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| El Rastro Flea Market |
The next morning, we took the metro from the
happy-to-be-gay station of Chueca, disembarking at Puerta de Toledo. This was
our only opportunity to check out El Rastro Flea Market, as it’s only held on
Sundays. What followed was a tiring trudge through thousands of people also
checking out the market. To be honest, it wasn’t really all that enjoyable. The
stalls sell basically everything under the sun, but not for the bargain prices
you might expect. My suggestion would be to come here early, before it’s too
crowded, just so you can say you have been, but don’t get too excited about it!
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| Chueca metro station was adorned with rainbows for a gay-friendly theme. |
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| El Rastro Flea Market. |
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| El Rastro Flea Market. |
Wandering in the vague direction of Puerta del Sol, we
passed the Guinness Book of Records’ certified oldest restaurant in the world, Sobrino
de Botín,
in operation since 1725 with the same original wood fired oven. The menu didn’t
wow our tastebuds, though, so we opted to eat elsewhere, choosing a small tapas
place not far away. We proceeded to order probably a bit too much, including
the highly recommended Pulpo a la Gallega which was highly disappointing. It’s
basically slices of squid, sprinkled with paprika... not sure why it gets such
acclaim.
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| Restaurante Botin, the oldest / longest operating restaurant in the world. |
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| Pulpo a la Gallega... it was fine, but nothing out of this world! |
We passed Plaza Mayor which, it turned out, might have
been a better choice for lunch! Nevermind... We continued through to Calle
Mayor and paid a fleeting visit to Chocolateria San Gines, world famous for its
churros and hot chocolate. As we’d just eaten, we opted to come back the next
day to sample.
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| Plaza Mayor - a good option for restaurant choices (which we found AFTER lunch!) |
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| Iberian ham is a big drawcard. |
Arriving to Puerta Del Sol, we took a quick snap at the
Zero Kilometre point; the location from which all highways in Spain are said to
radiate. Over the other side of the Puerta stands El Oso y el Madroño:
a statue of a bear eating from a berry tree. The symbolism of the statue
represents the figures on the Madrid coat of arms, representing the religious
and civil aspects of the city, in a mutually beneficial relationship, of sorts.
An odd, but poignant depiction! From there, we went back to our place for a
siesta, in true Spanish style!
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| The Zero-Kilometre point of Spain. |
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| El Oso y el Madroño statue in Puerta del Sol. |
Emerging again in the evening, we walked to the west side
of the city for a visit to Plaza de España, which had a kitchy little market
happening, offering various crafty curios. We explored our way back up Gran
Via, which was pumping with activity, before returning home for the night.
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| Looking up Gran Via from Plaza de España. |
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| Plaza de España. |
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| Roasted sesame seeds (I think) at one of the market stalls. |
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