We arrived at the Madrid airport around 630am local time and after navigating the airport, customs, COVID verification and getting our bags it was around 8am when we got to our driver.
Fortunately our hotel room was available for us to check in immediately to nap. I couldn’t sleep on the plane at all despite my best efforts so I was very grateful. Unfortunately, they were renovating the room next door. We were able to switch rooms though which was a bit of a challenge on an hour of sleep.
In the afternoon, we took a guided tour of the Royal Palace. Walking into the large courtyard was breath taking. The palace was just room after room of opulence. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in most of the rooms, but the banquet hall was probably the most memorable. The table was set for 140 and to say that everything was aligned perfectly would down play the amount of effort that clearly goes into setting that table. Mr Carson would have been in heaven. They use a string to make sure everything is in a straight line all the way down. Our tour guide say they wear special socks and gloves to move the centerpieces and they’re so heavy it takes two people.
After a much needed water stop, we visited the Cathedral of Santa Maria. It was very ornate and they let you take pictures in most of the places which was a stark contrast to the Palace across the plaza.
We wandered the neighborhood for a while and got gelato before meeting up with our food tour. We had such a great time on the food tour and ate and drank so much. In our group there were 4 other Americans (mother & son duos) and 1 woman from Scotland. Our tour guide Pedro was born and raised in Madrid and explained things about the neighborhood and why he picked the restaurants and dishes at each of our four stops. The tour ended up going for over 4 hours. We first had battered cod, which was actually salted cod they had rehydrated and a cod croquette. Mom tasted the dry sherry wine and I had a beer.
The next stop we had what Pedro called a mini stew. It ended up being kind of deconstructed stew with the ingredients on a plate with a cup of broth and a hunk of bread. (Bread is Spain is crusty like in Italy which we are very excited about). The stew is typically more of a winter dish but it’s so prominent in Madrid food culture (it’s typically made at home) it was included as a stop on the tour.
We then got a full education in jamón. So many varieties and a lot of things depend on the variety of pig. I don’t typically like chorizo but did really like the one we had on the tour. We also skeptically tried black sausage (blood sausage) and it was really good.
After jamón and cava, we ended the night with churros and chocolate. The chocolate was very rich but not too sweet.
It was a great start to the trip!
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