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Published: August 6th 2010
I started writing a blog entry two days ago and didn’t quite finish, then got caught up in all that we were doing. We’re back home now and before jumping into regular life again, I’ve set myself up at the dining room table with a cup of coffee and some resolve to complete this travel blog. So here goes.
Leaving León The final leg of our trip took us from León back to Madrid, where we said goodbye the faithful Ibiza and hello to another bottle of Cava on ice, complements of the Hotel Emperador. Once again, dinner was pushed back a bit later than anticipated.
We awoke to a beautiful day in León. After breakfast on the patio of our room at the Hostal San Marcos we checked out, threw our things in the Ibiza and left it under the watchful guard of the hotel parking security while we explored the city on foot.
A few minutes’ walk found us at the edge of the imposing stone walls that once encircled the fortified city. The walls and adjoining tower signal your entrance into old León, with its winding narrow streets and open plazas. We took pictures at
the Plaza de San Isidoro (Isidoro being the name of Vanessa’s brother and our oldest nephew), then went in search of locally-produced cheese and the heralded Bierzo peppers. We found a great little shop where we were encouraged to sample from plates of olives, a decanter of red wine and a barrel of vermouth (which we happily did). We left with a bag of food and a recommendation for a cheese shop around the corner (Quesos Tori), which had exactly what we were looking for.
Not entirely unmindful of León’s historic and architectural significance, we did make our way to the Catedrál de León. We found a table in the plaza and spent some time marveling at the amazing structure over coffee and a banana-chocolate crepe. Not sure how they managed to take so much concrete and make it look elegant - even delicate in areas. Check out the pictures below - it is truly impressive.
Another day in León would have been nice - I felt like we left a lot unexplored - but before leaving we did make a nice find in the form of a small café specializing in Arabic teas. The Moroccan owner and
her chef husband offered an eclectic menu that included Mexican fajitas, a submarine sandwich, Spanish tortilla (Vanessa’s new favorite dish) and Turkish durums. The durums here were different than at the Kurdish place up the street, but just as tasty in their own way. Very fresh, with a marinade coating the meat that seemed to get tastier as it worked its way through the rolled sandwich. We also sampled their speciality - the teas, which were served in ornate silver pots and poured into colored glass cups. The pots, we found, were stuffed not with tea bags, but were jammed full of whole branches of peppermint (Vanessa’s) and chunks of chopped fruits (mine - promoted as “strawberry champagne”. I could make out pieces of apple and grape). These were then steeped in hot water and the tea that made it through the small holes at the base of the spout was really tasty.
Leaving León, Vanessa switched the voice on the Tom Tom to Sean, from Ireland, who guided us around the roundabouts and got us on the highway back to Madrid. Gradually the scenery changed back to the flat, arid plains of central Spain, and huge banks of
solar panels once again appeared. We made sure to refill the Ibiza before returning it at the Airport, which cost about $50. I won’t soon be complaining about gas prices in the U.S.
Tired from the traveling, I made the fatal mistake of not asking the cab driver how much it would cost to get from the airport to our hotel before getting in the cab, and he took advantage, using a rather circuitous route and charging us 35 euros, as opposed to the 25 euros we’d paid the last two trips. I questioned him and he gave me some excuse about having to go around construction (which apparently didn’t exist three days ago, when we last made the trip). I should have known what he was up to when he asked if we wanted to go to the hotel via Plaza España or another route - trying to gauge my knowledge of the city. Evidence that he knew he’d cheated us was that he wouldn’t open the trunk for our bags until we paid him, a first in my experiences here. Ah well, my fault for getting lazy.
We had planned to go to a jazz club
called Sala Clamores to hear a Cuban trio, but getting there in time for the concert would have been a rush (and there was Cava to be consumed!) so we opted for some relaxation in the hotel and a casual dinner.
