Madrid

 26 June

Our return to Madrid was not quite as chaotic.  We took the 35 minute train trip into Madrid Atocha Station.  The only moment of drama was going through security in Toledo. I had the two knives Greg has bought as gifts in my bag.  The guard asked to see our receipt.  I opened our banking app and showed him a purchase (no idea if it was the right one or not).  It was from Saturday, and he informed us that we had three days from date of purchase to travel on the train with these knives.  Luckily it was our last Spanish train trip, but good to know if you are planning to visit Spain and buy knives!!  It was a huge train station and we set off to find the metro.  No signs at all.  We asked at the help desk.  Ah, the metro line was being renovated.  Of course!  It was a 15 minute walk to the next metro station.  And it was already 38 degrees and brilliant sunshine.  A taxi seemed like a good option.  But where to find one?  There were literally a thousand taxis around us but finding the start of the queue was a challenge, and we managed to do it the long way (again, a sign or two would have been helpful!).  Our driver dropped us off in the middle of a big shopping area and said we had to walk.  We went down a big shopping mall street which was chaotic, because of the mass of people (all trying to walk in the teeny tiny bit of shade!) and two lots of roadworks, so lots of heavy machinery and men in high vis.  When Greg announced we had "gobbled all the dots"and our hotel was still not visible, I was a little worried.... then I looked around and saw a very small sign.  Eureka!  The entrance to the hotel B&B Centro Madrid is a doorway.  Opening the door you walk down a corridor to another door, where you buzz to be let in (or use your key when you have one) and voila, there is reception.  We're on the fifth floor with a little balcony (which you can use early in the morning or late at night, otherwise its in full sun!) and they have helpfully provided earplugs next to the bed, as we are just five floors from all the noise below!  But actually it's not too bad noise wise.

We had a wander around Madrid - one of the few idiots trying to find small bits of shade to escape the relentless heat.  After a while we went back to our room until it was time to do our Tapas, Taverns and History tour at 7.30pm. We met our guide, Isabel, who is a circus performer and Japanese drummer - and Devour food guide!  She spoke excellent English.  We were just a group of 6, including Chris from Canada (who had just spent a week mountain biking in northern Spain) and  American mother and son Stacey and Joseph.  Our first stop was a tapas bar that has been operating since 1943.  It's located near the palace and was originally a home for palace servants.  Here we had that infamous Spanish drink, Vermouth, olives, jamon, tomato on toast (so good) and for me, pickled sardines.  Delicious.  We were full already !  Next stop, via a walk past the palace and the cathedral (which was only finished in 1993, despite work starting in 1883!  It was funded by donations and of course the civil war and Franco didn't help matters!)  Our second stop was a bar that has been operating since 1962, Meson del Champignon ...so very old indeed!!  Here we had my favourite, padron peppers, and stuffed mushrooms, which is their specialty.  They make them with chorizo but Isabel was able to get them to make ones without for me.  Delicious!  They are served straight from the plancha and are VERY hot.  From here we walked onto Plaza Mayor.  There have been 3 major fires here and the plaza has been reconstructed each time, the last time in 1854.  Then onto the plaza at the end of our street - Puerta del Sol. This is the centre (Km 0) of the radial network of Spanish roads.  Everyone was insta posing around it but I pushed in for a photo!  Our next stop was just around the corner, La Casa Del Abuelo. This claims to be the home of garlic prawns.  They also say every prawn is hand peeled!  They were pretty delicious anyway, we loved them.  This was served with the "natural" wine made by the restaurant, which was OK, but not amazing. Our final stop Los Galayos, had a table upstairs reserved for us.  Here we got two drinks: we all opted for for first a white, then a roja.  Both were great.  They bought out a blood sausage and cheese.  Greg said the sausage was good, but very rich.  I had some lovely asparagus instead!  Then a very good Spanish tortilla - or, as they call  it, tortilla! - Croquettes (both jamon and cheese, but just cheese for me), and finally a brioche bread pudding with ice cream.  We were full to the brim!  And a little sozzled too!  We said goodnight to our new friends and made our way back to the hotel by midnight.

27 June

Today we had our Spanish Cooking Class. We walked past more building sites and heavy machinery. It seems like every Madrid street is being torn up and repaved.  I'm sure it will be very pleasant when it's all done but right now it's noisy and treacherous!  We met our guide, Andrea, and the rest of our group - mainly Aussies from Brisbane, a couple of Americans and a Brit.  They were all really nice.  Andrea took us for a quick wander through the nearby locals market to collect some cheese for our apero.  Our class was held in a kitchen about the famous restaurant Ferreteria, which is has a Michelin star.  Greg liked the look of the menu but Andrea said they are booked out until late July!  (Although I saw they have space for lunch on Thursday... our last day in Spain!).

