It all started last Friday when I travelled to Madrid for the weekend. It was supposed to be a weekend of fun, tapas, sangria, OLE! I met my friend and we went for a late night beer. On our way back from 1 beer (I swear), I lost my footing and my right slipped out from underneath me. I landed SMACK onto my left knee cap. In pain, I could hear a Spanish couple beside me gasp and my friend quickly ran to the McDonalds (thank god for globalization!) and proceeded in broken spanish to ask for..."ice cream...no, ice, por favor!".
Hobbling back to our hotel, I cursed the powers above and my tapas dreams seemed dashed! I could barely lift my knee without any excruciating pain and walking around was almost impossible. Ice, elevation, and a bit of nausea and I quickly passed out on the bed in my clothes!
Saturday and Sunday, despite everything, were great. I managed to hobble around Madrid and see the Prado (gorgeous fabric wallpaper and my long awaited view of Las Meninas by Velazquez). We meandered around the tiny streets of Chuhueca and grabbed a beer and delicious tapas of pate, breadsticks, manchego and of course, jamon, which was cut from a huge leg staged in the front window. The food melted my knee troubles away! I even managed a guest appearance at El Corte Ingles, the formidable Spanish department-everything store in the heart of Madrid with crowds to match.
The highlight of our trip was a visit to a tiny tapas restaurant called "Juana la loca". We were ordering a bottle of "tinto" at the bar and my friends struck up a conversation with none other than the restaurant owner (Juana, the crazy? perhaps!) who insisted we order the most "fabulous" bottle of red wine (ok, she was right!) and also advised our food ordering. We shared: bonito fish carpaccio with soy glaze, sashimi covered with garlic mayonnaise (bring on the calories!), tagliolinni with parmesan flakes and black truffle oil, and last but not least, a deep fried soft shell crab in a Chinese bun with avocado mayonnaise and radicchio. We even managed to devour dessert, not as impressive but worth a try. We finally enjoyed a last glass of vino on the house to top everything off.
Now, here is when the story takes a real calorie-laden turn. We all realized it was way too cold to continue our aimless wandering while miraculously someone remembered "La Chocolateria", the haven for churos and chocolade (drinkable chocolate!). We were there pronto enjoying our churros (a heaping plate full) with the barely there tissue paper napkins soaking up the greasy goodness from our fingers. Not that I would recommend this every day, but it was just what the doctor ordered--smooth, chocolately and the churros (no sugar on them like the ones in NY) gave it a warm, crispy crunch.
Back to the UK on Sunday night, Monday in the A&E, five hours later:
see above.
No comments:
Post a Comment