We have been pinky-promising each other that we would take our Portuguese-language class seriously; it’s important for our future happiness here for a couple of different reasons and we really want to knock it out. However, part of that commitment has been that we wouldn’t take any trips that would keep us out of class, which has meant that we’ve been curtailing some of our more far-flung adventures. Because of some unforeseen complications we ended up having to drop from the class last year and are retaking it again this year…. which means we’re in year two of having ants in our pants. (If you’ve been following along here on The Ramble you know we haven’t exactly been housebound, but still, it’s been a different vibe.) We recently decided that we wanted to work a little harder at carving out some adventure time, and the first opportunity for that is the Christmas/Holiday/End-of-Year break. Freed from the restrictions of our language class, we began a nine-ish day trip to Spain; olé! And so, at 0-dark-thirty on a Tuesday morning we took a quick (100 min) flight to Madrid, dropped our bags at the hotel, and immediately joined the exceptional tour guide Amanda of Gather To Travel for a walking tour of the historic center. Well, a walking and eating tour. 🙂
Meeting Amanda was easy, as we exchanged coat and scarf colors via text that morning. It was COLD, sub-ten degrees (mid 30s F), so we were all bundled to the brim. We started at The Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, a very pretty Neptune fountain and roundabout just outside the Museo Del Prado. From there we walked a short distance to the Congreso de los Diputados which, if we understood correctly, is a political hub for the country despite being a relatively modest building.
Along the way, we passed a bronze statue of a blind man in a suit, Dubbes The Lottery Seller, In the neighbourhood of Las Letras, specifically in Calle del Prado on the corner with San Agustín and in front of the Spanish Parliament building, there is a sculpture paying tribute to “Fortunato”, the seller of lottery tickets in support of ONCE (Spain’s national organisation for the blind). Cast in bronze by the sculptor Santiago de Santiago, the sculpture commemorates those who for 75 years, since the foundation was created, have sold lottery tickets and luck, becoming emblematic figures in the streets and squares throughout Spain.
Across the street from the Congreso is a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, which was actually the launching point for much of our next couple of hours in the literary district. We meandered along the Calle de Cervantes, discussing his life and legacy as we admired the various plaques, tiles and other homages to this most revered of men. (John’s personal favorite piece of trivia is that the musical could easily have been called “Man of Manchego Cheese”, although admittedly it’s not quite as catchy.) We passed by the location of his home in Madrid, although the building itself had long since been replaced.
Turning onto another street, we admired the bronze centenary plaques scattered about, marking stores and craftspeople who had been in business for at least 100 years. The first one that Amanda pointed out to us was for a pharmacy that had been in business since the 1700s! Each is different and marks a unique presence.
We also observed the regularly-spaced quotations inlaid into the street pavement, each honoring a different Spanish writer. This whole area is known as the literary district and has many interesting sights and stores supporting Madrid’s long enthusiasm for the arts. As we were strolling along we got excited by a statue that we saw at the Plaza de Santa Ana, drawing Amanda over to it – given that we had given no indication that we were particularly well-educated on Spanish literature she was bemused that we were so enthusiastic about a memorial statue to Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca of all people.
(Short-ish version of a longer tale: in 2003 we saw the premiere of Nilo Cruz’s play “Lorca In A Green Dress”, which is about, yep, Frederico Garcia Lorca. It was a mind-blowing experience for us, not least because John had practically no theater experience prior to that and it was an especially surreal production. The memory has stuck.)
In any event, it was amusing that we went from wide-eyed tourists being shown around to being, for a very short moment, subject matter experts. Then we resumed our roles and she explained far more about the man than we had known before. About this time we entered the nibbles portion of our tour, as Andrea took us to a couple of her favorite spots for tapas; more on those later. We rounded out the day with a stop in the Perta del Sol, currently the home of a large Christmas market.
We thought we knew what goes on at Christmas markets, but in Madrid the Day of the Innocents (December 27th) has become a day of children playing “practical jokes” on the level of whoopie cushions and little snapping firecrackers…. all of which was on display in the market. Egad. Clashing with the fart toys and joy buzzers were the shops catering to another Christmas passion in Madrid – creches. Apparently even more than usual the people of Madrid go nuts with elaborate nativity scenes, sometimes taking up whole rooms of their homes for the season(!). We saw “kilometer zero” which is the spot that Franco decreed all the highways he was ordering the construction of would emanate from. Apparently it’s a true thing and they still measure all distance markers from it on the national roads; it was such a popular tourist spot that we didn’t even try to get a photo.
She walked us to a taxi stand by way of some lovely pastry shops. Now, about the tapas.
The first, Alimentación Quiroga (Calle Huertas 19, Barrio de Las Letras, Madrid, ES 28014) is a tiny place with limited seating. We managed to snag a high-top table in the back and quickly ordered a dish of Alcachofas plancha (artichoke hearts in a lemon-olive oil sauce with a bit of pepper, topped with shaved ham) and another of toasted bread spread with fresh tomatoes and Iberico ham. A coke, cerveza, and glass of rioja rounded us out well and we happily munched away. The artichokes were perfectly sweet, contrasted by the grassy oil and sharp lemon, the beef added a rich depth, quite unlike the typical preserved ham. The bread dish was simpler, with a very light (almost schmear) of spread of fresh tomatoes providing the background to the ham’s salty yumminess.
Our other stop was at Prada a Tope (Calle Principe 11, Madrid, ES 28012), a larger establishment that was expecting large parties, so only bar seating was available. (‘Tis the season!) Here we quickly grabbed a high top and ordered the Verduras a la Plancha (grilled eggplant, asparagus, onion, peppers, tomato, and zucchini) and Cecina (shaved beef). The vegetables were smoky and almost sweet from the grilling, drizzled with the Spanish olive oil and the beef was delicious. Chewy texture and a burst of intensely flavorful ***beef*** in the mouth.
It was a fun, tasty, and informative walk that we recommend without hesitation. (Any errors are entirely our fault for not remembering Amanda’s information correctly!)
