Day 13: Madrid

We slept in, did some packing, and basically relaxed in the hotel until lunch time. This was the day of our lunch reservation at Zalacaín, a fancy and fabulous restaurant, courtesy of my wonderful grandparents as a birthday present. The restaurant had a huge staff, including several sommeliers. The head sommelier wore a wine-tasting cup and a key around his neck. Since I spoke the Spanish, I think I was considered the "man" at the meal. The sommelier gave me the wine to taste (I've never seen a woman be the first to taste wine when there was a man at the table), and the waiter gave me the bill (again, usually given to the men). I was very pleased with their perceptiveness.

The meal itself was incredible. I think there were about 8 courses. We had a roseta wine, croquetas, cold green tomato soup over caviar, some sort of mushroom and truffle dish, asparagus and peas with prawns in a tasty sauce, sea bass with basil oil and potato balls, steak with bacon (which Marc and I deemed "steakon") with leeks and more tasty sauce with hollow potato puffs, raspberry and manzanilla sorbets, molasses dessert wine, chocolate lava cake with pistachio ice cream, basil cream with amaretto jello, a nut wafer, little truffles, and savage rose and white tea.

We were quite full after the meal, so Marc and I took the Metro back to the hotel to sleep it off. We had pretty good timing, I was sick when we woke up. Being sick is no good, but at least I was able to enjoy the lovely Spanish lunch beforehand. Sick or not, we were determined to enjoy Madrid. We headed for the Metro and were delighted at how clean, understandable, efficient, and spacious it was. It was a nice change from the Rome Metro. We passed a portable harp player on our way out and emerged at the Puerta del Sol. We also wandered around to the Plaza Mayor, passing the Jamón (Ham) Museum.

We then walked to the Catedral Nuestra Sra. de la Almudena. Inside they were in the middle of services. They had a choir, a humongous pipe organ, and a couple of hundred Spanish ladies in large black veils. We walked to the neighboring Palacio Real and sat in the garden while listening to the funky harmonies of a trumpet/saxophone duo. We got a little bit lost, but we managed to find the Plaza de España and its corresponding Metro stop.

We made it home and considered going out to dinner, but we were still full 5 1/2 hours after our lunch. Still feeling sick, I wasn't up to another heavy Spanish meal. We ended up grabbing a tiny bit of Chinese food from around the corner.