Stall 6

Stall 6

There are two free parties on Monday nights in Zurich. One is the underage Cool Mondays at X-tra, off limmatPlatz, the other : Stall 6.
So first odd thing of the night : Zurich west is the alternative, dock style wharehouse neighbourhood. If Zurich were Europe, it’d be the first city to have it in the west, not east. Fast forward to cool Mondays. Well it’s cool to see how young kids can have fun –it is a cool place, but half an hour is way to much. I’m told then to go to Stall 6. It’s in a wharehouse complex right out the main train station (perfect setting, it works for Berlin and London). The harder I it is to find, the better I feel. Far away I see a guy laying on the floor and two Jamaicans trying to help him up. I look up : here I am. Inside reggae and raga, a mix of rastas and pure zurich blood; you’re high from just smelling the interior; it’s hot, it feels tropical, the couches, the fussball, we’re all high all chillin’ around the bamboo bar. No this is not Europe.

Stall 6
Gessnerallee 6 // Zurich

glaz'art -the alternative Paris

Paris may be back ! Out of style for the past ten years, Paris mixes London with Berlin and adds its own personal touch. Young expats are back and now that the eurostar is as established as the subway, parisians discover London and want to bring it back to Paris. Welcome to the glaz'art, a big red rectangle on the outskirts of town. The setting feels just like east Berlin, and nothing around does remind you of Paris. To get in you have to circulate around it - the small entrance is in the back. The best club music in town (from minimal, d&n to reggae) and the best party-goers made up of well travelled twentysomething out of a good time. The tropical bar in the back is a true find and lets you relax in chit chat in a typical parisian style while you gain your energy back. One warning though, bring pills as they're hard to find.

Glaz'Art
7 - 15 Avenue Porte de la Villette
75019 Paris // France
www.glazart.com

glaz'art -the alternative Paris

Paris may be back ! Out of style for the past ten years, Paris mixes London with Berlin and adds its own personal touch. Young expats are back and now that the eurostar is as established as the subway, parisians discover London and want to bring it back to Paris. Welcome to the glaz'art, a big red rectangle on the outskirts of town. The setting feels just like east Berlin, and nothing around does remind you of Paris. To get in you have to circulate around it - the small entrance is in the back. The best club music in town (from minimal, d&n to reggae) and the best party-goers made up of well travelled twentysomething out of a good time. The tropical bar in the back is a true find and lets you relax in chit chat in a typical parisian style while you gain your energy back. One warning though, bring pills as they're hard to find.

Glaz'Art
7 - 15 Avenue Porte de la Villette
75019 Paris // France
www.glazart.com

Mascotte brings out the best of Zurich

You'd think of banking, wealth and perhaps food... but not alternative nightlife. Well that's right, but in all wealthy cities, you have an alternative crowd, loud and boiling, ready to shove it off. Mascotte, housed in one of the cities most beautiful buildings, the Corso, welcomes this urban vibrant youth. Punks, students, hippies, we're all there, enjoying, having a good time, and yes, right accross from the world's most exclusive private banks. Tuesday night is the big night with the hard rock karaoke -which reminds you somehow of Germany-. It reflects Zurich : relaxed, elegant and multicultural.

Mascotte club
Theaterstrasse 10 // 8001 Zurich // Switzerland
www.mascotte.ch

Dick Turpin's, Bordeaux

It's funny, every time I come to Bordeaux, I somehow tumble upon this bar and spend a great evening, every day of the week. At first, Dick Turpin's looks like all these english pubs in France and other european provincial cities. but the place is cool, authentic, from the walls to the bar. Barstaff are a mix of old and new expats - so is the crowd, a bunch of students, locals and foreigners, a few ex-parisian artist types and the ever existing english and aussies hanging around. The music is as good as it gets with an unparalleled selection of beatles and the beach boys. Dick Turnpin's is the place to go.

72, Rue du Loup (by the Hotel de ville)
Bordeaux, France

Cafe de la Palma, Madrid

Madrid lacks the kind of artsy relaxed bar. but La Palma definitely makes up for it. Set up a few blocks away from the Malasana hip neighbourhood, La Palma has it all in its three rooms. The front room is an artistic cafe with art on the wall, the back a middle eastern style lounge and the third room hosts the week's alternative DJs. The crowd reflects this mix.

La Palma cafe
c/ la palma 62
www.cafelapalma.com

Kafe Antzokia Bilbao

Restaurant by day, wild club at night, set in a former theater. An altnerative club in an alternative city. The hip young crowds come here when the old town bars close down ready to party on a mix of spanish tunes with minimal electro. It's all relaxed, folks coming back from hiking with the huge backpacks, gorgeous models and a few odd expats mingle around. Atzokia may be the best place in Spain.

Kafe Antzokia
San Vicente, 2
Bilbao, Spain
www.kafeantzokia.com