An Eating Trip to Spain: Arzak, Etxebarri, Lufthansa 747-8 J, Swiss A220 Y / 777 J

[yflyer]

The next morning, I headed out for an early morning run through Madrid. My run would cover many of the sights and attractions of the city. In fact, I would retrace almost the same route during the day, with Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2 to take in the sights. Of course, early in the morning, the streets were quiet and the attractions were totally devoid of visitors, unlike later in the day.

My 8km route, starting and ending at the Petit Palace Triball, would take me past many of the landmarks and tourist attractions in Madrid.



I headed out of the hotel, then proceeded west down Calle Gran Via...



As I ran, I marvelled at the beautiful architecture of the buildings around me...



From there, I headed to the Plaza de Espanya, and Opera, before arriving at the Plaza de Oriente, where the Monument to Felipe IV was located...



I continued past the Royal Palace of Madrid...



...which was simply massive...



I peered through the gates, into the grounds of the Palace...



...then continued past the Catedral de la Almudena...



From there, I turned east, and headed uphill along Calle Mayor...



...past the Mercado de San Miguel (Still closed at 8.30am in the morning)...



...and Plaza Mayor.

[yflyer]

I contined past Puerta del Sol, a huge town square, where a lot of construction was going on.



I passed more beautiful buildings at Plaza de Canalejas...



I headed down Pl. de las Cortes...



...where the Spanish Parliament Building was...



Lots of armed police along the street, although they paid no attention to me as I jogged past...



Also lots of press...



...with cameramen and reporters all ready to report on the latest in Spanish politics...

[yflyer]

I headed past the Navy Headquarters and Navy Museum...



...and jogged up a little further to the Prado Museum, before turning around, and heading to the entrance of El Retiro Park.



By this time, I was almost at the 6km mark of my run, and almost out of time, so I didn't head into the park.

Instead, I decided to head back to the hotel, passing the Puerta de Alcalá, a triumphal arch currently being restored...



While I didn't see the monument itself, as it as covered in construction hoardings, the restorers were kind enough to cover the hoardings with a photo of the arch...



I ran past the Bank of Spain...



...and continued along Calle de Alcala and Calle Gran Via back to the Petit Palace Triball.



A very satisfying 8km route, that could easily have extended to 10km if I had time to enter the El Retiro Park.

[yflyer]

Back in the hotel, I had a quick shower, then headed out with Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2 in search of breakfast.

Our destination was Chocolateria San Gines...



...for their famous churros...



While we in Singapore sometimes call Churros "Spanish you char kway"... it turns out there is a variant of churros that resembles you char kway even more...



They were called Porras (the 2 longer pieces atop the churros in the pic above).

After the churros and porras, Mrs yflyer washed it all down with an Irish coffee. Yes, Mrs yflyer considers Irish coffee, prepared here with very generous shot of whisky, to be a legit breakfast beverage...



We visited another Churreria / Chocolateria the next day...



...where I took a few pics of how churros and porras were made...

Churros...



Porras...



Both delicious...



...but different!

[yflyer]

After churros at San Gines, it was time for some sightseeing...we walked to the Royal Palace...



...which was now packed with visitors. The line to enter the Palace stretched more than 100m...



The area was now so busy...


So different from when I was jogging past, early in the morning.

The gates to the public terrace were open as well, and many folks were there enjoying the view of the park and beyond...



We continued along Calle Mayor...



...to Plaza Mayor, which was now full of tourists...

[yflyer]

Tuk tuks were a common sight in the touristy parts of Madrid...



At lunch time, the Mercado de San Miguel was jam packed...



Inside, an irresistable feast of tapas, paella, sangria, and many other delights...



Tapas, and canned delicacies...



We couldn't resist sampling several tapas...



A mozarella bar...



Fresh oysters on the half shell...



Beautiful cuts of meat...



There were many beverage options...



Spanish wine at very tempting prices...



Sangria in many different flavours...



We decided on Paella...



...and ice cream for dessert...

[yflyer]

From there we headed to the Prado museum...



