Madrid

Madrid, Tuesday October 4th, 14.30

Cindy and I are seated on the fast train to Malaga which departs in five minutes.  It is a very comfortable train and almost completely filled.  Who goes to Malaga on a Tuesday afternoon?

Our trip to the train station was quick and easy but earlier than we had anticipated.  Our hotel would not give us a late checkout, something I thought was automatic with my status with Best Western. (Yes, Best Western has a loyalty card just like the real hotels.)  When I asked, the clerk just shrugged and said they were full and needed everyone out of the rooms by noon. When I asked it was already 11:15 so we had to hustle to get cleaned up, packed and out in 45 minutes. Not the most pleasant way to leave Madrid. It was made a bit easier since our room was so small we hadn't really had room to unpack.

Our two days here have been fun, mostly filled with touristy things and lots of walking. We arrived at noon on Sunday having flown from Dulles to Brussels to Madrid without incident.  The streets and plazas of downtown Madrid were filled with people doing their Sunday thing, walks and long lunches.  We wandered around for a few hours to get over jet lag and work up an appetite and found a nice little spot for some wine and pulpo de Gallegos, steamed octopus in the style of Galicia which is sliced and dusted in paprika. It was just what we needed to get us back to the hotel in time for a much needed siesta. 

We slept soundly and longer that we thought, and by the time we got up it was getting dark and time to hit the streets again. Once again we wandered for a few hours and then stopped for a sherry and tapa at a really cool bar.  Tons of wood and lots of people, most of whom were locals. It was so nice we stayed for a glass of wine and another tapa and and then decided to make it an early evening and headed back towards the hotel. We got really close, but discovered we were still hungry so stopped at a bar a block from the hotel for a quick wine and tapa. There was another couple at the bar - from Australia - and we said hello.  Two hours later after nonstop talking and laughter we said goodbye. Goodness what a night!

We slept well and long and were up and out at the crack of 9:30. After our exercise we stopped for coffee and then back to clean up for the day.  We took a hop-on hop-off bus for a two hour ride around Madrid. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see the sights. We got off near the grand Park Retiro and walked another hour or so in search of a place to eat. It took us another hour to find a spot and after a very light lunch we hopped back on the bus to head home for our well-deserved siesta. 

We headed back to the first night's tapa place for a sherry. Only the Spanish really know and appreciate sherry and they always serve the Fino ice cold. We took a walk after that and then returned for some serious tapas, but this time we took a table and ordered a bottle of wine, which cost the equivalent of twelve dollars! We had the fried eggplant served with two sauces, honey and brava which is a spicy tomato based sauce. Then we had grilled mushrooms with paté. It was a hot dish and the waiter took the paté and placed it on top of the mushrooms and then cut it all up so that it looked like hash but tasted divine. We finished with grilled squid served with garlic aioli.  These were all small dishes but just enough for us.  We ended the evening at the local bar and had just one drink since our Aussie friends had departed Madrid. The owner, Sebastian, remembered us and we had a little talk and he told us we had to try a special cheese from Malaga called Payollo. We'll look for it.