Spain Day 10 - Madrid

I woke up pretty tired this morning, most likely due to the fact that my bed was on a slope and I spent most of the night dreaming I was sliding downhill...

We headed downstairs for the continental breakfast which couldn't compare to our breakfast in Porto but it wasn't that bad.

After we ate, we headed out to Plaza Mayor. It was pretty but since it was a bit early for the Madrid locals, we just saw a bunch of delivery trucks heading to the various cafes situated around the Plaza.

We spent some time searching for the Mercado San Miguel but it was being gutted so that market visit was a no-go. Instead we walked up to Puerta del Sol, where again we found ourselves S.O.L. for finding a market. We did stumble upon a nice deli where we stocked up on some meats. Then we finally found an indoor market and bought some fruit, bread, olives and cookies for our day of exploring.

With our goodies in tow, we went to the Jardins Botanico where we wandered around and I took a ridiculous amount of pictures. There were a lot of beautiful flowers, plants and trees but not everything was in bloom - so I can only imagine how gorgeous it is in the spring!

From there it was a short walk uphill to the Park Retiro. I expected the park to be a lot like Central Park but instead found it to be more lush and peaceful. We stopped there for a picnic lunch and recharged our batteries since we were all a bit weary - I think yesterday's big travel day caught up to us!

RRR and Mr. RRR headed back to the hotel for a siesta and Mitch, Sharpie and I headed off to the Reina Sofia to enjoy some modern art. One of my favorites was Dali's Girl and the Sea and I did the touristy thing and bought a postcard of the painting in the museum gift shop. We also enjoyed Picasso's Guernica, a depiction of the 1937 attack on the small town in Northern Spain that Picasso painted for the 1937 World's Fair, and the sketches that lead to this work of art.

We eventually made our way back to the Hotel Opera and took a much needed siesta. We were a bit restless, so RRR, Mr. RRR, Sharpie and I took a short walk up the street and settled in at a sidewalk cafe for some drinks and to soak up the late afternoon sun. After blowing about twelve Euro on two plates of potato chips and a dish of olives (you would think we learned our lesson in Sintra) we enjoyed some potent sangria.

Later, we headed to the area of Salamanca and had tapas at Jose Luis. We shared a delicious tortilla (one of the better ones of the trip) which was served on toasts with a creamy potato center. We also had salmon with cheese on toasts, cured jamon, a couple of ham croquettes and our requisite shrimp and garlic.

We were going to order some more but our waiter told us that we had ordered enough for the five of us and basically our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. (Little does he know!) Mr. RRR departed from his usual meat-fest and enjoyed some delightful green beans with ham.

After a detour through Puerta de Sol we finished the evening off with a trip to Chocolateria San Gines in Royal Madrid for some wine, chocolate and churros. Much better than our churros in Sevilla! By this point the sangria and wine from dinner had gotten the best of me and I couldn't even finish my last glass of wine.

We stumbled home and I had a restless booze-filled sleep...

Spain Day 2 - Segovia here we come!

We arrived in Madrid early Tuesday; retrieved our luggage from a different carousel than we were originally directed to and then met up with Mitch and Sharpie.

Pleasantries were exchanged, caffeine consumed and we picked up our very banged up van and got on the road to Segovia. I was a bit delirious but volunteered for the 'hot seat' (aka co-pilot/map navigator/dj role in the front seat) simply to get it over with!

Segovia is a wonderful combination of Seina meets Bologna with narrow, winding, hilly one way streets that are a bit difficult to navigate in a small European car never mind in a van! Kudos to Mitch for driving! We checked into our hotel, dropped off the car, our bags and a sleepy Mr. RRR and headed to town.

First stop was Jose Maria, a restaurant famous for its Castilian fare and cochinillo, better known as roast suckling pig!

And almost as impressive as the 21 day old pig served tableside was how Jose Maria himself wheeled the pig into the dining room and then proceeded to quarter the pork using the side of a plate in lieu of a knife.

A woman seated next to us had motioned for us to snap a photo as Jose entered the dining room, however, I was a bit taken by surprise by the petite chef's butchering methods. So much so that I jumped and missed the photo by a good second and a half!

Being a lover of all things swine, I did not expect the flavor explosion that happened when I had the cochinillo. The skin was crisp without being crunchy and was quite tasty.

