July 29th ETC!, July 30 To the Algarve!

Stop #1 on our "tapas crawl"

Tom, checking out the goods!

The most traditional appearing bar on the crawl.  The stools were beer kegs covered with a cushion...

The jamon hanging from the ceiling...very authentic!

The bartender sliced the jamon to order

Most nights during this trip, finding a dining experience that will please everyone has proved to be interesting to say the least.  The kids are not equipped with the “sophisticated pallets” and sense of adventure for food (search for and taste)  that Tom and I have.  This being Madrid, home to tapas, tonight was the night that the kids would stay in to dine on some fine frozen pizzas and watch TV (Disney channel, in English, fun…)  while we went in search of the culinary delights of our La Latina neighborhood.  To the Madrilenos, this is refered to as the “tapas crawl”.

Because of the mid day heat (96 degrees in the scorching sun) many businesses shut down between 3-7 PM and most restaurants don’t open for dinner until 8 PM.  Tom and I set out on the nose of 8 for Calle de Cava Baja, known to have a high concentration of tapas bars.  We played it safe and stopped at several establishments indicated in our guide books.  The idea is to pop in, order a drink and a tapa or 2 and then move on to the next bar.  Some include a small tapa along with the drink, but generally you select from a glass case on the counter.  This was absolute heaven!!!! We visited 4 bars and enjoyed the variety of not only the atmosphere at each, but the food.  One of my favorite dishes was a toast topped with carmelized onions, grilled chicken breast marinated in a soy sauce and a corn mousse, a taste sensation!

The evening was lively as those Madrilenos love to party and stay out late!  Too bad Tom and I are too old to keep up… (most of the folks we encountered were of the 20-30 something variety).  The streets were packed with people and things were ramping up as we headed for home around 11 PM!

Friday morning came early and with it our departure for the last leg of our trip, the Algarve region of southern Portugal and our week long stay at the beach.  Because the drive is about 9 hours in total, the car is small and packed to the gills and the heat tremendous, we drove about halfway to the border town of Badajoz, Spain for the night.  This was a change from our original plans which included a tour of the  town of Toledo, just outside of Madrid.  Unfortunately because of the reasons just mentioned, we felt that the kids would not enjoy the history and charms of the town and since Tom and I had both been there before, we felt it was best to move on.

The Exteremadura region of Spain is the least populated area of the country and it is not hard to see why.  The heat is intense, the land a bit mountainous and barren and towns are few and far between.  Badajoz is the largest city in the province with a population of around 145,000.  It boasts a pedestrian bridge over the river, the seemingly singular water source, and a restaurant scene that doesn't get started until 9 PM or so due to the heat.  After grabbing dinner at a bar (smokey, Spain has one of the highest percentages of smokers at 24%) we called it a day.

Cathy