Holiday in Madrid and ¡Bona tarda, Barcelona!

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Late night  = late morning. We wake up the next morning to a city that was almost completely shut down.  La virgen Almudena is the patron saint of Madrid, and so on this day, Madrid shuts down except for bars and restaurants, and the whole city celebrate its version of the Virgin Mary by eating out. I love holidays in Madrid.  For tourists, it may seem inconvenient, but it is such a boost for local restaurants, in my opinion. I thought the Línea Cero stall in the Sol metro station because it was in the middle of tourist central, but alas, it was also closed for the holiday, too.  These stalls sell jewelry, handbags, hats, clothes, and scarves – all of which are hip and cheap, so I always make a point in stopping by one while in Madrid.  I still have all of the pieces I’ve bought from there because I love it so much.

We go straight for the train station.  With beautiful foliage and clean benches, we park ourselves under a tree, and I go exploring. I found a great little shop called Natur. If you need something to compare this shop to, then imagine if Claire’s Accessories and Muji had a classy, eco-friendly child. Souvenirs – check! Off to the train!

After finding our seats and settling in, we had lunch on the train.  We had already pulled away from the platform, and we were well on our way to Barcelona at more than 220 km/hr, or approximately 137 mi/hr. The café car was fabulous. The menu was great as pictured above. I got the ciabatta with a large quantity of Iberian ham and a red wine. Hubby ordered a combo of a smoked pork loin with roasted green chilies, potato chips, and a beer. Oh, lunch was simple and glorious. Who knew train food could be so lush?

The metro in Barcelona still offers 2, 3, 5, and 7-day unlimited passes for the convenience of tourists, so that was a bonus.  We hop on and make our way to my friend Éric Fuentes’ home.  Éric is formerly of the well-toured band The Unfinished Sympathy and is now pursuing a solo career making quite the name for himself around Europe as El Mal (The Evil). Check out his latest album on . . . and catch him on tour.

After a lot of drinking and catching up, Amit and I decide we need to get dinner before all of the neighborhood bars close. Our host recommended Bar Versailles as it never disappointed him. We found it easily on the main drag in the neighborhood. This establishment only provides beer, cocktails, coffee, and water as libations, so both the husband and I got a beer while deciding on which tapas we would try out of the cold case on the counter. We finally make up our minds and choose some rather heavy dishes as we were quite hungry of boiled potatoes dressed in aioli (garlic mayonnaise), mini chorizos stewed in cider, and a mixed olive plate. We make our way back to the house and enjoy an evening of mocking the television programs and getting to know Éric’s companion Maria.  Off to bed!

Hello, Madrid!

The hubby and I arrived in one piece . . . back in Madrid.  Sitting on the metro watching the ads and shorts on the tele, I got nostalgic.  It felt like home.  Looking around the platforms and subway cars, I notice all kinds of conveniences that the MTA transit system would never be able to provide New Yorkers and commuters into New York alike.  We landed later than expected, but we were off the plane through immigration and customs onto the metro and at the hotel all before 10AM.  I felt extremely accomplished. First item on the checklist was coffee at Café Comercial for 2^nd breakfast**. We each order a café con leche* (half espresso and half steamed milk) in one of Madrid’s very first coffee houses if not the first.  The revolving door has seen its share of famous figures in history. All of the scenery (and even perhaps the characters) of the classic Spanish novel, La Colmena, aka The Hive, was borrowed from the words of Camilo José Cela.  The coffee was twice as expensive compared to 10 years ago when I lived nearby, but now, they offered free wifi.

* How to Order Coffee

You can order fantastic coffee at any dive bar in Spain.  They all have the most high tech espresso machines for coffee drinks.  Below describes all of the coffee beverages you can get at any restaurant or dive bar in Spain. Coffeehouse options are not included as they vary by name and can get complex.  The waiter or bartender will always give you just one packet of sugar whether you request it or not.  If you want more, you will have to tell the waiter/bartender when you’re ordering your coffee.

Name	Includes
Un café sólo	A single shot of espresso
Un café doble	A doble shot of espresso
Un café cortado	A single shot of espresso with a few drops of milk
Un café con leche	Half espresso and half steamed milk
Leche manchado	“Stained milk” has steamed milk and a few drops of espresso in it
Un café americano	Espresso with diluted with hot water to resemble American coffee
Un café bonbón	Espresso with condensed milk

Slightly more alert and awake, I decided that we needed to load up on supplies for the next few days, so we made our way to the Día discount supermarket before it closed for the afternoon. Oh, I was a kid in a candy store.  Día was the only thing keeping me from starving during lunch while I was living in Madrid. I bought all kinds of stuff for a very small price. Oh, I wish we had a Día in the States.

We also stopped in Popland on the way home and browsed through a huge variety of mod and hipster kitsch. I still have the superhero buttons and t-shirts I bought there 10 years ago. It’s still so much fun to go in there. On the way back to the hotel with our supplies, we made note of the restaurants and bars where their prix fixe menus (fixed price combos) caught our eye.  Dropping off the goodies, we went in search of our one huge meal in Madrid.

Casa Maravillas was the winner with a 10 euro per person prix fixe menu.  The combo includes two courses, bread, any beverage including wine or beer, and dessert.  I chose the house lentils, cheese and bacalao stuffed peppers in a roasted red pepper sauce, a tinto de verano, and a slice of melon for dessert.  The husband ordered a house salad with tuna and roasted red peppers, a porkchop in a creamy black peppercorn sauce, a tinto de verano as well, and melon for dessert, too. Oh, how it reminded me of my former landlady’s cooking! I always knew I was a lucky student when I was living in Madrid because I would always hear horror stories about what some of the host families would offer my classmates as meals.  After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a well-coveted siesta.  Below is an outline of a typical daily schedule:

**The Spanish Schedule

Meal	Time	Includes
El desayuno (breakfast or 1st breakfast)	approximately 8 or 9am at home with portions of the family	Juice, a hot beverage (coffee, hot chocolate, Cola Cao, or tea), cereal, pastry, yogurt, and/or fruit
La merienda matinal (morning snack or 2nd breakfast)	approximately 11am at a bar or lunch counter near work with colleagues	Coffee, pastry, egg sandwich or  a wedge of tortilla con patatas (potato frittata) with a portion of bread
El almuerzo (lunch)	approximately at 2pm at home with the entire family	2 – 4 courses with wine or beer and dessert with coffee or tea.  The primer plato, or first dish, is usually a soup or fancy salad.  The segundo plato, or second dish, is the main entrée with a side of bread and/or potatoes.
La siesta (naptime)	immediately after finishing your dessert and coffee	No meals served – it’s just all about the napping.
La merienda (snack)	approximately 6 or 7pm at a bar or lunch counter near work with colleagues	A flauta or small bocadillo (skinny mini-baguette sandwich) or a pastry with a beer or hot beverage
La cena (dinner)	approximately 9 or 10pm at home with the entire family	3 light courses usually a broth or broth-based soup, salad, and a small piece of fish or meat or an omelet
Las copas (drinks)	after dinner when friends text or call to go out to a local bar or three	How to order drinks: un tinto = a glass of red wine un tinto de verano = red wine spritzer una sangría = red wine punch una caña = a pint of beer una clarita = a small glass of beer diluted with fizzy water un fino/finito = a small glass of sherry una jarra = a pitcher (usually of sangria) agua con gas = fizzy water agua del grifo = tap wáter * Each alcoholic beverage usually comes with a small tapa (dish) on the house.