Day 3 Madrid Chamartin Mercado Y Museo Prado

Hola!

Can you believe it has taken me this long to update my blog...

We began our third day in Madrid quite early. About 7 am people began to roll in to the hotel restaurant for breakfast with sleepy eyes (many had been out roaming Madrid until late), and helped themselves to the scrambled eggs, ham, sausages, fresh fruit and cereals. I have been suprised that the "continental" breakfast included in the price of our rooms has been so good.

We met our guide Carmen, loaded onto the bus and lumbered through the early morning traffic.
Our first destination was the Chamartin Market. It is a relatively new, modern building compared to some of the other traditional markets in town. Apparently the older markets were a little run down or closed. Chamartin turned out to be a wonderful choice.

The market was brightly lit and as soon as we walked into the main floor we were met by Maria Llamas and her mother, a well known food personality in Madrid Clara Maria (Chef Encabo says she is the Julia Child of Spain). They were two of the nicest, warmest people we have met so far. They led us from stall to stall, introducing the owners and translating for those of us who couldn´t hear. Despite being early the market was busy with shoppers and it was sometimes hard to hear.


In the market we met Ernesto, who owns a butcher shop where they work with ranchers to keep rare Spanish breeds of beef cattle, lamb, pork and chickens alive. They had an amazing selection of some of the most delicious naturally raised meats available. The passion with which Ernesto spoke was obvious. They take food seriously here. And yes we did get to try some samples!

We met one of the top fishmongers in Spain, who supplies all the top restaurants in the city,. He came out and answered our questions. Merluza (hake fish) is the most popular, percebes (barnacles) are a prized delicacy and there was a huge variety of fresh fish. Apparently all the fish from the boats on the coast, after the coastal cities take their share, comes directly to the markets in Madrid first. Only then is it distributed to other cities.


We tasted some of the best produce I have ever had (Chef Encabo bought us samples). Heirloom tomatoes that were out of this world and juicy cerezas (cherries). We looked at olive oil specialty stands and the stall owners and workers joked with us. I have been trying to practice my fledgling Spainish language skills on every unsuspecting Spaniard I can find.

After the market we took a bus to the world famous Prado Museum. Photos are not allowed inside so I don´t have anything to show you until I get home.

We were so lucky to have our guide Carmen with us though. When we got inside Chef offered us the opportunity to go look around on our own or to stay with Carmen and hit the highlights. I am so glad I stayed because Carmen has a doctoral degree in Art History. It was an unbelievable visit. I learned things about the symbolism in Velazquez and Rubens that I could have never gotten out of a guidebook.

By the time we left we were all starving. We had lunch at a well known Galacian restaurant called Casa Gallega. The food was magnificent. We had these little fried green peppers called "Pimientos Padron" which were addictive to say the least.
The wine, a light Palomino varietal, made all the Galacian seafood we had sing. The Pulpo (octopus cooked until it was creamy in olive oil and sprinkled with pimenton) was probably my favorite. Believe me when I say we do not go hungry on this trip.

Lucky for us we had a few hours to recover and take a siesta because Clara Maria and her daughter had invited the entire crew out to her house for drinks and tapas later. This happens often. It was not part of the itinerary but once we met them they couldn´t help but love us.

The house was one of the most amazing places I have been. After a harrowing ride stuffed like sardines into Carmens little car, through the rush hours traffic we arrived at a beautiful country house with an organic garden and green house and rolling lawn. Small groupings of comfortable chairs decorated the lawn and several patios. Eventually we all ended up inside eating tapas and drinking wine. We had some delectable melted cheese and lots more ham. It was very easy to relax at their house. The weather, which has been beautifully mild the whole time, made the evening a pleasure. We chatted with everyone and threw the large pinecones which littered the yard to the delight of the family dog Lola. At the end of the evening I told Maria of my plans to come back to Madrid and she dug out her card and told me to call as soon as I got in. That is the way everybody has been.

Hasta luego queridos...

Leslie