We started by making our own gilda pintxos - so easy and so delicious! - which we ate with cheese and vermouth.  Andrea asked for a volunteer to crack the eggs for the Crema Catalana.  I said I would do it.  I thought I did a good job doing my shell to shell method but apparently I should have used my hands, I left too much egg white in the egg yolks!  The egg yolks were whisked with sugar and corn flour and then the warm milk was added (that had been simmering with a cinnamon stick and lime peel).  To cool it down she added more milk.  This mixture then had to be whisked for about 10 minutes over a low heat until thickened.  Not a job that can be rushed.  Greg offered to do this bit and there was plenty of laughter as Andrea questioned his technique but ultimately gave him plenty of praise for getting the right consistency!  This was put away in the fridge to chill and set.  Meanwhile, she demonstrated how to make the bechamel sauce for the croquettes.  They had already prepared a batch which had been in the fridge overnight and was firm.  We had to roll them and flour, egg and breadcrumb them.  We learnt that the oil temperature should not be too hot, and that they actually cook very quickly.  She did however recommend an air fryer to cook them without oil which sounds very appealing.  Laolu, the English girl, is a big fan of air fryers and she tried hard to convince Greg and I to buy one!  Andrea  made Salmorejo Cordobes - simply fresh tomatoes, bread, oil, vinegar, salt and garlic, whizzed together to make a really delicious and fresh soup.  Perfect for Darwin in the wet season! Lastly, Tortilla de Patatas, or Spanish Tortilla.  I learnt a few things about this one.  Firstly, they cooked the potatoes in oil (although Andrea says it works just as well to bake them in the oven until just cooked, but not browned).  The onions are caramelised separately.  She used a lid to flip the tortilla which Mitchell and Laolu got to try doing, both successfully!  We ate this with white wine and finished with our Creama Catalan.  Full to the brim, it was back to the hotel for a nap, then to work on my photos!

That night, using the list given to us by Isabel I made a route of 4 tapas bars we could visit, within walking distance of our hotel.  It was extremely busy when we set out at 6.30pm.  It was more like a Friday night than a Tuesday.  And it was still super hot!  It was a relief to turn into Calle de la Cava Baja - a lot less people, and some very interesting bars! We started at La Osita, billed as "Madrid's go to craft beer bar and brewery".  We both had a nice beer to start the evening: an IPA for me and a porter for Greg.  The next stop, further down the same road, was Taberna Tempranillo.  Here we shared four tapas: blue cheese (which the menu claimed was served with leaves, we didn't see any); quail breast with salmorejo; fresh goose foie gras with baked apple; and baby squid with caramelised onion.  All were very good, especially the foie and the squid.   Next on my list was Angelita, a wine bar.  The wine bar was fully booked so they sent us downstairs to the cocktail bar, which was totally unexpected!  It was dark and a bit funky with a lot of science experiment equipment set up on the back of the bar.  The bar man explained that he has a unique collection of distillates, all locally sourced and mixed with a base spirit, each one a creation.  Well how could we resist. While Greg had a local beer I had a delightful gin cocktail made with chocolate mint.  We watched him prepare other cocktails, with dry ice, distilling equipment and colourful blenders - it was a joy to see him work.  As we left he asked how much longer we were in Madrid. Two more days we said.  "See you tomorrow night" he replied... and we agreed!  I had one more tavern on my list but we were still full from all we'd eaten so we went home.  We saw the Africans selling their copied merchandise - they keep it all on a sheets tied with ropes so they can pull it together at a moment's notice when the police come too near!

28 June

Our day started unusually early for Spain - we met our guide for the Madrid in one day with Royal Palace, Churros Tasting and Prado Museum highlights at 9.15am.  And it was relatively cool.  Alphonso, our guide, said that today was the last day of the long heat wave Southern Spain has been experiencing.  Thank goodness, it hasn't been my imagination that it's been ridiculously dry and hot! 