The thin layer of glistening fat was a subtle addition to the overall excellence of the dish and the stringy tender pork was hands down

the best pork I've ever had! And the best part (besides the porcelain skills of Jose) was the extra bit of au jus gently spooned over the pork by our server. HEAVEN!

Other delightful dishes to note were RRR's monkfish with asparagus, Sharpie's gazpacho (one of many gazpacho's to come), Mitch's Iberian ham with crusty tomato enhanced bread and Sharpie's melon soup with ham. Yes, she (unintentionally) ordered soup followed by soup.

NOTE: She will have more success with the menu translations as the trip progresses...

After lunch and a bit more wandering , we ventured to the Catedral de Segovia, one of the last Gothic cathedrals built in Spain. We lit a candle for our parents and marveled at the beauty of the church.

We walked for a bit more and decided not to hit the Segovia must see tourist attraction, the Alcazar - I knew I was going to be too exhausted to appreciate it!

Instead, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed some of the best sangria of the trip on the patio of our hotel. I started to enjoy the lounge chair a bit more and eventually headed to bed a bit earlier than the group.

Of course I was wide awake at 4am and ready to tackle day 3!

Portugal Day 1 - Okay, technically Day 2

I woke up to Frank (pronounced: Fronk) saying "Hello, time to wake up"... can you ask for a better wake up call than that?

RRR, my still-swollen eyeball and I got up early and went for a run along the boardwalk on the beach, up to the main road and down along the line of hotels, admiring the beauty of the area. This stop has been the highlight of the trip so far for me and I was really bummed that we didn't have more time to spend in Praia de la Rocha.

As depressing as my swollen eye and the thought of leaving the Algarve was - there was at least some good news to be had this morning since we learned via email that we were able to move our Delta flight back one day, giving us an extra day in Madrid!

Breakfast at the Vila Lido was pretty nice. We sat outside and enjoyed a healthy serving of fresh fruit, orange juice, rolls, croissants and some very sweet cakes (my Dad would have been in his glory!). The coffee was pretty good too, but not as good as the cafe con leche we had in Spain.

After we ate, we packed up and headed to the Faro airport to return the rental car. We hopped into the Avis shuttle, headed to the airport, jumped into two cabs and went to the Faro train station. Sounds like a lot of transportation? It was! But we were becoming experts in juggling luggage, planes, trains and automobiles.

We hit the ticket counter and after some confusion got our tickets and boarded the train for Lisbon. It was roomier than the Spanish trains but first class service was much better in Spain. After splitting a suspect ham sandwich and Diet Coke with RRR it was time for a nap. I needed my energy for Lisbon!

We arrived without incident and checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn which was surprisingly pretty decent. We cleaned up and got ready for dinner.

Tonight's meal was at Bica do Sapato, a modern Portuguese restaurant part owned by John Malkovich. It was in a remote part of town near the Santa Appolonia train station that was reminiscent of a run down South Street Seaport-meets-the-piers-on-the-West-Side- Highway. Inside the restaurant, the decor was modern with funky accents and house music provided the evening's soundtrack.

I ordered the codfish cakes as a starter and shoulder of suckling pig for my main course. Our meal began with some microgreens and an icy light lemon-basil sorbet to cleanse our palates.

The codfish came in a wax-sealed roll of paper and the interesting presentation continued inside with four small filo lined tarts holding the whipped cod. One seemed to have garbanzos, another tomato, another with mushroom and yet another with a mixture of herbs.

When the pig arrived tableside, I immediately smelled the fresh rosemary. While it was not as succulent as the pig in Segovia, it was quite good. The skin was crisp with a small glistening layer of fat underneath and lots of tender stringy meat. At this point, my dining companions were looking at me as a bit of a pork barbarian, however, that didn't stop them from poking into my dish for pieces of the juicy pig. The palate was rounded out by some crisp potato slices, spinach and broccoli (how exciting! more greens!).

We finished our meal with our usual helping of ice cream. This time it was cinnamon and Madagascar vanilla in a sweet cone-like bowl. A plate of pineapple passed by and we were swayed by our lack of fruit and ordered that as well. Definitely one of our more expensive meals but a nice departure from the traditional Spanish and Portuguese fare we've been having during our trip. As we were leaving, the main floor of the restaurant was getting crowded and I'm sure the upstairs sushi bar would start to be crowded as well. Once again, the city's coming alive as we are going to bed.

