Walking - shopping - wandering
This morning found us having café (con leche for Susana; solo for Esteban) at Café Dosaka. Then, on to our local Día (a common small grocery chain) for a couple of things that we didn't get yesterday. Breakfast in our apartment - yogurt, fruit, bread,
After breakfast (which was later than usual) and another trip to the market (see above), we set out to explore areas of Madrid that are a bit further afield. After locating a shop nearby where we can get the Financial Times (our favourite English-language newspaper when in Europe) we took a long, round-about walk down to Plaza de la Puerta del Sol (a number of today's photos were taken on the way there). We estimate that we walked about 7 km! After all of that, we were very hungry and stopped into a cafetería (we forget the name) for lunch; in true Madrileño style, this was about 3:00pm. We enjoyed el menú del día - judías verdes for Steve, ensalada mixta con atún for Susan and chuletas de cordero for both of us. This included vino tinto - all for €16,80! This was our major meal today -only a light snack later in the apartment.
Back home for a few hours, including a siesta, then out again around 8:00 for this evening's appetizer - un ración de boquerones fritos and some olives - washed down with some kind of dry sherry, not fino, but we don't know exactly what it was. All the residents and shopkeepers in this neighbourhood (including the staff of our building) are forcing us in a most charming way to practice our Spanish, as no one seems to speak any English whatsoever!
Our day ended with a short walk (un paseo) around the neighbourhood with a quick stop into the supermarket section of El Corte Inglés department store, which was packed. If you ever wondered what people in Madrid do on Saturday night about 9:00pm, the answer is: they shop!
After breakfast (which was later than usual) and another trip to the market (see above), we set out to explore areas of Madrid that are a bit further afield. After locating a shop nearby where we can get the Financial Times (our favourite English-language newspaper when in Europe) we took a long, round-about walk down to Plaza de la Puerta del Sol (a number of today's photos were taken on the way there). We estimate that we walked about 7 km! After all of that, we were very hungry and stopped into a cafetería (we forget the name) for lunch; in true Madrileño style, this was about 3:00pm. We enjoyed el menú del día - judías verdes for Steve, ensalada mixta con atún for Susan and chuletas de cordero for both of us. This included vino tinto - all for €16,80! This was our major meal today -only a light snack later in the apartment.
Back home for a few hours, including a siesta, then out again around 8:00 for this evening's appetizer - un ración de boquerones fritos and some olives - washed down with some kind of dry sherry, not fino, but we don't know exactly what it was. All the residents and shopkeepers in this neighbourhood (including the staff of our building) are forcing us in a most charming way to practice our Spanish, as no one seems to speak any English whatsoever!
Our day ended with a short walk (un paseo) around the neighbourhood with a quick stop into the supermarket section of El Corte Inglés department store, which was packed. If you ever wondered what people in Madrid do on Saturday night about 9:00pm, the answer is: they shop!
posted by Steve at
11:00 p.m.