We took the metro into the Lavapies district, once a working class housing district, now re-invented as a bohemian, multi-cultural artisans neighborhood. We got off the train at the Lavapies metro stop and immediately smelled tasty roasting meat. As we emerged from the station we were enveloped in overhead lights, food vendors, music and people everywhere. Turns out the Lavapies district was in the midst of its yearly fiestas and we stumbled right into it. Rather than eating outside, we ended up in an Asturian restaurant where we could sample that region’s famous cider. I also ordered a ración of morcilla de Burgos, which is a blood and rice sausage that is fried crisp and is super tasty, if you can get by what it actually is. Vanessa was a trooper and tried it - without involuntarily spitting it back up, as she had feared - but she stuck to her gambas al ajillo. We’ve found that we
much prefer eating tapas, or raciones - smaller portions, usually served as an accompaniment to your drinks - rather than full meals, which tend to be more food than necessary. With the raciones, if you’re still full after one or two, you just order more and they usually come out quickly.
A quick metro trip got us back to the hotel to sleep in preparation for our last full day in Spain.
One more day in Madrid Shopping - for gifts and decorations for my classroom - was atop the agenda for our final day in Madrid, as well as seeing some of the more notable sights downtown.
Easily found was any item proclaiming Spain the World Cup Champions, 2010 - jerseys, t-shirts, scarves, coffee mugs, etc. Seems like every other store, regardless of its normal inventory, had become part soccer store.
Far less common were organic stores, but we stumbled on one - AbonoVida - around the corner from our new favorite chocolatería, a few blocks from the Emperador. The woman working there was German, and we learned from her that Germany far outpaces a lot of countries in the amount of recycling it does and
in the number of organic options Germans have available to them. This, she said, is largely because the Green Party was in control there for a number of years, and a lot of their legislative legacy remains intact. She said she found Spain a bit lagging in its environmental consciousness, by comparison. Most of her organic food and other fair-trade products had to be imported.
Back on the streets we stopped to figure out why a terra-cotta statue of a seated man would have been placed right in the middle of a busy lane, when I realized it was an actual guy, entirely dusted in a red-brown paint. Vanessa didn’t believe it was a person until I dropped a coin in the can in front of him and he slowly moved his arms, made a “thank you” gesture, repositioned and went totally motionless again.
A bronze statue of a man sweeping the street also turned out to be a street performer, who brushed his money can back and forth when you dropped something in it.
We took an obligatory stroll to the Plaza de Puerta del Sol - home to a plaque marking the exact geographic center
of Spain - and continued on to the Plaza Mayor. At different times in history the site of bullfights, public executions and burnings at the stake, the Plaza Mayor now mostly serves as a scenic backdrop to several outdoor cafés and still hosts concerts and other non-life-threatening public events.
We stopped at a café called Le Pain Quotidiane (probably botched the spelling. It’s French for, I presume, The Daily Bread). We chose this place almost solely based on the fact that the umbrellas over the tables had misters to keep you cool as you ate. To our pleasant surprise they also happened to offer an entirely organic menu. I had a great yogurt, granola and fruit parfait to accompany my café con leche, and Vanessa enjoyed another tortilla. We also sampled an organic apple juice with ginger - had a nice bit of a kick - and an organic mango lemonade.
As we ate, we took in the sight of several men in costumes earning a living by having their pictures taken with tourists. The grossly overweight Spiderman in the homemade outfit, rips along the inner thighs and all, was the most entertaining. He had the web-slinging pose
down, but also did a flying pose, making us wonder if he was confusing Spidey with the Man of Steel. Either way, it was a riot to watch him corral sophisticatedly dressed women and convince them to sling webs with him.
The Charlie Chaplin was more authentic, stumbling about clumsily even when he wasn’t having his picture taken. He was also, apparently, more demanding - we saw him take a coin from a woman, then convince her to go back in her purse and fish out some more.
Outside the Plaza Mayor we were surprised to find a series of shops specializing in
Buddhist and Hindu crafts, as well as a neat eco-friendly shop called Amigo de Tierra (Friend of the Earth). Vanessa came away with a cool leather bracelet, a silver pendant and some t-shirts.
