Tuesday, day 2 of Madrid

My day began minutes before the hotel's continental breakfast ended, 10:00, :)

After breakfast, I walked from my hotel to Piazza Mayor, two blocks away.

so beautiful.

I know that it looks like the perfect day, but it was COLD. The wind was terrible, and last night it got down to 40F. Not good weather for walking around and enjoying tapas. Next, I stumbled upon the Mercado de San Miguel, a remodeled historic market. It was full of tapas bars, fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and meat, and plenty of wine - even at two in the afternoon!

a tapas bar.

fresh fish.

FYI, tapas are small plates, many of which add together to make a meal. Since I had already snacked earlier, I tried a tapa of caramelized apples with goat cheese on bread. It was delicious!

After this snack, I headed toward the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), but was stopped on the way by the Cathedral of Almudena:

huge!

main altar.

side of the altar (maybe original tabernacle?).

painted ceiling.

It was quite majestic. And right next door, the Palace was even more awesome..

this puts on White House to shame...

view of the Cathedral from the Palace.

While the Palace is known as the third-greatest palace in Europe (second to Versailles and Vienna's Schonbrunn), I decided not to tour the inside.. I'm getting a bit burned out on touring this sort of thing - plus, there's always Versailles!

As I have been in Italy the last two weeks, I am in the habit of having an afternoon coffee. Here in Spain, or at least in Madrid, coffee bars are not as prominent.. Well, if they exist; I have seen an Italian coffee bar yet. By coffee bar, I am referring to a shop with a bar and maybe either pastries or gelato, where people come to get their shot of espresso. Usually the locals stand at the bar (no stools) and drink their coffee, while the tourist sit on the terrace and pay twice as much for a seat. Back to Spain, I thought I had finally found a spot north of Puerta del Sol, but when I entered the restaurant, I was overwhelmed with the smell of chocolate. This was a chocolate bar! Like any good tourist, I had the "typical" order of Chocolate con churros: chocolate, in a hot pudding-like consistency, with these sticks on the side.. When dipped in the chocolate, the churros nearly tasted like a hot chocolate donut. Without the chocolate, they reminded me of funnel cake without the powdered sugar. It was so sweet, I couldn't eat very much. Check out the before and after pics.

before.

after.

And I tried so hard!

After eating this pure sugar, it was time for a nap - I'm still battling my cold. I slept for about an hour and a half and tried my best to eat late like a Spaniard. However, my feet were tired of walking and my stomach tired of growling, so I settled down for dinner around 8:30. I had a salad with ham, goat cheese, seeds (similar to sunflower seeds in taste) with a vinaigrette. This is honestly the first kind of salad dressing I have eaten while in Europe. In Italy, balsamic vinegar and olive oil is the perfect garnish for everything. I really enjoyed my meal, but I need to try to find a good tapas bar for tonight! I want to eat like a local.

On the way home from dinner, near 10:00, there were still many people out and about, even some just beginning the search for a restaurant. As I passed through the Plaza Mayor, I could still see the light from the sun. I love that it stays light so much later here.

wow. note the empty chairs = too cold to dine outside.

As for the technical difficulties, it seems that my MacBook's trackpad is not cooperating. It is very temperamental, but it is clicking nonstop and not allowing me to control movement easily. There is no Apple store in Spain. So, I went and bought a mouse, figured out how to disable my trackpad and am hoping the problem will be covered under warranty. All in all, it was a hectic day.