Day 9 - Sunday 30Nov

There's a church next door to the hotel called Iglesia de San Martin de Tours (patron saint of France) on, ironically, Calle del Desengaño, an alley frequented by junkies and 'hos at night. We went to the 1pm mass on this first Sunday of Advent. We did not understand the homily at all, since the Padre was speaking very fast, but oh well. The site of the church was not lost on us either: Christ after all ministered to the marginal members of society, not the all pious, holier-than-thou set.


We headed down Gran Via toward the Prado Museum. Along the way, K took plenty of pictures, the most poignant of which was the Monumento a los Caídos por España with its eternal flame.



We visited Iglesia San Jeronimo, one of the oldest churches in Madrid and where King Juan Carlos I had his coronation about 30 years ago. The church is right by the Prado Museum.



K wanted to have lunch at this place called Maceiras. Apparently, the rest of Madrid had the same idea as there was a long wait (over 40 minutes!). The food is mostly Galician, so it would be interesting to compare it to the Asturian we had the other day. After freezing our ass outside, we were finally escorted in - and the taberna was simply packed!

(1) Wait for a table (2) Packed Taberna (3) Copa de Albarino wine (4) Almejas (clams) in Albariño sauce (5) Carne Asada (6) Pulpo (octopus) in Olive Oil (7) Empanada (8) Caldo Gallego





Okay, we love Galician food and that Caldo soup was simply out of this world! Better than Asturian. I've had octopus before, but this was fresh and awesome. For dessert, we crossed the street and had some awesome hot chocolate concoction - dark chocolate with amaretto and rum and dark chocolate with orange and cinnamon.


We were just in time to get into the Prado Museaum for free (1700 - 1930 hours on Sundays). The line to get in was pretty long and we probably had to wait for about 45 minutes. But once inside, it was a treat to see lots of Medieval and Renaissance paintings, along with Roman statues.


Afterwards, the work of Garavaggio doesn't differ much from that of Velasquez. The only one I could recognize at sight was El Greco, but who couldn't? Don't get me wrong, I love the classics, how they brilliantly captured the lighting and many many details. But maybe I'm partial to the modern movement - the impressionists, the abstract, the bohemians. When artists didn't get commissions from the church anymore but simply created their own art at the point of material starvation.

On the way back to the hotel, K had to take more pictures, some of which are:

Post script: At mass today, K was very amused by this little girl, around 7-8 years old, who she said reminds her of C when she was a kid.

Day 8 - Saturday 29Nov

Today was just a day of walking around. The streets were crowded with tourists and holiday shoppers. I guess we are on one of the main shopping streets, so what can we expect, right?

We headed to Plaza Mayor, which was decorated with lights for Christmas.

However, it was too crowded with tourists to even bother, so we started searching some of the side streets for places to eat. We ended up at a Juan Valdez cafe for a latte and juice, while we warmed up a bit. Madrid is definitely colder this time than when we were here 2 years ago. Have I said how much I miss Barcelona :(

After the cafe, we walked across the street to the Almudena Cathedral - a chance for C to pray and K to take pictures. It's a beautiful church. Last time we were here it was night so we didn't get many pictures inside.

Right next to the Cathedral is the Palacio Real. We found out you could actually walk inside the grounds without buying a ticket.

After meandering around their bookstore and gift shop, we headed to Plaza Orient to see if we could get tickets for the Avila and Segovia tour we want to take on Monday. Everything online was booked, but aparently not so when you walk into the tour office. Better yet, they will pick us up at our hotel. Bueno.

C was in the mood for Italian food ("no more Spanish food" I think she said). Que pasa? We ate at another place we ate last time we were here, Cafe La Traviata because they were close by and we knew they had pasta. C had the carbonara, while K had the pasta con al ajillo (garlic and olive oil) with vino de la casa (of course). If I haven't said it before, the wine is always cheaper than soda or a bottle of water. I think we finally settled into the Spanish times for eating. It was 4pm when we were having this meal - our lunch. I guess we'll be ready for dinner at 10.
(1) apertivo of potatoes with garlic sauce (2) carbonara (3) pasta con al ajillo

After lunch, even though we were full, we HAD to stop by Chocolateria San Gines, which was noted in K's November issue of Bon Appetit as a favorite place of Madrilenos to enjoy chocolat con churros. Oh my gosh, the chocolate was so thick and delicious - dark and not too sweet. I see why the place is always so crowded.

Instead of fighting the crowd, we just got ours para llevar (to go) and enjoyed it at the hotel.

And we even found a recipe for the chocolat and churros from San Gines at FoodNetwork.com.

We didn't head out for dinner until after 10. When in Madrid, do as the madrileños do. Because it was cold out and we didn't want to walk far, we opted for a plain cafe/cerveseria nearby. Plus, it's the name of one of Angelina's kids - Zahara. Staying with the Italian cuisine theme for the day we opted for Quatro Estaciona pizza and Pasta Bolognese along with a pitcher of Sangria. C has a thing for Sangria at every meal. This version however, was way too sweet. I see why my sister used to call it "good juice". They also served us a plate of olives as tapas to accompany the vino.

Traffic on Gran Via seemed like rush hour and it was 11:15pm.