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Published: November 6th 2010
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There's one thing that you notice about foreign cities and that's the public transport system. Madrid's is up there with one of the best that I've come across. Although I did take the easy option of going for the three day tourist pass for unlimited travel on the metro or bus all for the princely sum of 12 euro compare that to Sydney's poor effort of costing the same for just a days unlimited travel. The other bonus is that there are little pocket maps of the metro network available at each station. Even without getting one of these, the signage at each station leaves no doubt as to where you are and where you can go from there. So fresh of the plane is was off to the hotel, a short train journey from the airport that involved only three changes of trains. The only downer of the whole metro is that they haven't worked out a way around the stairs that appear along some of the walkways between platforms.
Fortunately on the food front Madrid is known for it's tapas bars, although they are a little different to the San Sebastian ones where there is an endless supply
of lined up from one end of the bar to the other. Still you don't go hungry here. Some of the little discoveries that made the trip a total foodfest were the little bar (Casa Labra) that was packed with locals lined up out the door that served the tastiest little coquettes and battered fish bites. With your plate full of these little treats wander up to the bar and get a glass of red, that comes in something like a small Vegemite glass and it's all good. One thing that I did notice about Madrid is that they serve beers in something akin to a thimble. At least the wine comes in a semi-normal sized glass.
Regular readers with remember the great wall of jamon from a trip a few years back, well this time round I discovered an indoor version. Doing the aimless wonder that I'm getting so good at, I turned to the left then to the right stuck my head in what looked like a deli surrounded by scaffolding on the outside. Once inside there's a deli on one side and a bar in the middle that serves up a variety of morsels involving ham,
chorizo and calamari. All around the walls and bar are legs of ham hanging there swinging in the breeze, from the finest of Iberian jamon downwards. Using my best Spanish (it's up there with my ability to speak any language other than English) I managed to order a wine and a panini with some yummo ham on it.
The other great foodfest discovery was this thing called the Menu del dais, or menu of the day. Being peckish and after seeing all these signs out the front of restaurants saying menu del dais I decided to give one a go. Much like the plat du jour that has been my undoing in France a few times except here it's total gluttony. You start out with a plate of paella big enough to keep you satisfied on it's own. Using my now increasingly proficient Spanish I also asked for a red wine. The waitress arrived with a fresh bottle and uncorked it, leading me to think that my new found Spanish skills were not all that proficient. oh well after struggling through the mixed paella it was time for the lomo and chips. They must have big cows in Spain,
Todo Corazon
Home of that first venture into the plat del dais. cause Fred Flintstone would have been happy to get something on the plate as big as this little baby. Another glass of red from the bottle and struggle though the steak I did. That done the waitress asks if I'd like an espresso, of course why not, it's not exactly as if I can move much at the moment. All done and it was time to get the bill - 10 euro, I asked about the espresso not being on the bill and the waitress says oh that's included and the half bottle of wine I've just sipped on, yep included in the price. How good is that for a bargain I'm thinking as I slowly drag myself out the door when the barman says wait don't go, would you like to try a liqueur? Oh ok if I must, not a bad drop really, still not 100% what it was but enjoyable all the same. Just to prove that this whole experience wasn't a one off I tried out a different place the next day with those same three words out the front menu del dais, pretty much the same result except I got a dessert instead of the
espresso. No wonder the siesta is big here.
One of the things that also stands out about Madrid is the helpfulness of the people here. Having blown the watchband just before I left and not really being able to get it replaced easily in Singapore due to Mr Casio deciding that no generic watch band is worthy of going onto his watch I tried my luck in Madrid. First shop "sorry can't help you but go down the second left and there's some watch places they should be able to help you". Wander down second left get distracted buy new pair of jeans, refocus and head to the watch repair place. "If you leave it for a week I'll be able to get a band in for you" sorry but I leave in a couple of days, "oh in that case you can go to Casio, here is the address, get on the Metro line 6 and get off at O'Donnel and you'll find it down the street". The only downside of the whole plan was arriving at the Casio shop during siesta time, you would think that I would have known better. Venture back later in the afternoon,
10 euro later new band fitted no problems at all.
In amongst inadvertently trying to gain an extra 10 kg through supporting the Spanish menu del dais movement I did have time to squeeze in a little touristy visit to the Prado Museum or Museo del Prado. Not full of handbags as the name would suggest but Madrid's home to one of the finest collections of pre-20th century European art in the world. It's up there with the Louvre as a must see art museum. Despite the blurb, it didn't really strike me as being a fantastic place. I much prefer the Louvre or the Musee d'Orsay but it did fill in a couple of hours before venturing back up the hill to the hotel to prepare for more dining experiences. Next stop Morocco and time to brush up on my French skills.
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