Sunday, October 25, 2009

Madrid

Friday October 2, we arrived in Madrid by rail, the last leg of our vacation in Spain. The train ride was short and pleasant, I spent most of my time talking to a woman traveling alone from Atlanta. We took a taxi from the train station to our hotel. Shortly after we checked-in and settled into our rooms we ventured out to explore the City.

Madrid, the capital of Spain is a bustling cosmopolitan city characterized by intense cultural activity and a very lively nightlife. Since this was the last leg of our trip and our second time in Madrid we did not feel the necessity to take in any specific cultural activity instead we opted to take in the City or let the City take us. We spent a lot of time wandering the promenades, little streets and squares in search of a tasty morsel and a little memento to remind us of adventures in Madrid.

Puerta (plaza) del Sol was our first destination located in the heart of Madrid. Puerta del Sol is bustling with tourist and beggars of every sort from street “performers’, the deformed and the outright hustlers. The side streets off the square were far more interesting and appealing. Near the plaza we stumbled upon the Museo del Jamon (Museum of Ham), we were quite taken with this place. A variety of Iberian hams hung from the rafters and all over the place, if you like eating from snout to tail you will love this place.

On one of our walks we were headed to the Plaza Mayor (main square). This plaza is also very lively with artist, musicians and other vendors. Lining the interior of this large rectangular stone paved plaza are many restaurants serving paella, an assortment of seafood and other Spanish dishes as well as a few American standards. The restaurants have tables and umbrellas in the square for alfresco dinning. One night we ended up having dinner on the Plaza because we could not find the place we were looking for. Although we did not dine where we intended the food was good, we had “paella mixta” with meat and seafood, the wine was great and we shared a wonderful evening laughing and enjoying life with good friends!

One day going no place in particular we saw a poster on the Circulo De Bellas Artes De Madrid building which was very close to our hotel advertising a jazz concert featuring a Spanish group performing flamenco jazz music. On a whim we purchased tickets for the performance taking place that night at 11:00 pm. We arrived at the concert around 10:45 pm and people were lining up to take the elevator to the concert hall, so we thought. When the elevator door opened we could see all of Madrid! The concert took place on the roof of the Circulo De Bellas Artes building; the panoramic view of Madrid was breathtaking! The music was mostly flamenco with very nice jazz rhythms; this concert was the highlight of our time in Madrid a truly magical evening!

There were other memorable experiences like Sunday at Plaza del Cascorro/Rastro. This small square is at the top of Ribera de Curtidores where the Sunday Rastro flea market is held. This was sprawling flea market, it seemed absolutely endless – the largest flea market any of us have ever seen! We were overwhelmed with the number of people at this market selling everything from socks to antiques. It was hot that Sunday and I thought I was going to pass out from the heat and the hoards of people. But before I passed out I managed to pick up a nice little way cool shoulder bag. After this experience we were craving a cold drink, Sangria it was for me!

We met lovely people along the way in Barcelona, Seville and Madrid, we had a wonderful time! The flights back to San Francisco was long and uneventful, the best kind made easy with fresh memories of a great vacation.

One little travel tip for those of you out there that enjoy good food always travel with a good dinning reference guide, you can stray from it but it’s good to have. When traveling I like the Michelin Guide, it has never failed me. This trip I did not have my guide but I still had a good time!

Well, it’s time to say adios to Spain for now and for me to move on to my next adventure at home, abroad or away so stay tuned!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

All while we were in Seville I kept hearing in my head Miles Davis playing Sketches of Spain. Seville was mesmerizing; the pace slower compared to Barcelona with a beautiful hypnotic rhythm much like Davis’ Sketches of Spain a combination of jazz and classical Flamenco music. Seville was hot and humid but bearable; July or August certainly is not the time to visit. It rained a little but not enough to alter any of our plans if we had them. The beauty of our visit to Seville is that we had no plans we just let Seville take us through El otro lado del Rio, the other side of the river where it is less historic and where most reside and pass many moments.

Roaming the tiny cobbled streets, smaller than alleys really, we would stumble upon an important land mark or another. On one of our walks we stumbled upon a statue of one of Seville’s most famous figures in history “Don Juan”. Of course the guys wanted to be photographed in front of their “hero”; we obliged and took the silly photo of the three Don’s.

Seville is the center of bullfighting in Spain, so they say. One of the highlight of our visit in Seville was the Museo Taurino Sevilla. This museum is inside the Plaza de Toros de La Maestranza which holds a permanent exposition of paintings, sculptures, bullfighting costumes and a bullring! We took a tour and learned about the art and ritual of the fight. One thing we learned was that bullfighters are very religious; make sense since the outcome is not always in favor of the bullfighter although it really is most of the time. We all really found this experience quite enjoyable.

