Eat, drink and be merry... in Madrid.

Eat drink and be Merry...

All Spanish people like their food... tapas, paella, seafood... whatever it is. They say it is cheaper to go out to eat than to stay home and they do frequently. They eat late and it is very social event. They hop from restaurant to restaurant grazing on tapas as they go.

So, we decide to go like the locals and join a tapas and dinner tour in Madrid.

We meet up with Daniel, our guide and a small group of travelers and head out. Daniel is a teacher by day and a food tour guide by night and he loves to share the history of his city.

We start out near the Royal Palace and make our way through the streets stopping as Daniel shares tidbits of history here and there.

Our first stop is a typical tapas place where friends meet for a drink and a bite to eat, Casa Labre. It is crowded and we find a little corner near the bar, standing room only, which is typical. Daniel brings us red wine to sample. We are skeptical but drink it anyway (we are all white wine drinkers.) It was actually not bad... for red wine. Along with the wine he brings us a plate of croquettes. These are a very popular tapas in Spain, made from potatoes that are soft and usually shaped into a ball, covered with bread crumbs are fried. There is usually some other ingredient in the potato.  It tastes creamy and smooth, we guess it is cheese and are surprised to learn it is not... it is actually cod mashed into the potato.

Tidbit... in Spain the beer taps turn to the side, not pulled down..

We continue... through Puerto del Sol.  There is a tile in the sidewalk they call The Ground Zero of Madrid. This is the very centre spot of Madrid where all distances are measured from. If you measure the distance from Madrid to any point (for example to Barcelona), you would measure the distance from this point.

We continue on back through Plaza Mayor (seems like we are taking almost the same route as our morning tour!)

Daniel shares his knowledge and love of Madrid and Spain with us as we wander through beautiful Madrid.

We spot at our second spot, Museo d'Jambon (yes that means Museum of Ham, but it is actually a tapas bar)  Ham is a big deal here, one of their main specialties. There are three kinds of ham and the price varies significantly.

First, is regular ham from the normal kind of white pig like we know.

Second is Iberian ham which comes from a black pig, it is supposedly a much better quality.

Third, and very expensive, is acorn fed ham... black pig, fed nothing but acorns for the last 6 months so the pork is very tender and mild. This is a "special occasions" ham which is very expensive.  (Note: we do not sample the acorn-fed ham!)

As the sun sets we make our way through the darkening streets. 

The oldest restaurant in Madrid. You can't get a reservation it is so popular.

Ruins of the old Islamic area of Madrid are now preserved near the Cathedral.

The Cathedral at night.

Finally, exhausting and 20,000 steps later, we head to our final destination, Casa Nicasio where we had a traditional Spanish meal of Seafood Paella, Sangria, Spanish omelette and choriza. Topped off by a round of shots .... 

A good day, but a long one... Come with me as we explore more of Madrid.