Oh well, we need to be rested for tomorrow's adventure... a day trip to Sintra!

Spain Day 6 - Ronda's Cheeks

We got up early and went down the street for coffee. RRR and I had the same barista as the day before and he was quite pleased when we ordered our breakfast in Spanish. We enjoyed our cafe con leche, cafe cortado, and a baguette with jam and got ready for our day.

Mercifully, we checked out of our musty Sevilla hotel and jumped into taxis to the Santa Justa train station.

After a switch of vehicles at the train station's car rental counter, we hit the road to Ronda. It was a long road to nowhere for some time but eventually we started to see rolling hills and farmland (a lot of bicycles and motorcycles too). We took a winding bumpy gravel road to our hotel, the Hotel Molino del Arco, a pretty nice modern hotel with an equally nice pool. There was a wedding there the previous evening and the happy but tired guests were checking out as we were checking in. We dropped off our bags and headed into town.

We were starving! We wound up eating in a plaza at Bar La Farola. I ordered a plate of lomo which glistened with its garlicky goodness and RRR and I split a stew of chickpeas with pork.

The stew contained pieces of loin, a few fatty pieces along with a darker thicker piece of meat that added a lot of flavor to the dish. We found out later that it was black pork, a bit of a tasty specialty in the region.

Then we shared a sandwich with jamon, thinly sliced pork loin, tomatoes, and roasted green peppers which were very similar to the peppers that my Grandmother used to roast and jar. Delicious!

The highlight of the meal, however, had to be when Mr. RRR gleefully ordered his beloved hamburguesa. He was in for a bit of surprise though when the hamburger was literally a ham-burger! It looked pretty darn good but not what he was anticipating so he was a bit bummed and we were more than a bit amused!

After lunch we walked over to the Puente Nuevo, a really cool bridge built in 1616. It overlooks El Tajo, a gorge 360 feet deep and 210 feet across. I was getting vertigo as I came close to the edge but sucked it up and took tons of pictures. Of course at this point, we noticed all the restaurants overlooking the gorge but I think we did pretty okay with our choice!

Then it was off to La Plaza de Toros de Ronda which is actually considered the home of bullfighting (sorry Sevilla!). We walked around the sandy ring, through the museum (boy those matadors were tiny!), and even saw the (still smelly) pens. All in all, pretty cool!

We were pretty beat and the pool was calling so we grabbed our daily fix of helado and headed back to the hotel where we hung out in the cool pool and just relaxed.

At the pool they provided an "honor bar", an area where you can get as many food and drinks as you want as long as you write down what you took. We had a few tiny foamy glasses of beer and got ready for dinner. We decided to eat at the hotel since the road to the hotel was a bit treacherous and harrowing and we weren't up to navigating it at night.

I started my meal with delicious grilled vegetables topped with thinly sliced jamon. It had a great char and a touch of balsamic. Carrots, zucchini, peppers, eggplant... perfection!

What was the ultimate in perfection was Sharpie's tomato tartare; beautifully presented and super fresh - unfortunately, my blurry picture can't do it justice! Simple ingredients and just a matter of letting the vegetable's natural goodness do all the talking!

Mitch and I both followed the beef cheeks over a potato gratin with what I believed to be goat cheese. The gentleman next to us had his cheeks with mashed potatoes so perhaps he got the last order?

We enjoyed two bottles of Protos from Ribera del Duero, a big wine that went very well with the rich fork tender beef cheeks. Some of the gang was a bit bashful about ordering the beef cheeks (the name can turn one off) but agreed it was one of the better dishes we've had on our journey.

For dessert we shared two chocolate souffles that weren't as molten as I would have liked along with some sorbets. After dinner we retired to the patio where we opened a bottle of wine we picked up earlier that day in town and called it a night.

Overall, the meal was quite pleasant and a lot better than I had expected. I wasn't sure what to expect from a restaurant in a hotel at the base of a hill in the Spanish countryside but it turned out to be one of our best!

Bravo!

Spain Day 11 - More Madrid!

We started the day a bit later and I was certainly grateful for the extra rest. We were all still dragging and I think the last two hectic weeks have caught up with us. And I have to admit, it has been nice to end our jam packed trip with two leisurely days of touring. Mr. RRR stayed back to relax some more while the girls and I walked over to the Palacio Real. The palace was grand and opulent and we were amused by all the tiny unnecessary rooms and the extravagance of the palace.

