First Day in Madrid
We arrived in Madrid around 9:30 am. We had plenty of time to unpack, take a long nap, and do a bit of wandering. Our hotel was on La Gran Via, an avenue known as “the Spanish Broadway.” Historic buildings with ornate windows and rooftop sculptures housed modern stores and theaters. Pedestrians filled the wide sidewalks. The streets buzzed with energy!
Our walking food tour started at 6:30pm, thirty minutes before sunset, so our official introduction to Madrid was at dusk. Our bilingual host/guide, Daniel, was raised in both the USA and Spain by his American father and Spanish mother. It was fun to learn about Madrid’s history through his stories. Some highlights from our tour:
Puerta del Sol is the Times Square of Madrid. Crowds gather there on New Years Eve to watch the clock and eat twelve grapes at midnight for good luck.
Plaza Mayor was the main market in 15th-century Madrid; over the years, it was the place for public executions, bullfights, and soccer games. Now it’s the site for annual Christmas Markets.
Basilica de San Miguel is administered by the secretive, controversial Opus Dei, featured in the novel The Da Vinci Code. Inside the church is a statue of Opus Dei founder, St. Josemaria Escrivá.
Plaza de la Villa is a small square with Madrid’s oldest surviving buildings, including the old City Hall and a house dating back to 1537.
Palacio Real de Madrid is the official residence of Spain’s royal family, but they no longer live there. The top of the palace is decorated with large limestone statues of Spanish kings. Legend has it that Queen Isabel de Farnese dreamed that the statues fell and crushed her. So the statues were removed from her wing of the palace and can now be found in the adjacent park and in other spots throughout Madrid.
This was a food tour, so we also learned what Madrileños like to eat. Daniel explained that many people work until 7:00 or 7:30pm. They may meet their friends for a drink and a tapa. Then they’ll go out to dinner at around 9:00pm. We had tapas at two places and dinner at the third.
Casa Labra has been serving cod since 1860. It was super-simple: a bar, a food counter, and a few high-top tables. Their famous croquetas de bacalao (cod croquettes) were perfectly crispy on the outside and creamy/tender on the inside. We had them with a glass of vino tinto (red wine) from Toledo. Delicious!
Museo del Jamón was not a museum, but a small, family-run chain of stores selling charcuterie. We tasted jamón (ham), chorizo (sausage), and salchichón (a very small salami). We learned that freshly carved jamón tastes amazing, especially accompanied by refreshing local beer.
Casa Nicasio, right near the opera house, was a casual neighborhood restaurant with large televisions tuned into local fútbol games. We had an array of local dishes: caldo natural de jámon (broth made from the ham bone), chistorras al vino (small chorizo sausages in wine) on top of tortilla de patata (potato omelet), and paella de mariscos (seafood paella). We also had pitcher of freshly made sangria (wine punch), with no fruit slices, and with plenty of vermouth. After our meal, we were given free shots of three local liqueurs. Everything was “muy rico” (very tasty)! We loved the flavorful chorizos and fluffy tortilla so much that we went back to Casa Nicasio another night for more of the same.
