|
  | |  |
Madrid
Entry 27 of 29 | show all | print this entry |
After the late night, we trudged off to the aiport to get the flight to Madrid. We had to return the car to the rental place, so had to fight Parisienne traffic. We followed all the GPS instructions, until we hit traffic/road closures due to accidents, etc. We detoured, and for whatever reason, the dam thing sent me up a bus lane directly towards the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe. For those that are not aware, Parisienne roundabouts are hectic at best. The roundabout at this location averages an accident every 8 minutes, and I think we saw one. This was certainly not a place I wanted to be, and I carefully inched my way around, with one eye open and all fingers and toes crossed. Wemade it through unscathed and there was jubilation, until we got to another similar roundabout... We made it out alive with not a scratch of paint exchanged.
Upon landing the heat and humidity immediately hit us and we knew it was going to be a stinker for the next couple of days. We get to the hostel, drop off the bags and start exploring. We were pre-warned about the prostitutes hanging around on the street outside. It wasn't intimidating or anything but was quite strange that along a busy thoroughfare, during the day, these girls were just standing there waiting for "work".
We were advised to head to "Sol" which is the centre of the city. From here we headed to explore the food precinct. Here we discovered "Museo de Jamon". Literally I think it means - "Museum of Ham". I think these Spaniards have a little ham fetish. Its kind of a butchery/stand up bar/restaurant. Kind of cool, and noted as something to go back to but never had the chance. We continued exploring till our bellies decided it was dinner time. Shame it was only 7.30pm, as the really good restaurants/tapas bars don't OPEN till 8/8.30/9 pm. We had to sit in bar and have a few beverages waiting for the place we wanted eat at to open - at 8.45pm.
Bocaito is a little tapas bar northside of Gran Via, and is a tiny little place. We were the second group to get there, and immediately attacked the menu. Garlic mushrooms, a soft omlette with iberian ham, and a half a garlic/ herbed chicken. I wished I had more room for food. Certainly the best tapas I have had. We were offered some Chopitos(?)- (Little squid, battered and fried) from a group next to us and declined due to lack of space. We were also given the lowdown, that Bocaito were famed in Madrid for their Gambas (grilled prawns, spiced with salt and pepper). Pity we weren't told this before we ordered. There was certainly no room for food, but we ended up chatting to a couple of strangers next to us and ended up having a couple of drinks with them, and following them to a cocktail bar for a mojito. This put us back at thehostel at about 2am. Fine Spanish time to get home.
The next day was obviously a late start. We went to see the local sights,of which there aren't that many. We walked passed and around Place Mayor, but never actually stopped there. we stumbled on the Royal Palace, and got a guided tour. The Tour guide had the strangest mix of english accents, soetimes sounding American, sometimes sounding like a Pom. It was quite weird. We then just did lots of roaming and tried to catch a movie, but none were available in English.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Madrid, Spain and Canary Islands or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