Although the pace of Seville was a bit slower than Barcelona the tradition of dinning late in the evening was the same. We had better dining luck in Seville than in Barcelona our hotel was high tech with a computer in each room so we were able to do a little research before venturing out to dinner at night. Restaurant Salvador Rojo http://www.restaurante-salvador-rojo.es/Ingles/introduccion.htmrojo.es/Ingles/introduccion.htm was my dining highlight. The restaurant is located just across the street from the historic (everything is historic in Seville) Hotel Alfonso XIII. Salvador Rojo is a restaurant that a foodie would enjoy! It was a rainy evening and we were a little tired so we decided to dine a little early that night so we made a reservation for 9:00pm, because the Spanish dine so late we had the entire restaurant to ourselves.

Salvador is one of Andalucía’s most inventive young chefs, having won many a prize for re-inventive Andalucian dishes. The gazpacho was the best I have ever had in my life, with your typical ingredients of tomatoes, onions, garlic etc. but what gave the soup the dept was the unusual ingredient of pureed yams. I am bound and determined to find this recipe, simply outstanding!

Our last night in Seville we dined at a lovely little restaurant El Colmaito DE Cai. Since this was our last evening in Seville we decided to dine more like the Spaniards and have dinner at 10:00 pm. This was another wonderful experience; the owner greeted us when we arrived offering us a table inside or out, we chose a nice table outside.


The owner of the restaurant was very friendly and he asked where we were from when we responded San Francisco he told us that he just returned from a three week visit. While in San Francisco he said he dined at Delfina’s, Chez Spencer, Bar Tartine and he had ice cream from BiRite Creamery; all of these places are our favorites so I was confident we would have a great meal, and we did! I had garlic shrimp and a mushroom risotto; the shrimp were delicious seasoned with garlic, hot peppers and salt in a hot bubbly olive oil. The risotto was rich, creamy and yummy!



Seville’s old world charm was magical, truly Sketches of Spain!
Stay tuned for Madrid....

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Adventures in Spain Fall 2009

Last month my husband, two good friends and I set off on our annual vacation choosing Barcelona , Seville and Madrid as our destination for 10 glorious days. September 23rd we flew from San Francisco to New York where we met our friends and from New York to Barcelona . We arrived in Barcelona September 24th the beginning of the Fiestas de la Merce.

September 24th is the day dedicated to the Virgin of the Mercé, the city's patron saint since 1687. This festival is the city's most important holiday, therefore, the entire week is packed with different events and concerts, and the city is literally buzzing with excitement and life. I should note that there is nothing remotely religious about this festival! Barcelona knows how to celebrate all night long, really I mean all night long! During the festival one of the most traditional things to do is to watch the "castellers", who usually gather on one of the main squares. The "castellers" are one of Catalonia 's most deeply-rooted traditions; it consists of building human towers: a delicate, acrobatic structure consisting of several people. My dear friend all most caused a catastrophe when she let out a loud shrill when one of the acrobats lost his balance and fell from the tower; he was fine. Another highlight of the festival is seeing the giant statues parade and dance down the street. There were drums, devils, monsters and all matter of happy creatures lighting up the night!

The trip was filled with fun activities, after a long night we would pull ourselves together and be ready for our morning coffee by 11:00am. After our morning coffee we would absorbed Gaudi’s work in all of its splendor and whimsy from the La Sagranda Familia to Park Guell. We visited the Picasso Museum and trolled the avenues to enjoy the street art from Miro to Lichtenstein; pretty impressive. Our hotel was on the Las Ramblas a classic European boulevard with cafes and bars, newsstands and metro stops, into an outdoor street theater-cum-circus. You name it and you will see it on Las Ramblas!

We had a few misses with food and a few highlights but the wine never disappointed. Tempranillo, Rioja, Granacha we had it all and Cava too! The first night we dined at La Barca Del Salamanch http://www.gruposilvestre.com/ where we had good basic sea food, the portion size was enormous with enough food to feed a family of five! Somewhere in the middle of our trip we dinned at Botafumeiro http://www.botafumeiro.es/, a very pricey seafood restaurant. The décor was a bit old school with photos of all of the rich and famous diners. I ordered Paella which was probably a mistake; it was good but not outstanding. However, the olives were delicious so much so that I bought a bottle home with me. The olives are in a mixture of vegetables and cornichons in a very mild herb olive oil – lovely!

The last night before taking off on an early morning flight to Seville the husband and I dined alone at a restaurant on Las Ramblas called Attic. We were a little skeptical at first since this restaurant was right on the tourist strip but it turned out to be quite nice. It was a very contemporary restaurant on the top floor of a building with a roof top terrace. The food was a combination of Bistro fare meets modern Spanish food. We had a simple meal of filet mignon and papa frites.

Stay tuned for our adventures in Seville , and be a little patient with me since this is my first blog!

Adios