More Madrid


Today we checked out of our hotel and took the metro to Christine's apartment. After dropping off our bags, Christine and I went to the markets to pick up the ingredients for dinner. Unlike the grocery stores in the US, the Spanish neighborhood market is comprised of individual shops, each with it's own specialty. There are butchers, green grocers, fish mongers and bakers. Each shop is operated independently; the owners compete with each other to earn the customers business. All the food looks very fresh. No tasteless, wax coated fruits here! As you walk around, you begin to notice that one booth may have the freshest looking tomatoes, while another has better looking potatoes. Shoppers walk around picking out the freshest and best looking foods from each vendor; perhaps stopping at 2-3 different green grocers to put together the best dish possible. When we got to the butcher the meat was laid out in giant slabs. Each slab was a different cut and quality. We were looking for hamburger meat. You have to be specific as to what you want. The butcher carved pieces off of several different slabs to create the perfect combination of beef and fat. After chopping the meat into pieces it was fed into a hand grinder, then wrapped it in butcher paper. At each shop there is a process. The vendor and customer greet each other. Then the vendor shows off their freshest and best looking products. "Look at how sweet and red my strawberries are" says one. "See how crisp and robust my apples" are says another. The customer then selects their items and pays. Completing the transaction before moving on to another shop.

Falafels!

After picking up food for dinner, we were hungry so Christine, Seb, Luis and I went out for falafels and canas.

A note about food in Spain:
In Spain it seems that a lot of the day revolves around eating. A typical day may include the following. A light breakfast around 9:00 consisting of toast with olive oil and salt and a cafe con leche. At 10:30 it is common to stop for a second breakfast, perhaps a pastry this time. Lunch is typically eaten around 2-4 and is the largest meal of the day (hence the tradition of the siesta!). Around 6:00 or so people will often stop for a canas or cafe. Then starting at 9:00 people stop for drinks and tapas (small plates). For me the food is a little tricky, as I am a picky vegetarian. The Spanish consider jamon (ham), atun (tuna) and huevos (eggs) to all be vegetarian!

Atocha Train Station

Our wheels for the next few weeks
Luis, Seb and I then took the metro to collect our rental car at Atocha train station while Christine picked up the kids and took them to the park. The evening ended with a wonderful American dinner (hamburgers) together.

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