Day 200: Dad in Madrid

I got into Madrid at 12 noon and got back to Alcala at 12 midnight. Needless to say, it was a very full day of exploration! Although my dad flew into Madrid and will be flying out of Madrid, he only really has one full day in the city, and so I tried to fit in all that I possibly could into that day. It sounds kinda crazy, but I did the same thing with Scott when he was here and Maite when she was here... so I'm actually getting pretty pro at it all. ;)

The top three highlights of the day were:

1) Mercado de San Miguel
Dad LOVED it, as I'd knew he would. We spent almost two hours there, perusing all of the food and drink - and eating and drinking, too! I had a great salmon basil tosta, along with a yummy vermouth and a dulce de leche macaroon for dessert!

2) Salvador Bachiller
I took dad into my favorite luggage/bag store just because it was next to our next destination of the afternoon and walked out with a new carry on! YAY! ^_^ I honestly don't know why I never thought about it... but having a duffel bag as my carry on when I'm traveling for a week or two is sort of ridiculous. I have to carry it everywhere and it gets really heavy and cumbersome, and I get really tired and can't move very quickly. Their carry on size bags were 50% off, and so Dad got me one for our trip! So excited!! This shall revolutionize the way I travel around Europe. ;)

3) El Baile Tapas Bar
Dad said he was getting hungry, so we ducked into a random tapas bar. The man behind the counter was about dad's age and a very Spanish fellow. As we were the only ones there, the man started talking to us... and after he realized I could understand him and he could understand me, he didn't stop talking to us until almost an hour and a half later. We'd ordered a small beer each, a chorizo tapa and a mushroom tapa when we sat down. By the time we left, we'd each had three beers, two glasses of Moscatel, tapas, jamon serrano, and two rounds of dessert - he literally just kept putting food and drinks in front of us... even before we'd finished the last one! In the end, the grand total came to 7 euro for everything. Holy crap. It was really more food than a full meal, and enough alcohol to get me sufficiently tipsy-drunk. >_< Dad loved the whole thing and felt it was a very "authentic" cultural experience. I couldn't opine, because I was trying hard not to look intoxicated as I got up! HA!

XOXO