We also made our way the neighborhood surrounding the Plaza Santa Ana, called the Barrio de las Letras, known historically as a bastion for writers, artists and poets. We skipped the Lope de Vega museum, but enjoyed a few glasses of fresh fruit juice at an outdoor café in the plaza before heading back to the hotel for a siesta.
Well-rested
and ready to enjoy our last night in town, we made our way back to the Chocolatería Valor to take care of some unfinished business. One menu item had caught our attention earlier in the week and we couldn’t leave without enjoying it. The fruit and white chocolate fondue in no way disappointed. The combination of creamy melted white chocolate covering chunks of strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, apple and banana gave us pause. Vanessa was heard to say, “It stunned me with its greatness.” Honestly, it took every bit of willpower I possess not to turn up the bowl of melted chocolate and drink it straight once the fruit was gone.
In a bit of a post-fondue euphoria we headed out looking for live music and some dinner to complement our dessert. As luck would have it, Vanessa glanced at one of the pamphlets people in the street hand out at every turn and noticed it was for a Cuban restaurant with live music Wed. through Sat. Perfect!
We loved everything about Cuando Salí de Cuba, a small, friendly place on a side street near the Plaza de Santo Domingo. We sat at a small table fashioned from half
a barrel of Bacardi next to the family of the singer, who played on a tiny stage about 10 feet from us.
We drank mojitos packed with fresh mint and enjoyed some particularly tasty chicharrones (fried strips of pork) and a Cuban staple, Ropa Vieja (shredded beef in a sweet tomato sauce with rice) in small portions.
The singer played four solo acoustic sets, including a few of our requests, and as folks recognized songs they would get up from the bar and just start dancing. Between sets, the singer would twirl his wife around in the entryway to whatever song was on the sound system while his kids in and out the front door.
Once the music was over, we headed back to the hotel and got our bags packed to head home the next day, which would give us a few hours in the morning to look around.
Saying Adios to Spain Our earliest morning of the vacation and we were somewhat validated to find that, even if we had gotten up early while we were here, we couldn’t have done much. Very few businesses open before 10 a.m., even the cafés that serve
breakfast. We wandered a bit and eventually found a restaurant with tortillas ready to be served at the bar. The perfect breakfast to end our stay - tortillas with café con leche.
Another cab ride to the airport for an honest 26 euros and into a long line at the US Air check-in. Unfortunately, in my efforts to make sure two bottle of Asturian cider wouldn’t break, I forgot about not being able to put liquids in your carry on. By the time security scolded me, our checked luggage was long gone and they told me I could pay $55 to check a third bag, or get rid of the cider - meant as a gift for my Cape Storm backs coach, Mr. Julian Dean. If I could go back, I would at least have thought to pull the commemorative drinking glass out of the gift pack and keep it. Even better, I would have opened the bottles, chugged them both right in front of the check-in girl, burped and given the empties to her to throw out.
The boring, real-life story is that I handed over the two-bottle gift pack, which was probably enjoyed that night by
some baggage handlers. At least, I hope someone got to enjoy it, if it wasn’t Coach Dean (who will now be receiving a bottle of duty free Sangria).
The flight home went quickly, now that US Air offers individual movie screens in the back of each seat and dozens of movie and TV options. By the time I’d perused the options and taken in Avatar and Clash of the Titans, plus an episode of Two and a Half Men, the pilot was telling us to look out the window as we passed over Atlantic City. Vanessa stayed awake this time, ever vigilant so that I wouldn’t once again eat her complimentary sandwich while she dozed. (I did, for the record, have the attendant bring her another sandwich once she woke up on the flight to Spain).
A great vacation, in large part due to the company - my girl is a great travel partner - and in part because we kept our options open and our itinerary relatively flexible. We saw most things we wanted to, missed a few others, but took lots of time to just relax, talk and take in the sights, sounds and tastes of
Spain. Couldn’t have asked for more!
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Karen Arcidiacono Ludwig
non-member comment
Such an enjoyable read! So glad you both had an amazing time and arrived home safely. Cheers, Karen