After our last Egypt tour, Greg and I stopped over on the way home, for two-and-a-half glorious days in Madrid. The weather was fine, sunny and cold enough for a jacket but not cold enough to see your breath. We stayed in the wonderful Hotel Praktik Metropol, a class of hotel known as a hostal. Tiny rooms, perfectly appointed with marvelous views and terrific prices, we were absolutely in the heart of the Gran Via district of Madrid. Delightfully enchanted with a city that stays up until the wee hours each night, we prowled the streets on the lookout for yet another fabulous Serveceria (our very favorite was Casco Viejo), or a clothing stop (Alitalia lost one of our bags – thank God for travel insurance!), or a museum. Did you know Reina Sofia is closed on Mondays? (But the Serveceria at the corner of the square is open!) No matter what we did or how far we walked, Madrid charmed us with her open, friendly streets and store owners, her history and especially her cuisine.
Nowhere was this more evident than at Botin, which is the oldest existing restaurant in the world. We dropped by at nearly 9pm on a typical evening; a little early for the locals, but the joint was jumping. “Reservation?” we were asked. When we sadly shook our heads, the maitre’d nodded but immediately showed us to a table in the tiny front room. in full view of the bar. We sat on one side of the table so as to be able to watch the comings and goings of their guests and in each case, they were so polite, so kind.
After ordering several tapas that we deemed quite expensive (compared to the other locales we had visited) Greg decided to indulge in the sangria, which arrived in a small pitcher that bore the name and establishment date of the place—1726! It was served with a wooden spoon stained cranberry with the wines of many meals past, and he pronounced it delicious. As the food arrived, we were surprised to find that each plate was almost a meal in itself. Blood sausage was some of the best we had ever seen, a platter of mushrooms was indescribably delicious, and the fresh asparagus was cooked to perfection. The artichoke hearts were enough to make you swoon, and they came with a chopped sprinkling of the local jamon.
A word about the local ham. It is ubiquitous in this part of the country, with every serveceria offering it up, some even as a freebie to go along with your drinks. Haunches sit on bars all over Madrid, locked in a special jamon vise that allows the waiter to carve thin slices of this heavenly offering that they then arrange carefully on white china and distribute throughout the establishment. From the lowliest tapas bar to the chain called “Museo de Jamon” (literally, “Museum of Ham”) smoked meat is everywhere. In two hours at Botin, they sliced and served an entire haunch of jamon, then removed the bone and replaced it with a fresh one. As Greg pointed out, you wouldn’t want to be a pig in Madrid, but you’d love to be a dog.
Excited to see the rest of the restaurant, I excused myself to visit the ladies’ room… just past the maitre’d stand, I found the heart of the restaurant. Opened in the early part of the 18th century in this very same spot, Botin’s wood-fired oven has been turning out roast suckling pig, chicken, and lamb ever since. That is such an understatement, though. When you see the small holding room, its arched barn door open to allow you a glimpse of the delicacies inside, filled with shelves of roasts, even the little piggies themselves seem to be smiling at you in anticipation. A single kitchen worker pulls the orders, chops and plates the meats, and hands them off to waiter after waiter. This is perfect Spanish food, powerful in its simplicity, almost spiritual in its reverence to the cuisine of the country and its history, as generations of cooks hand down these techniques so that tourists and locals alike can dine in excellence.
We loved Botin, and Madrid, so much that we are taking you there! Tilting at Windmills: Wine, Tapas and Tales of Madrid is happening this October – sign up to get on the mailing list for this incredible trip—we’ll be traveling with locals, seeing things that the tourists don’t normally get to see at all, and going to special and unique places through the eyes of several Madrid insiders. WE CAN’T WAIT!!
Had a delicious time spending two days in Lovina, on Bali’s north shore. Unlike the southern beaches here, the water is calm, lake-like. You can rent snorkeling or diving equipment, or catch an outboard motor canoe to watch bottle-nose dolphins. Given that we had a mere two days to explore at the end of our latest Eat Pray Love tour, we did none of these things. Instead, we stayed close to our very own plunge pool, courtesy of the Sunari Villas Resort & Spa, a charming and laid-back property right on the beach. Spiritual travel tours are really the perfect way for you to enjoy your vacation; for me, once they are over, I really need some down time to recoup and extend my trip, be alone with my thoughts, and assimilate the lessons I experienced. Lovina was the perfect spot! A plunge pool at first seems like an unnecessary luxury, especially with the hotel pool so close and the beach just a few steps further. But there’s something about being able to go in for five minutes, any time of the day or night (sans clothing, if you prefer) that keeps even your thoughts cooler.
Even up here, after my spiritual travel tour ended, I was able to learn a good lesson. I was on the beach, and had just discovered a shell I picked up had a live crab in it! He was now trying to walk across my hand, inhibited more by his choice of home (a long, thin pointed cone shell) than by the unfamiliar surface. I had already chosen three other shells, all contrasting, and was planning on bringing them home and adding them to my shell collection, when I was struck with a new thought: I didn’t need these shells to come home with me – the memory would be just as tangible if I took a photo. So we did, along with video of the walking crab. Then I tossed them all back in the ocean to continue to grow and experience their time on this planet, just as I am doing— a spiritual travel tour for all of us.
