Madrid

We made it to Madrid!  Our last night in Cordoba was spent checking out a little jazz bar on "the strip".  Jim was pleased.

This morning's train pulled in to the Atocha station at 12:30 and we were to show up at our little apartment at 1:00.  So we looked at the google map I had taken a photo of and tried to make our way there.  It didn't work.  After only 5 minutes we knew we were lost and didn't have time to waste wandering around.  So I decided to splurge and hire a taxi.  

The cab pulled up to the little doorway 5 minutes later.  I rummaged through all my notes to find the buzzer number.  Without that little number we'd have no way to contact Mario and get into the apartment. It's so hard to navigate without a phone or internet - I don't know how we ever did it in the past!

Fortunately, it revealed itself there on the eighth page of my little notebook (thanks Daniella!): Buzzer # 3-D.  The door opened and we climbed the three flights of narrow stairs eventually reaching our Airbnb apartment.  Jim was sweet enough to carry both of our bags all the way up the stairs...and it was only at the top that I remembered why we bought luggage that converted into backpacks. Oops.  

A tall young man stood at the door and welcomed us to Madrid. Mario is incredibly kind and extremely adorable - he had just bought a new apartment and was about to spend his first night there.  He was very nervous and excited.  He gave us the tour, which took a whole three minutes and left us to our devices.

Our cozy apartment.

It's convenient that our place is right in Madrid's centre, allowing us to walk to almost any place worth seeing.  And, in need of a good walk today, we asked Mario for some recommended areas to visit. He suggested we head to the Plaza Mayor, or downtown area, and the Mercado del San Miguel - a great place to sample tapas and wines.  

The streets here are narrow, as they are everywhere else but there is a good deal more shops - and dog crap.  And instead of the usual high-end clothing and shoes our neighborhood offers cheap Thai-style pants and hippy-esque clothing and jewelry, potato chips and candy...not to mention some of the nicest handmade leather bags and purses.  I am reminded more of South America here than I am of the Andalusian cities we've recently visited.

Plaza Mayor

Just a few chips in a shop.  No big deal.

The market itself was beautiful.  People milled about the large indoor space walking from booth to booth, stopping here and there to try baby eels in tortillas, Iberian ham, olive and anchovy kebabs, sweet cakes and macarons, and of course, wine! It was essentially a high-end farmer's market where people gathered to tickle their taste buds and enjoy good company!  Jim and I enjoyed some sangria and vermouth (a specialty here) and a small plate of paella (though we avoided the squid ink one). 

Here are a few of the tapas available at the market:

Little sausages of Iberian ham, we presume...

...more little sausages.

Squid ink paella.

Now this is an olive bar!

Jim sipping on some lovely vermouth.

Baby eels all wrapped up in a tortilla blanket. Awe.

We then walked back to the apartment, stopping only for some groceries along the way...and to take a picture of the best Spider-man impersonator we've ever seen.

"Spider-man...HELP!  We're being attacked!  Save us."

It has become apparent that kitchenettes are very important if we are to return home from this trip with any money left in our pockets. There is no way we could afford to eat out for every meal.  So we make our own tapas at home, cook lovely pastas and rice dishes and indulge in a bottle of wine or beer at our leisure.  It seems to work for us.

Tomorrow we'll be exploring the city by foot and meeting up with a friend who moved to Madrid last year.