We needed to recharge already (it was only about 11:30!) so we stopped at a nearby cafe for some cortado and Mitch decided to feed the chubby little birds that had gathered around our table. We made quite a grand exit when Mitch broke a plate getting up. Our waitress was already annoyed at us for trying to unload all our Euro coin so we made a hasty exit.

After a long indecisive walk to find some lunch we grabbed some quick take out items and had lunch outside the Thyssen Museum. We split up and Mitch and I headed to the Italian Renaissance rooms and eventually dragged our way to the ground floor where we met up with RRR and Sharpie and collectively decided we were all in need of a siesta.

We napped and headed to the Plaza Mayor for a drink before dinner. We split a pitcher of sangria and it seems Mr. RRR has now mastered the art of ordering Tanguray and tonic in Spanish. (His Spanish was pitch perfect!)

We went to dinner at the famed Botin restaurant, whose claim to fame was that it was a haunt of Hemingway's. They are also known for their suckling pig, we shall see how it compares to Segovia's Jose Maria. The restaurant was pretty touristy and we were seated in the basement dining area where we ordered some appetizers.

We started with the mushrooms in a garlicky oil with tiny slivers of firm jamon. We also ordered the artichoke hearts and grean beans, all served with a bit of salty ham. RRR and I split the suckling pig and a chicken dish, tasty thigh meat in a slightly creamy sauce with tender rice.

The pig was pretty good; thick crispy skin on the outside and stringy bits of pork on the inside. However, I have been spoiled by Jose Maria and he is by far the victor in the battle of suckling pig supremacy.

We finished up and sauntered back to the hotel with a final pit stop for some helado. I somehow got a second wind, so RRR and I headed out to the Plaza Oriente and sat down at the Cafe de Oriente for an after dinner drink. Fittingly I had a glass of Tio Pepe white sherry, a bit dry for my taste but a nice nightcap nonetheless, and RRR had a coffee and a glass of wine. We discussed our trip highlights and how Madrid was a city that really was beyond our expectations.

In all our trip planning, I had spent the least amount of time researching Madrid and I really didn't know what to expect from this city. What I found was a place that was very reminiscent of Paris, that simply oozes culture and is filled with food, shops and museums just waiting to be discovered.

Finally, it was off to bed and getting ready for our big travel day home.

Spain Day 7 - The long road to Rota

We got up early for a quick breakfast at the hotel and then hit the long road to Jerez. RRR was driving and it was a tough one.

The narrow mountainous road to Jerez was scary but beautiful. The low rolling clouds over the limestone mountainside was beyond words. We stopped at one point but I was definitely nervous, especially as our large van had to share the road with fast oncoming vehicles.

One of the towns we drove through was Grazalema. What a gem! We stopped in the center of town where there was an old church and plaza. The town is actually a base for a lot of hikers in the area but we mainly saw groups of older Spanish men chatting in the square and drinking coffee. I would have loved to have seen Grazalema at night with the strings of large light bulbs hanging throughout the plaza.

We abandoned the pit stop in Jerez, realizing that would be a day in itself and the city was way too large for us to navigate, especially without any sherry bodegas picked out. So we continued on and after a lot of aimless driving through Rota we eventually found our hotel, the Hotel Playa de la Luz, right on the beach.

We found our rooms and sat by the pool. We attempted to order some lunch and after letting us wait for a ridiculous amount of time, we finally enjoyed a potato omlette, a ham and cheese sandwich (more grilled cheese than ham and cheese), and a pork fillet sandwich. Either this was really good or I was really hungry!

After lunch, we walked over to the beach and to my delight the water was warm! It was a bit rocky and there was some seaweed but it was so great to be in the ocean! The sun was still really strong even after 5 o'clock and we made our way back to the pool for some relief from the heat.

Mitch and Mr. RRR retired to their rooms for a siesta and RRR, Sharpie and I shared a pitcher of sangria, talked politics and lamented about what would probably be a six hour drive to the Algarve the next morning. This time Sharpie and I stopped in a travel agency located on the resort premises, got directions and bought a map!

Mitch wasn't feeling well and decided to skip dinner (in hindsight, the best move of the evening). We were waiting for the resort's restaurant to open (we were hitting the road at 6am the next day so it was going to be an early night) at 8:30 and eventually realized that it was closed and our only option was the buffet!!! Say it isn't so!!!!