We met at the statue of Isabella 11 of Spain and set off toward the Palace with our group of 15 - mainly Americans (even the Indian family were New Yorkers and the Spanish speaking family were Venezuelan now living in Kentucky!) so we were the sole Aussies.  Alphonso was knowledgeable, interesting and passionate about Madrid.  He told us lots of information as we walked, including pointing out the old Muslim walls opposite the palace.  Some bit of the Christian walls still exist too, but they are in cellars of old buildings.  The Royal Palace is no longer lived in by the royal family but is used for special and state events.  It is the largest palace in Europe, bigger even than Versailles, and contains over 3418 rooms (although the plan originally was for over 8.000 rooms).  It was built from scratch by the Bourbons in 1734 as the previous Hapsburg palace, considered too austere by the Bourbons, mysteriously burnt to the ground (taking several priceless masterpieces with it). It only took 30 years to build, entirely out of brick and stone.  No wood anywhere!  We could only take photos in the Palace square and the first two rooms.  The furnishing of the rooms that followed was so over the top it was amazing.  I had to buy postcards of my favourite rooms to include them in my photo album!  There were dramatic chandeliers, woven velvet carpets on the wall, enamel scenes and figurines on the ceiling (and some walls) and amazing ceiling frescoes, all with allegorical meanings that Alphonso was able to share with us.   One room is called the Stradivarius Room: it contains a viola, two violoncello and two violins, all by Stradivari.  They are played regularly at special functions to ensure the instruments stay in the best condition.

Leaving the Palace, we walked past an ordinary apartment building with a bunch of flowers on the top floor, second balcony to the left - this is where the anti royalist threw a bomb (hidden in a bunch of flowers) onto the carriage of  King Alfonso X111 and his new wife Victoria Eugene.  It bounced off the tram wires and into the crowd, killing over 24 bystanders and soldiers.  The statue remembering this event is across the road.  We stopped at the Plaza de la Villa, originally a market square and now home to the town hall, then onto Plaza Mayor de Madrid where we've passed through many times.  At one time the square (the buildings surrounding it have burnt down many times!) was the site of the Inquisition hearings and consequent deaths, and also bull fights.  In 1848 an equestrian statue of Felipe 111 was placed in the centre of the square.  The locals call it the sparrow killer.  Apparently the mouth of the horse used to be open.  Sparrows would fly in but couldn't find their way out.  There was always a terrible smell in the square. During the Franco era it was pulled from its stone mount.  When the bronze toppled and smashed onto the square hundreds of small bones flew everywhere. This scared the superstitious vandals and they refused to damage the statue any further.  Today the statue has been repaired and is bone free, as the mouth has been sealed!  Then we arrived at the Churreria Choclateria 1902 café for our much looked forward to snack break.  We were given a drink, a cup of hot chocolate (and a spoon to finish it once we'd had our churros!) and the two types of pastry they sell: churros and porras (the same mixture but they use baking powder to make it fluffier).  I liked the porras the best because it was so much thicker and you could coat it with lots of chocolate!  Refreshed, we walked onto the Prado, past the Parliament and Congresso de los Disputados.  At the Prado, again there were no photos except in the first bit where there are some statues.  We started with  Hieronymus Bosch and his famous trypich, The Garden of Earthly Delights, painted between 1490 and 1510.  Alphonso pointed out all the intricate details.  Essentially, women were the cause of all evil, ever since Eve was tempted to take the apple!!   We spent time enjoying Christ washing the Disciple's feet by Tintoretto in 1548.  Alphonso explained that the painting had been designed to hang to the right of the altar.  It was very cleverly painted using perspective, because as you walked slowly past the painting (as you would to receive communion), the perspective changed and the arch in the background got closer, and the table in the foreground, further away - very clever!   I enjoyed the explanation of Las Menias (the family of Phiip IV), a painting by Diego Velazquez in 1656. The King and his wife, Mariana of Austria, are reflected in the mirror at the back of the painting.  The Infanta and her servants are in the foreground.  Velazquez places himself in the painting, working on a large canvas - it is suggested, painting the King and Queen.  Alfonso felt Velaquez was showing that while he was considered a tradesman, he considered himself an artist and worthy of being considered equal to others in the court.   We saw a few works from Goya (including the sadder ones from the end of his life, when he found himself on the wrong side of  popular feeling) but I enjoyed La Familia de Carlos IV.  In this one, Carlos's wife Queen Maria Luisa is front and centre of the composition.  Goya has included himself, painting in the background!  There were rumours that the Queen had an affair with prime minister and those two ruled the country.  Regardless, not long after this picture was done, the royal family were ousted by Bonaparte as part of his plan to conquer all of Europe.   There is so much to see at the Prado!  Greg was quite weary by this time (he'd been up early and at the gym) so we headed back for a siesta, via a Calamari Roll!