Easter week we decided to flee the hexagon and meet grand-kids/etc in Spain for a week.
We arrived in beautiful 22-28 degree sunny weather and decided to eat at La Plaza in the square not far from our hotel in Barajas, the town/quarter not the airport.
It's been a coupla years since I've been to Spain and I'd forgotten portion sizes; so I ordered a tapas-portion of chorizo and some calamari - oie! The sausages arrived with sauteed green peppers and frites and I was full; but it was only the amuse-bouche; schmuck! When Colette's shrimp arrived I was served a tremendous portion of calamars and a huge portion of chorizo - my goodness - I did the best I could do for my side and hers.
The bill - with sun, heat and wine - the bill was 45.50 E.
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As we were walking we passed the Mental Health Clinic of the district, pushed the easy to open door in the Metro and saw that our son-in-law's frmer employer had gone into the food biz.
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We stumbled (really having read about it in the October 23-24 October Figaro) on a great house/museum - the Sorolla. The garden is delicious and the art, while reflective of Sorolla's time (his frequent trips to Paris) was not imitative. Plus, the post card sized sketches he did, in his last years (1912-1920) were quite wonderful.
3 Wows!
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Colette had a great idea after we trekked through the Buen Retiro Park, something I tell visitors to Paris NEVER to do - eat at a Michelin-approved place near a sight, when your dogs are killing you.
The Trazas Restaurant in the Husa Hotel Paseo del Arte hit the spot.
The amuse bouche tonight was a fine mix of fresh cheese, baby tomatoes (they are coming in here nicely) and lettuce; Colette had fried shrimp with cooked basil leaves, a very fine tomato and some lettuce leaves and I had a bisque of rockfish with mussels and cocques that was quite special with a green salad that it took some time to get straight.
Our bill with water and wine was 51 E.
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Then it was off to Granada, Barcelona and Bilbao and back to Madrid/Barajas a week later. Colette had some knee problems so I went with the kids into town and straight to the Queen Sofia, where it was largely temporary exhibitions, but the line to enter went on forever.
So disobeying all my culinary selection rules, we scoped the four places on the square and found the most "typical" figuring that Sanabria, would suit:
The meal selected was rather typical, and quite OK:
An amuse bouche of head cheese
Followed by cod "tortillos", asparagus with two sauces (again) - a sort of aoili-mayo and salsa, veal milanese (awful, why did I order it?), and the kids' traditional strawberries and cream.
Our bill with wine & water for three (with awful service) was 44.30 E.
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So then we went to the Queen Sofia, where the line by now was even worse (it was better at our mid-service): but but but, the 4th floor was the best single floor in any museum, anywhere I or my 14 yo charages have ever seen. The exhibitions were called "The Irruption of the 20th Century: Utopias and Conflicts" Collection (1900-1945) and "Is the War Over? Art in a Divided World" Collection (1945-1968).It was fun and this piece by Saura (the pix of which I took legally), was the most fun; I thought it was one of the most unusual pieces of sculpture/ceramic/etc. But in truth all the Tapies, Dubuffet, on Floor 4 were stunning.
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Onto dinner. Colette had been holed up all day in the Hotel Don Luis/Barajas (pronounced Barakas not Barayas) with her knee and had auditioned a place for us that sounded much better than the Italian-American-burger place down the lane that our concierge rec'd - indeed the Caprichosa Taberna in Barajas did have some redeeming values:
Fried fish and seafood
Mushrooms with melted camembert
Mixed salad
Cheese etc salad
Strawberries with whipped cream
Bill with wine & water & cokes = 74.70 E.
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After putting Colette and the kiddies in Aer Lingus: I had one last shot at Spanish food: So what d'ya order in an airport when the trying-to be-helpful Info guy says - "It's airport food" three times mind you - but I recalled being dumped during my escapade to avoid the volcano via Madrid and the ham sandwich were it not all bad -
So since no food person will ever read this; I confess I ate at Tap Tap Tapas at Gate E and loved the anchovies in oil and vinegar and olives and a sandwich of Iberico ham and cheese and cheapo wine but must admit the "meatballs" were just slightly South of OK.
Still,for 22.90 E it was not as bad as my Info friend had warned me.
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