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Our Spanish Sanctuary

November 12, 2015 By Lauren 5 Comments

Madrid was a happy accident for our trip. We ended up visiting Madrid not once but twice recently after finding out it was actually cheaper to fly from Fez to Madrid and then Madrid to Marrakesh than between these two Moroccan cities. Same thing for Marrakesh to Amman, Jordan, our next destination. Ryanair came to our rescue, allowing us to fly as cheaply as $45 and have a welcome respite from the craziness that was Morocco. The luck continued in Madrid when we were able to find perhaps our best Airbnb yet in the coolest neighborhood ever. La Latina is like Madrid’s Brooklyn and hosts a weekly Sunday flea market called El Rastro. Madrileños make a tradition of treasure hunting in this market every week and then capping off the afternoon with cerveza and tapas.

On Sundays, La Latina is jammed with people treasure hunting at El Rastro market
We loved our little neighborhood La Latina that was filled with old school candy stores…
…and gorgeous olive vendors…
…and super legit churro shops

Although, come to think of it, Madrileños seem to make a tradition of cerveza (or vino or vermouth) and tapas (or pintxos or raciones) pretty much every day (except between 4pm and 7pm when everything shuts down). We had so much fun strolling the streets of our neighborhood and watching the masses of people sitting outside enjoying a drink and a snack. Grabbing a drink and tapas with friends seemed to be a way of life here. In fact, we were hard pressed to ever find full meals around. Luckily we are adaptable and did as the Madrilenos do and hopped from taberna to cerveceria to assemble our evening meals. Along the way, we also learned the difference between tapas (usually a small snack, not the shareable version we think of in the States), pinxtos (snack on a stick), montaditos (snack on bread), and raciones (a larger, shareable portion).

Everyone was hanging out outside all the time
Menu board at Casa Lucas
5 euros for two beers and a free plate of delicious but terrible-for-you food at El Tigre (great rec, Kelly/Charlie!)

La Case del Abuelo and its famous garlic shrimp (great rec, Mandy!)
A racion of jamón (and someone timing my photo taking)
I totally dug the homemade vermouth on tap
This place was the closest thing to our “regular” spot on our trip so far
We went back four times during our seven days in Madrid
We loved their tortilla and array of cool sandwiches
And of course we had to try some churros while in Spain (great rec, as always, DB!)
The churros were good, but the chocolate was out of this world

Although we were perfectly happy in La Latina, we did venture downtown on a few occasions. Retiro is a beautiful park on the edge of the city center and was cloaked in fall colors during our visit. Templo de Debod is on display in Madrid and was dismantled stone by stone and brought from Egypt as a thank you for important Spanish aid during the construction of an Egyptian dam. The Palacio Real de Madrid is a grand monument to the glory days of the Spanish monarchy. Mercado de San Miguel is an upscale food market that sells a mean sangria.

The sights of Retiro Park, including, for whatever reason, Mickey Mouse
A thousands of years old Egyptian Temple… in Madrid
Palacio Real de Madrid
Puerta de Alcalá and a view up the Gran Via
Madrid City Hall with a “Refugees Welcome” message
Mercado de San Miguel
It’s all about the jamón in Madrid
And they make a mean sangria

And, perhaps our highlight from Spain, a little bar in a neighborhood a 5km walk away that has one of the most fantastic and authentic flamenco shows around. I smiled with glee and yelled “Olé!” for an hour and a half while a five-person team put on a fantastic show. The guitarist set the music, the vocalist crooned the cante flamenco, and the dancers took turns performing the rhythmic finger-snapping, hand-clapping, foot-stomping baile. One eccentric dancer in particular was our favorite (as well as the rest of the crowd’s), and Chris nicknamed him El Machine Gun since he struck his feet so rapidly on the ground. I’ve seen flamenco before, but never like this.

The five piece flamenco ensemble
The vocalist and guitarist

This dancer was pretty suave

And the female dancer had the most expressive face
Breaking out the castanets

This crazy guy was definitely the crowd favorite

Madrid was such a wonderful recharge place for us, and we loved being swept along by the warm current of this city. In fact, whenever one of us is feeling burned out in the future, our new code word for taking it easy is going to be “Madrid.” I have a feeling we’ll be back to this happy haven many times in our future.

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Europe, Spain

Comments

  1. DB says

    November 12, 2015 at 10:02 am

    I want to swim in that chocolat from San Gines! And that tortilla looks amazing. I had no idea that drinking vermouth on the rocks with a slice of orange was a thing until we were in Madrid at the Mercado de San Miquel. Now, I love doing it. Basically, I love Madrid, Spain, and everything about this post.

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      November 12, 2015 at 12:18 pm

      It’s so good, DB! Is drinking from a store bought bottle as good though? I’m definitely hooked on the homemade, from the tap stuff. I will have to give it a go when we’re back stateside again.

      Reply
      • DB says

        November 12, 2015 at 5:57 pm

        I’d say it tastes better in Spain, but lets be honest, so does everything. However I know the white vermouth we had in Sevilla and Granada was just Martini Blanc which is readily available in the states. I thought it was great out of the bottle back home. Probably my favorite vermouth is Antica Formula, which is killer in a Manhattan. I haven’t had it by itself on the rocks yet, maybe I should fix that soon. We also fell in love with a drink called Tinto de Verano (summer red wine) which is just red wine mixed with fizzy lemon soda. Locals in Andalusia were having that and NOT sangria. I was able to replicate it at home with a cheap bottle of Spanish red and the Trader Joe’s French Market Sparkling Lemonade.

        Reply
  2. Molly says

    November 12, 2015 at 10:02 am

    I love this, Lauren! It totally makes me want to return to Spain. I did my study abroad in Granada during college, but now I need to go back- if for nothing else, a picture like those of your olives for my kitchen! Yum!

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      November 12, 2015 at 12:19 pm

      Hey Molly! I’m a fairly recent olive lover, and I couldn’t have been happier I like them in time for Spain!

      Reply

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