Opera or Santo Domingo. Plaza de la Encarnación, 2. Phone: 91 559 7858 / 91 547 4220. See map below:

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As you might expect, the exceptions tend to be the big players. If you feel like I do about El Corte Inglés, your options are largely limited to specialist chains. Supermarkets Carrefour and Mercadona are fairly ubiquitous. They ensure you won’t go hungry (or smelly), but not much beyond that. For clothes, gifts and electrical goods, the shops around Sol – such as Fnac (books/music/technology), Zara (fashion) and Vodafone (mobile phones) – have generally civilised opening times.

Last, but not least, Chinese-owned shops do a sterling job of providing most things around the clock. Although quality is variable, a discerning eye can land you a bargain in your lunch hour. I recently bought a good Spanish-made espresso maker at my local chino for the price of two coffees.

As for the deodorant, I eventually found it in the Quevedo branch of Gilgo.