by Isaure Cointreau

Summer is here and although we all want to spread our wings towards the coast, sunbathing on the beach or spending time being lazy, there is nothing like a good book to escape reality. A few weeks ago while I was in Paris, I walked around Notre Dame from the Boulevard Saint Germain, looking for the famous “Shakespeare Company”. This English library has the looks of a charming French bobo style boutique and offers a wide variety of classics, second-hand books and new bestsellers. One cannot leave empty handed as there are good deals to be had and time to be spent in the lookout for the diamond in the rough.

The name of the store is English, books are in English, shopkeepers are English and the customers are international. Although it feels like being in a messy attic where you have to keep your hands busy to actually find something, the “Norwegian wood” by Murakami came as salvation. While I was starting to get pessimistic in the idea of finding my perfect fit, it came as a breath of hope. Holding it I then thought that I could do better in the lookout for something I’d never heard about. Although Murakami has the most beautiful writing style, it was a déjà vu for me. Thus my quest had not found its end, yet.

Walking towards the door I turned around to look for my friend, and there it was. Although the reference to the French author in its title was what caught my eye, I took the book in my hands and started flipping its pages to see what treasures it was hiding. Satisfied with the general look of my new find, I talked to the cashier for a moment and bought it. Back in Spain, I was dying to start my reading, and I was not disappointed. 

Alain de Botton has set every chapter of his “How Proust can change your life” as a response to a question through the lights of “In Search of Lost Time” and its author’s life and philosophy. As such this book is a masterpiece in terms of the wit and freshness it captures and passes on to its reader. Working as a literary criticism, these funny and charming 215 pages were a delight.

Hand in hand with erudition, though eccentric enough to not fool itself and us with it, this little book came to me as an enjoyable way to spend time, and not lose it. As a self-help handout, this Proustian philosophy bible analyses life and concludes on relativism. Although various topics and ideas are discussed, some serious others more frivolous, we can all relate to them as they cover questions each and everyone of us have at least thought about once. Analyzing time, friendship, love and life, this book emphasizes on putting a little philosophy in our everyday routine, and maybe gives away the answers you have been looking for.

John Updike says “Dazzling”, I say “Interesting, fun and wise”. No wonder this is a number one international bestseller. As Alain de Botton professes the Proustian genius, let him be the teacher and us his readers, his pupils. So, how can Proust change YOUR life?

by Jeanne Reidy

It made me feel a little bit better and like less of a baby to hear the others in the European Vibe office complaining about the heat. Where I live, in Chicago, we don´t see this kind of heat until mid-July. Until then, we crave it, beg for it and seek out every bit of sun we can find. Then, once it hits, we whine, crank up the air conditioning and go to the beach. In other words, I´m not used to this kind of heat at this point in the season, with few options to counteract it.

Honestly, I´m scared for what this Mediterranean climate has to bring. I don´t have a house on the coast to escape to every weekend like other Madrileños. Whenever I tell someone from the city that I´m staying in Madrid for the summer they look at me like I´m crazy and say, ¨You do know how hot it gets here, don´t you?”. A French man living in Madrid told me that he is moving back to Paris for the summer because he can´t handle the heat. To that I thought, ¨What have I gotten myself into? Why am I coming to a city that everyone else is deserting?”.

I´ll do my best to jump on the band-wagon of running off to the coasts every chance I get but after a semester of studying abroad, my bank account is about as dry as the summer air.

This past weekend was the first time I noticed a drastic difference in the number of people in Madrid. Everyone has told me that the city is empty in July and August but I never thought it would be so noticeable in a huge city like Madrid. I was wrong. Retiro on Saturday afternoon seemed like a ghost town. Heading to the park, I thought I´d have to overlap my blanket with the person next to me due to the crowds. I thought there would be a line around the block for water and popsicles on such a gorgeous summer afternoon. Never did I think that I would have my choice of location on the grass, far enough away from any of the other park goers.

It would be one thing if I didn´t feel the stares at my flip-flops and shorts from Spaniards on the street and the Metro. I know they think I´m crazy to be wearing a bathing suit in Retiro. I´m still amazed to see girls in leather boots and men and women in jackets and scarves in this kind of heat. If they don´t think this is hot, I´m worried to see what is to come.