...where we spent many hours exploring art from great masters, Goya, Titian, Rubens, Valesquez and many others...

[yflyer]

We had some time before our dinner reservation, so we headed to El Retiro Park for a walk...



What a beautiful park this was...



...and popular with runners too...

[yflyer]

We walked from El Retiro Park to our dinner venue: Botín.



This restaurant had the distinction of being the oldest restaurant in the world, having been founded in 1725.



We were welcomed and led inside...



Our table was down the staircase...



...in the cellar of the restaurant...



The menu...



Wine to start...we ordered 2 half bottles: a white and a red...



Our starter was black sausage from Burgos...



These were some of the most delicious black sausages we had ever eaten...they tasted light and refined, with no hint of oil or stodginess...

Then garlic soup with egg and ham...hot, comforting and tasty!

[yflyer]

The specialities of the house were roast suckling pig...



...and roast baby lamb...



We ordered one of each...



We were not disappointed!



The dessert menu...



We ordered the rice pudding...



A glass of Pedro Ximenez sherry for dessert...



Very nice!

What a wonderful dinner at Botín! As the world's oldest restaurant, this restaurant would do fine even if they just marketed those credentials and served mediocre food. But no, the food here was excellent! And the service was attentive and friendly too! A wonderful restaurant, and probably a must-visit for anyone coming to Madrid.

[yflyer]

The next day was our last day in Madrid. That evening, we would be catching our flight back to Singapore, on Swiss, via Zurich...

...but I did make an effort to head out for an early morning run around El Retiro Park...



...which was a really beautiful place for a run...



Just a 5+ km route...



...but a great way to start the day!

[yflyer]

As on my previous trips to Spain, I made it point to buy Jamon Iberico in flat packs to bring back home...

I headed to Jamonería López Pascual, one of the most well known Jamoneria's in Madrid.



Inside, Alberto Lopez, whose grandfather first opened the shop in 1919...



Alberto introduced me to the different styles and regions of his marvelous jamon, which was hand cut daily...



I left with a nice selection of jamon, including 4 and 5 year aged jamon, from Guijuelo and Joselito...

[yflyer]

Before heading to Madrid Airport for our flight, we decided that we needed one final Txuleton steak fix, and so we made our way to Casa Julian de Tolosa, an offshoot of the famous Casa Julian near San Sebastian.



Here, the focus was on high quality Txuleta, proudly displayed in the restaurant window...



There were some seafood items on the menu, but it was clearly the Old Cow Tx Steak, 6 or 7 years of age, with 25 days of dry aging, that was the speciality of the house...



We began with beef chorizo...



The steaks were grilled over charcoal...



...over a custom built charcoal grill.



Txuleton steak, done the right way, nothing more, nothing less...



The steak went very well with their signature roasted piquillo peppers...




Just a couple of simple side dishes: grilled leeks...



..and Boletus mushrooms with a whole egg yolk...



All delicious, but the Txuleton steak was the star of the show...



Rice pudding and cheese flan for dessert...



A memorable final meal in Madrid!

[yflyer]

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags, then took our pre-booked taxi to Madrid Airport.

Swissair departed from Terminal 2, an older and smaller terminal than the one we arrived in several days earlier.



From the departure boards, this terminal looked to be used by all the non-Oneworld carriers, including LX, LH, AF, KL and Middle East carriers EK, EY...



The terminal was not busy at 5.25pm in the afternoon...

[yflyer]

Once again, Mrs yflyer went shopping in the airside area, while Miss yflyer no.2 and I headed to the shared lounge, one of two in the terminal, which we were eligible to use.



This was a fairly large lounge...



The lounge was not busy at the time we were there. Which was good, as it meant that both shower rooms in the lounge were available, and I was able to take a quick shower in one of them.



The lounge F&B selection was quite decent. We were there in between meal times, so the lunch and dinner items were not available. The menu for reference...



There was a good selection of snacks and sandwiches available...



Cheese and cold cuts...



Sandwiches...



Fresh fruit...