For some reason, this year we decided to leave on our two and a half month trip the day after Christmas. Needless to say, it was a bit of a chaotic few days getting packed, getting Christmas gifts together for our families, and making sure our house was all set for the winter. It all worked out in the end of course, and it was definitely a relief when we were finally ready to take our bags and get on the ferry (minus the suitcase I had researched to death, thinking I'd be a "grown up" and invest in a good one, that didn't arrive in time, Oh well! C'est la vie!).
We flew with Iberia, direct from Boston to Madrid, arriving at Madrid Barajas Airport in the pitch dark, at 6:30 AM. Barajas is an enormous Airport, requiring a ton of walking to get through (I guess that's a good thing, helps get the circulation going again after a long flight). We picked up our luggage, changed a bit of money, and caught a taxi (2 years previously, we took the metro and it ended up being too much walking up and down stairs for us with our bags packed for a couple of months on the road). In the taxi on the way to our hotel, we heard the song Hero by Family of the Year, a band partially from Martha's Vineyard, our home.
We were staying at the NH Ventas Hotel, near the famous Madrid Ventas bull ring, and close to my step-grandmother's house, where we'd end up spending some time. The hotel is relatively inexpensive also since it's not in the center of the city. It's quite convenient, and there are two buses that go right downtown that leave from around the block, and two metro stations within walking distance (the metro/ public transportation system in Madrid is GREAT and makes it super easy to get where you need to go quite easily).
We got to the hotel too early to check in, so we waited around in the lobby for a short while and then went up to the room when it became available. That day was spent getting used to the time difference, getting a menu of the day at a cafeteria down the street (most restaurants have a cheaper "menu of the day" for weekday lunches, including a starter, main course and desert or coffee) and meeting up later at a pizza restaurant called Picsa, calle de Ponzano, 76, with Boris (my stepfather), my mom, Boris' brother Ivan and his girlfriend Raquel. It was supposedly an Argentinian restaurant, but their specialty was pizza. We had some Andalusian cheese, pate, and zucchini fritters as starters, and three pizzas for dinner. Boy was that a lot of food. The pizzas were very decadent and flavorful, dripping with cheese, very thick crust. They were really good, but heavy!
The following day, we went to our first lunch at Boris' mother Magali's house and Cocido was on the menu. Magali has a number of fabulous recipes for traditional Spanish dishes. Cocido is a dish that you make simmering a variety of meats, chickpeas, and cabbage, and carrots and potatoes in water all day. You serve each part separately, starting with the broth with fideos (skinny noodles), followed by the chickpeas, followed by the meats and vegetables. Lets not forget the multiple bottles of delicious dry red Spanish wine. It is a delicious, and filling comfort meal, and that night we actually didn't eat dinner we were so full afterwards!
Some of the highlights of our time in Madrid.
We went to the famed Museo del Prado this year with my mom. You could spend endless hours inside this museum, it has so many masterpieces and some incredible works art. Including some Picasso, Goya, Velazquez, El Greco, and Hieronymus Bosch (called "El Bosco" in Spain). We saw the famous "The Garden of Earthy Delights", which was fun because we had just watched the compelling new documentary about climate change narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio called "Before the Flood". We also saw "Las Meninas" of Diego Velazquez, Goya's "Black Paintings", a haunting collection of fourteen paintings done later in his life, and which reflect his embittered attitude towards mankind. None were given titles by him and were not intended to be displayed or sold. I also have always loved "The Annunciation" of Fra Angelico. These are only a few of the countless that we admired. The building itself is quite magnificent as well.
We spent about four hours inside the museum, and then took break for lunch, at La Taberna de Pedro, calle Montalban 3, a very delicious, typical Spanish restaurant, in an unassuming little building.. The restaurant was within a short walking distance of the museum, and right next to the Retiro park where we went for a quick spin since we were a little bit early, and it was a beautiful, sunny and mild Madrid day. Boris, his sister Alejandra, and a couple of their friends met us at the restaurant. We had a wonderful meal. For starters we had the ensaladilla rusa, a type of typical potato salad with peas, carrots, tuna, egg, and lots of mayonnaise, a couple of types of croquets (truffle and jamon), and some pisto manchego (which is sort of like a rattatouie, veggies cooked slowly, with two over easy eggs cut up with it; Eating it with a little bit of bread is heaven) to share for the table.
As mains everyone tried different things. There were some delicious white beans stewed with clams, lentils stewed with pork, the hake for two... and lets not forget the steak. Everything was very tasty, definitely a restaurant to recommend.
That night, we went to go see a flamenco show at Casa Patas, a typical flamenco club near the center of the city. We arrived just in time for the show to start, right around 8 PM. We were shown to our table near the back of the room, but the seats were great because they were a little bit raised, with a high bar table. Your ticket to Casa Patas comes with a beverage for each patron. The show started almost immediately after we arrived. There were two dancers, three guitarists, two singers and a percussionist. It is always so great to see a flamenco show, there is so much emotion involved, and they really bring you in to their world. The shoes and claps of the dancers fit right in with the music, and everyone really is incredibly in sync with everyone else, moving this way and that, to different rhythms and sounds seamlessly, taking turns in the spotlight. Going to a Flamenco show is a must!
Before we knew it, it was New Years Eve. The city was bustling with activity, the excitement was palpable. People were shopping: shopping for everything. Clothing, food, liquor. The markets were packed with people picking up food. Every little food store or fruit market we went into had little snacks and wine out for anyone to eat as they shopped. It seemed everyone was in good spirits.
That night we went again to Magali's house for dinner and to celebrate the New Year, this time with the entire family (Boris' two other brothers, and younger sister, and their families). We had roast beef and chicken with almond red wine sauce, croquets, jamon and Manchego cheese, shrimp salad with red onion. Local red wine.
When the New Year came close, they turned the TV on to the the scene at the center of the city where there was a ball that they drop from a tower. As the clock counted down, we each had a packet of 12 green grapes that you had to eat at each strike before the new year. Its a pretty funny way too end the old year (and begin the new), with grape juice dripping down your chin. We went to sleep shortly after that, to get ready for the next portion of our trip: renting a car and heading north for two weeks!