I guess for now I´ll just suck it up and wear my sandals and sit in the shade whenever possible. But if it gets any worse, I´ll be on the next train to the coast. Who is with me?

By Khilen Mehta

So if you’re like me, you are probably thinking what you can do this summer now that your domestic football season has drawn to a close. Your teams fate has been decided, you’ve shed your tears and you promise yourself that next season you will listen to your partner when they say, “it’s only a game, love!”

But is it really worth all the drama? Is it worth losing your beloved fingernails? Is it worth your wife or girlfriend threatening to leave you? Too damn right it is! And that’s why, even though England aren’t in it this time round, all football fans eyes will  be peeled on the European Championships this summer.

You can never get enough of football. Even if your team isn’t in it, there is always some member of your team playing, and you even get an early opportunity to scout some of the targets your manager is after. Seriously, what more could you want? So let’s get the lads round, crack the beers open and read my guide to the top three countries this coming summer.

1)     Spain- The Perennial Under-achievers

Every tournament pundits say the same. This is their best chance. They have the players and they have the support but every tournament they fall away at the quarter-final stage. So why should this year be different I hear you shouting? Because this time, Spain are coming into the tournament on a great run of form. 14 games without defeat including games against England and Italy. Fernando Torres will lead the line, Cesc will be tougher after a hard season and Ramos oozes class at the back. Could this year actually be their year?

Key Player: Fernando Torres to continue to knock the goals in

2)     Italy- The reigning world champions

So can the best team in the world, become the best team in Europe? Arguably the best passing team around, Italy’s only problem has been their lack of pace in going forward. However with a new fluid front three, they have a new attacking dimension that could catch teams out. They have the experience and they have the players. A definite threat.

Key Player: Andrea Pirlo will hold the team together and provide a set piece threat

3)     France- Last chance for the golden age?

Raymond Domenech has been bold in his squad selection. He has left out David Trezeguet and in his place fans will be itching to catch a glimpse of the countrys new gems, Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa. They have a solid, experienced spine with the likes of Thierry Henry, Claude Makelele and William Gallas all itching to make amends for their World Cup  misery.

Key Player: Thierry Henry to make up for his Barcelona misery

Call me biased, but I actually believe this could be Spain´s year. I´ve probably just jinxed them…

by Helen Macrae

As city, Madrid has got it all. With theatres and tapas, bars and bullfighting, shopping and sunshine, it’s cosmopolitan, frenetic, bold, brash and…smelly.

When I first touched down in Spain I was overwhelmed by the host of aromas to hit my nose (starting with that all-too familiar smell of smoke mere seconds after I had walked into arrivals), but after a while I became accustomed to it all as I busied myself with daily life, trotting around the city teaching executives useful words like chav, monkfish and Tesco clubcard. It took a visit from my parents and their non-initiated noses to remind me that Madrid has an amazing array of aromas, some of them nice and some of them nasty, but all combining to create that unique “Esencia de Madrid”.

My sensory journey begins each morning at Metro Sol, when I change from Line 3 to Line 1 and my nostrils are hit with the delicious smell of freshly-baked waffles coming from the cafe in the station. Luckily I’m always in too much of a rush to stop and buy any, otherwise I’d currently be the size of a small country. Unfortunately though, even this divine smell is sometimes not enough to mask the stink of drains which seems to permanently hang in the air round Sol. Other unpleasant odours I experience on the Metro to work are B.O., bad breath and, my personal favourite, the smell of someone sweating out alcohol they drank the night before. Yuk.

More agreeable aromas you might encounter as you journey round Madrid include cut grass when the gardeners have been out in force in one of the city’s numerous parks, along with the delightful scent of flowers as you walk by the Botanical Gardens next to the Retiro. The smell of cigarette smoke is pretty much unavoidable anywhere you go, as is that of frying food, both of which may or may not to be your taste. As you wander round Lavapies you’re hit with the pungent smell of curry, laced with a whiff of hash and perhaps a dash of urine. Walk round the more well-heeled barrios of the city such as Salamanca, Retiro and Opera, and you can smell money.

But my favourite smell in Madrid is one that it’s difficult to put my finger on, and which at times can be quite elusive. As my mate H puts it, it’s that smell you sometimes catch a waft of on a summer’s evening, just as dusk is drawing in, a smell full of promise and anticipation of the night’s adventures. The smell of fun!

Madrid Metro – Smells delightful?