Our tour guides sent a survey to obtain our lunch menu selections while we were still at breakfast. Spaniards are SERIOUS about some food! Since they use no preservative, the restaurants ask large groups to provide menu in advance so they can get the fresh catch of the day - literally. Which given that Madrid is landlocked and over 200 miles from the sea is quite impressive. We placed our orders and were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the height of lunch time and were served pronto!
Then we were encouraged to have the full Spanish experience - a siesta. Since I was full from lunch, I was sure that I would use the time to write the a.m. blog post while Stacy napped. But as soon as he started breathing heavily, it was like a slumber melody. I woke up with my eyeglasses still on my face. And struggled to get myself back together for the evening excursion.
Madrid comes alive after 7pm!! We thought it was plenty of people invading our personal space during the midday hours. Well, at night, it’s as if they multiplied. Stacy heard that there are over 3.2 million people here and I am sure we’ve seen all of them.
Our guides told us to anticipate about a1-hour long leisure walk through many major plazas to our destination for dinner. This was to allow us to see more areas of interest for future excursions (read: SHOPPING). Stacy found a cap he liked at one of the shops and then he found the same one (+ another one) of better quality for less at a nearby shop. So guess who now has 2 hats to Andria’s 0?
Dinner options were plentiful at the Mercado de San Miguel. We did a quick (Spanish quick which is US slow) walk around to see all the options and then decided on a few little bites: Crab roll, Salmon Empanada and Tofu Empanada, Sangria (Stacy’s first choice always) and a glass of wine for me! The olive bar was amazing but by that time I was done. But we might be back!
We didn’t think 1 hr would be enough time but we were ready to go by 9pm.
But not before another pit stop to the Chocolateria San Gines - for its world famous hot chocolate.
Oh my goodness - it tasted like a melted chocolate bar in a cup. I couldn’t drink it all for fear I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Which will not be a problem since I walked almost 20K today.
Bear is their symbol! I thought I wanted to go to Madrid, but I don't do bears!
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