There were a lot of German options at the buffet - spaetzle, German potato salad, etc. and the 'early birds' had already hit the very Americanized version of paella so we were left with the bits on the bottom of the large paella pan. By "Americanized" I mean it had a different grain of rice than we had in Sevilla, peas and baby shrimp without the variety of seafood we've had either! We joked that this was Mr. RRR's favorite meal of the trip - lots of Americanized versions of Spanish fare with unlimited portions!

In all fairness, the grilled pork was pretty decent as were the well-seasoned chicken kabobs with almost a Moroccan taste that were cooked to order on a small grill station. We stopped at the Bar Sherry for some ice cream and a surprisingly nice slice of pumpkin cake. We were laughing because we finally realized there were a lot of seniors and they were at tables in the bar area playing various card games. Now we know why there was a line at the door at 6pm for the buffet to open! Way to be observant!

What was even better was the resort was pretty deserted as we headed to bed around 11:30pm. I certainly needed to rest up for the journey to Portugal since I was going to be the driver!

Portugal Day 6 aka Spain Day 9 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Woke up this morning and (finally) had a nice long workout with RRR and Sharpie. We made one final trip to the Sheraton's concierge lounge for breakfast. After we ate, we watched a few episodes of Queer Eye (which seems to be on an endless marathon in Portugal!) and headed out a bit early for the train station. This turned out to be a good thing since my timetable from Rail Europe was outdated and our train to Lisbon was 25 minutes earlier than we anticipated! We got on the correct express train (versus yesterday's 3 hour local train) and were on our way to Lisbon where we will be catching an evening flight to Madrid.

We got off the train and hopped in two cabs to the airport. I was a bit worried about security and customs in a country where I do not speak the language and was bringing farm products across borders but all was for naught. My bro-in-law, Mr. RRR, didn't fare so well, being cited for some water bottles that were in remote pockets of his knapsack. Nothing like being yelled at in a language you don't understand!

We had some time to kill so we ate at the self-service cafeteria. It actually wasn't that bad. I had a cured ham sandwich with some veggie soup with a carrot base and a few green beans, finished with a touch of cream. After lunch, we checked in and waited some more...eventually deciding to have some wine and chocolate - just to pass time of course!

It was finally time to board our plane which was very Jet Blue sans televisions. We all squeezed in a row and Sharpie and I mapped out a loose itinerary for our two days in Madrid.

We got to our hotel which was a bit dumpy but at least it was clean. We went to bed and got ready for an early day of exploring in Madrid.

Spain Day 8 - The Big Drive to Portugal!

I woke up around 5:30am to a very large swollen eye! Good thing I was today's designated driver! We left under the cover of night and it was a bit tough to navigate out of Rota in complete darkness but after second guessing ourselves a few times we finally we on our way!

Even with the odd route of having to head north to Sevilla before heading west to the Spain/Portugal border we made good time. Not quite sure what I expecting (machine gun touting border patrol perhaps?) but the actual crossing over to Portugal was pretty anti-climatic.

We set our watches back an hour and found our way to Praia de la Rocha. I dropped the ball a bit and neglected to print our directions to the hotel - oops! Good thing we bough the map in Spain and ironically, the one hotel we did not have directions for was the easiest to find!

The Vila Lido was absolutely adorable! It was at the very end of a street filled with high rise hotels and across the street from the beach. And Frank, our delightful host, couldn't be friendlier. We checked in and decided to explore the Ponta de Piedade (Point of Piety) in Lagos.

Before we hit the point, we stopped for some lunch in town. After our usual debate, we wound up at the Bar Milenium. There a mother and son waited on us and RRR and I decided to share a shrimp omlette and some pork piri piri. The pork was a thinly sliced grilled chop and was decent but most importantly hit the spot!

After lunch, it took a bit of work to find the Ponta de Piedade, but it was well worth it! You simply could not drink in enough of the natural beauty of Lagos! The natural caves and deep blue water of the grottos was breathtaking! We snapped at least thirty photos each!

And since this wasn't enough, we headed back to the hotel and hit the beach across the street. The beach was wide and there were sections of chairs and umbrella rental stands along the beach with some small snack bars as well. We walked down the many stairs, forked over a few Euro for some chairs and checked out the water.

