Best Meal in Spain - Siempreviva Restaurant in Barcelona: Sangria, Gambas a la plancha, Paella de Mariscos, and Crema Catalana
Cuisine: Madrid is known for its Tapas and apart from paying for our four-bed dorm at the Hostal Marlasco, the first Euros we spent in Spain were on Sangria and tapas. Perfect! I have to say I can do tapas maybe once a year and that that is more than enough. So much of it is unhealthy (and for me, unsavory) that it would probably never be something I crave. We started with a pitcher of sangria (fantastic!), manchego cheese, batatas bravas (potato wedges), croquettas, and paella. Apart from the sangria, none of it was bad, but none of it was very nice either. We later tried the Iberian ham that is great if you like prosciutto but is otherwise a salty, fatty meat. I don’t think much of gazpacho either – it tastes like blended pico de gallo served with ice. No thanks! In my opinion, the best part about Spanish cuisine was the daily menus. For between 8-15 euros, you got a starter, an entrée, a drink, bread, and dessert. All of the daily menus were incredibly filling and some were just amazing!
Clockwise starting top left: Lacon a la Gallega, BEST FLAN EVER, Lentejas, and nuestros segundos platos! So much food!
Bullfighting: Someone asked me if it was a choreographed slaughter of a bull…. It is. My sister summed up the experience perfectly when she said, “I thought the whole thing was awful.” There is a lot of ritual and precision that go into what the matadors do in the ring, but in the end, it’s a lot of men taking turns stabbing a bull until it lays down to die. I don’t pretend to understand and I’m not sure I want to. I had no idea that this is what bullfighting is. I thought it was some big, entertaining show where the matador waves his bright cloth, dances about, and makes the crowd laugh…. It was actually incredibly sad and gory especially when one of the bulls was stabbed in such a way that he started stumbling around vomiting purple blood. You are not allowed to leave until horses drag the bull out of the arena – leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Some people left in tears. We didn’t stay until the end because watching six bulls slaughtered in one night would have been too much. Bullfighting is apparently wildly popular though – the stadium was packed and we almost didn’t get tickets. Lucky us…
Flamenco: On a brighter note, the Spanish tradition of Flamenco is awesome! We went to the famous Michelin-rated Corral de la Moreria for a fantastic dinner and show. I’ve never been to a Michelin restaurant before and honestly, I’m not sure I can tell the difference. The food was good and all, but the shrimp, sangria, and paella I had for roughly 55 Euros was no better than that exact same meal I had for 11.5 Euros in Barcelona. The show was very exciting though with footwork so intricate it reminded me of Riverdance. You can see the performers working so hard that by the end of a dance, they are dripping sweat!
Corral de la Moreria
Madrid: We were staying in the center of the city close to the Plaza Puerta del Sol. At the time, major austerity protests were going on there but Mom was afraid of being tear-gassed so we avoided the crowds at night. During the day, we saw the famous bear-climbing-the-madroño-tree statue, but not the famous Tio Pepe sign thanks to Apple; the plaza will soon be getting a new Apple store in place of poor Tio Pepe. Elsewhere in Madrid, we spent our time wandering from plaza to plaza and seeing the highlights of the city (Palacio de Cibeles, Palacio Real, Catedral de la Almudena, Parque del Retiro, etc…). I think my favorite place was the Mercado de San Miguel, basically a giant food hall with pretty much everything you could want. What’s not to love?! Stacy, Kamal, and I started with very strong sangrias and then I got 100g of the biggest corn nuts I’d ever seen! (I let them get stale and finished them off recently – so good!!!) We ended up with five miniature open-sandwiches, a plate of gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), a combo plate of fried fish, calamari, and shrimp, and enough beer and wine to make merry. :)
We managed to get to three of Madrid’s famous art museums: Museo del Prado, Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum of Art. You can get in free to the Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia with a student ID and if you’re under 26. I got the discount even though I’m old now because in Europe, they read my birthday as June 5th instead of May 6th! Win! I didn’t particularly like the Prado or Reina Sofia, but the Thyssen-Bornemisza had a nice collection of impressionist art, my favorite. Speaking of art, in Madrid, we also noticed a plethora or street performers who would paint themselves head-to-toe and either stand motionless or move suddenly to startle you. Stacy and I still don’t know if this one guy was just that good or, in fact, a statue. He sat motionless and unblinking for the half hour we stood watching him. How is that possible?! He could also have been a statue while a guy painted similarly (as if he were a replacement) stood nearby, effectively tricking us in a truly elaborate rouse. Hmm…. The painted street performers were less novel in other Spanish cities, but just as prevalent. In Granada they were fun!: There were three guys painted as clowns with just their heads sticking up above a table… they would suddenly come alive and say “hello” or shout. I think they managed to startle each and every passerby. :)
Up Next: Aventuras en Espana, Parte Dos
*Note: I'll add pictures of the statue man, bullfighting, and Madrid soon - Mom's got all the good ones on her camera! (I had left my camera battery and charger on the cruise ship and couldn't take any pictures until I found a new one!)
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