Tapas!!

We had our first experience with tapas this evening...we went to a little cafe down the street from the hostal (cafe’s here serve alcoholic bev’s and food). It was on a corner and called “corner cafe”- english name but no english menu. We sat at the bar and the bartender was nice and patient with us. Steve ordered a big glass of cervasa and I had a nice glass of vino blanco. With the beer the bartender brought us our first ever tapa!!! It was a plate of 3 mussels covered in vegetables and olive oil (similar to bruschetta)- we looked at eachother, Steve went first. Surprisingly, the were pretty good! After my mussel, I was still hungry so we searched out some words on the menu and decided to try “champinion con jambon” aka “mushrooms with ham”. I placed my order in spanish and was proud of myself for that. As we waited Steve and I imagined what this little tapa would be...pictures of bacon stuffed mushroom caps floated through our canadian minds...we were wrong. It was a hot bowl of canned sliced mushrooms floating in olive oil with bits of european ham and garlic. It came with a little loaf of bread. It was ok- but I’ve learned something- the first ingredient is primarily what the dish is made of (we will test this rule some more on our next tapa adventure). 

Earlier in the day we walked to the Prado museum where we saw works by Goya, Rembrandt and Raphael. It was awesome- we also saw a roman statue display full of statues from before Christ- so amazing! On the way to the museum we walked through some fancy shopping district with Jimmy Choo, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Hermes, Chanel, etc. People watching in Madrid is interesting- it was 23 degrees today and people were bundled up in sweaters, scarves, and leather jackets (there is a lot of leather here). I’ve also noticed 1) many girls wearing nylons with shorts. 2) most little girls wear dresses. 3) girls wearing MC Hammer pants with crotches at the knees and tight rolled up ankles.4) lots of dogs here- mostly little ones. 5) robin hood boots and ballet shoes. 6) no beggars yet.