On Wednesday morning, we walked about a block to the Tacita de Plata churreria and chocolateria where we had been a couple of days before. Once again, we had coffee and churros which we dipped in chocolate.
We didn’t have any plans for the day other than to wander around central Madrid, absorb the culture and find a restaurant for dinner. We’d have to leave some time for packing.
We walked through the Plaza Puerta del Sol and up to the Gran Via. We watched a small film crew shooting film of an actor walking out of the subway entrance several times. It didn’t look easy getting the exact shot they wanted in all the crowds.
We wandered back through the Plaza Mayor and over to the Mercado San Miguel, which wasn’t quite as busy as it had been on Sunday. Still, it was crowded and the tapas seemed overpriced.
Near the Mercado, there were a group of African street vendors. It seemed like they didn’t have necessary permits because each of them kept his wares on a blanket, with a string tied to each corner. In a second, they could gather the blanket and run if the police hassled them. We’ve seen this in other countries before. Sometimes trying to make a living looks pretty hard.
Just around the corner from the Mercado San Miguel we found the Amicis restaurant where we talked to one of the owners who was trying to lure us in. We agreed to return a little later for the menu del dia.
When we went back there, we enjoyed a really good 2 course meal plus dessert and drinks for 13.50 euros each (about $20 CDN). Anita figured out that the man we had talked to before and his wife were the owners. She started chatting with them. They are British but have been in Spain for 14 years and opened their own restaurant 2 years ago. We told them we had enjoyed our meal and would send a review to TripAdvisor. They offered us another drink for free and chatted for awhile longer. It’s very competitive being in the restaurant business in central Madrid but there’s lots of potential if you do it right.
After a last stroll around, we retired to our room to pack so we would be ready early the next morning.
We didn’t have any plans for the day other than to wander around central Madrid, absorb the culture and find a restaurant for dinner. We’d have to leave some time for packing.
We walked through the Plaza Puerta del Sol and up to the Gran Via. We watched a small film crew shooting film of an actor walking out of the subway entrance several times. It didn’t look easy getting the exact shot they wanted in all the crowds.
We wandered back through the Plaza Mayor and over to the Mercado San Miguel, which wasn’t quite as busy as it had been on Sunday. Still, it was crowded and the tapas seemed overpriced.
Near the Mercado, there were a group of African street vendors. It seemed like they didn’t have necessary permits because each of them kept his wares on a blanket, with a string tied to each corner. In a second, they could gather the blanket and run if the police hassled them. We’ve seen this in other countries before. Sometimes trying to make a living looks pretty hard.
Just around the corner from the Mercado San Miguel we found the Amicis restaurant where we talked to one of the owners who was trying to lure us in. We agreed to return a little later for the menu del dia.
When we went back there, we enjoyed a really good 2 course meal plus dessert and drinks for 13.50 euros each (about $20 CDN). Anita figured out that the man we had talked to before and his wife were the owners. She started chatting with them. They are British but have been in Spain for 14 years and opened their own restaurant 2 years ago. We told them we had enjoyed our meal and would send a review to TripAdvisor. They offered us another drink for free and chatted for awhile longer. It’s very competitive being in the restaurant business in central Madrid but there’s lots of potential if you do it right.
After a last stroll around, we retired to our room to pack so we would be ready early the next morning.
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