It was a bit windy but Mitch and I sucked it up and went in the water. The ocean wasn't as warm as it was in Spain but it had less rocks and the waves were a bit calmer. We all did our own thing: RRR and Mike hit the snack bar, Sharpie read, Mitch swam and I went for a walk. I stayed on the beach a bit longer than the gang to soak in the natural beauty and peaceful atmosphere of the beach until the jarring tantrum of a British child disrupted my moment of tranquility. Thanks kid - you little wanker!

But I digress... we showered and went to the Dockside for dinner, a restaurant recommended to us by our congenial host, Frank. It was a short walk through a fort located at the end of road and past the exclusive Nikki Beach club. First impressions of the Dockside was that Frank sent us to a tourist trap, but it wound up being one of the best meals of the trip! NOTE: Looks can be deceiving!

We ate like champs! We had two bottles of a delightfully big bottles of wine, a 2004 Casa de Santar Reserva from Dao. After a few visits from our waiter we finally decided on our meal. For a starter, I had delicia de Mexilhoes ('delight of mussels') and Sharpie and I split the arroz de Tamoril (monkfish rice) as our main course.

The mussels were excellent! Large, plump, juicy and drowned in a creamy seafood broth reminiscent of a seafood bisque with a teeny tiny dice of carrots and onions. The rice arrived tableside in a large ceramic pot with two large prawns to put it over the top. We asked for an extra bowl since it was much more than two people could handle. The rice had more broth than this paella-eating girl expected and you could totally taste the sea in every bite! I basically had to stop myself from cleaning the pot since we needed to save some room for our evening ice cream.

We walked down to a small shop and finished the night off with a double scoop of banana/chocolate and tiramisu gelato.

One of the best days of the trip! I seriously could have ended the trip here and been completely satisfied. This was paradise!

Spain Day 4 - Perdidos!

We woke up early and had breakfast at our hotel; a mix of meats, breads, cheeses, cereal, a tasty potato and egg omlette, juice and cafe con leche.

After breakfast we headed out and were the first in line to visit the Alcazar - past experiences have made us paranoid about missing our train to Sevilla and we didn't want to miss it!

The Alcazar was quite beautiful and as most people know, said to be the inspiration for Walt Disney's design of Disneyland. We marveled at the amazing views from the Alcazar, the teeny tiny suits of armour on display, snapped a bunch of photos and then hit the road.

We packed up the car and began our stressful drive to the Madrid airport to return our rental car. After a brief stop to get a few last photos of Segovia's aqueducts we took an accidental twenty minute detour through the super narrow streets of Segovia but eventually found the highway.

We returned the car and took a taxi to Atocha train station with plenty of time to spare. The interesting thing (besides the history of the station) was the ode to Fox's "Lost" aka "Perdidos!" - very cool!

We picked up a few sandwiches at the station (along with a cheap not so great Malhou beer for me) and finally boarded the AVE to Sevilla.

After one teary-eyed viewing of "Dreamgirls" (in Spanish mind you) our train pulled into the Sevilla station. We piled into two taxis and checked into the Hotel Simon, a tired, quirky hotel that was unfortunately a bit too musty for me and fellow asthmatic Sharpie. The RRR's swapped rooms with us and all was well!

After some aimless wandering in the shopping district, we cleaned up and headed to the Barrio Santa Cruz for some tapas. First stop was Las Sacrista where we enjoyed two pithcers of sangria, some calamari frito, shrimp and garlic, steak with sherry and pine nuts and raisins and a jamon sandwich.

And because that wasn't quite enough to satisfy our tapas jones, we went a few doors down to Bar Belmonte and had albondigas (aka meatballs) and a seafood salad with shrimp, pollock and tomatoes.

The salad was quite refreshing and palate cleansing after the saltiness of the meatballs in their rich saffron sauce.

I wasn't expecting much from the seafood since it appeared to be something you might pick up at your local supermarket salad bar so imagine my surprise when I found a mouthful of fresh vinegary seafood instead!

Finally, we stopped where it was a bit touristy but we ordered even more shrimp and garlic, stuffed eggplant, vegetable hash and ham croquettes.

Everything was good but nothing was super memorable; making me question whether or not we've had "true tapas" on our evening's tapas crawl.

Of course with a full day of travel under our belts, we headed off to bed just as the locals were beginning their evening...