Madrid - Day 1

Madrid is an awesome city. We landed around 8 am local time and took a cab to the downtown where our hotel is. The weather is beautiful here - about 85 degrees with a nice, dry breeze.

We planned on dropping our bags at the hotel given the early arrival, but were pleasantly surprised to find that our room was available for an early check-in, which was nice given the long flight. The hotel is great and is right in the heart of the city.

After regrouping, we headed out to check out Madrid, first making our way to Plaza Mayor, which is a bit touristy, but a very beautiful mix of old architecture and new outdoor restaurants and bars.



We settled in at one and had the locally famous Iberian ham on a breakfast sandwich, accompanied by a couple of shots of extra strong coffee (a must given our time transition).

Then we made our way to the Museo de Jamon, which precisely translated is the "Museum of Ham," but which is actually an old school bar/cafe/butcher shop/deli/tourist trap. We stood at the "bar" (which is the lowest price point and lowest class of patrons (since Jen was with me)) and had a beer and a ham croissant. Due to some promotion, everything was one Euro. We should have stayed there for 6-8 hours. Here's some photos of the Museo de Jamon:







The Iberico ham is the pride of Spain. It is essentially made from a certain kind of pig that is raised living off certain plants in a certain climate and under certain conditions, essentially free of stress (well, until, you know...) and then cured with certain spices and salts for up to 4 years. Even vegetarians say it's good.

Next, Jen managed to find a "casino," right off Plaza Mayor and, of course, it had that game where the coins are right by the edge and about ready to fall off - if you just keep feeding more coins in... In Minocqua, Wisconsin they call it "Pot O' Silver," and last time Jen was up there she ensured the game would be profitable for the entire year in just one night of playing. This time she was limited to ten Euros, which actually did last a pretty long time.



Then we just wandered around the city some more - in and out of plazas, parks, bars and restaurants. Madrid is remarkable in its labyrinthine layout - you really could easily get lost here.



We've now stopped back at the hotel to throw up a blog post for everyone who's reading and rest up a bit before heading back to Plaza Mayor to meet up with our wine and food small group walking tour tonight.