Madrid, Spain

Spain is a fantastico vacation spot.  Seriously! What is not fantastico about Spain?  There is the Plaza España where a statue of Miguel Cervantes stands with his famous characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at his feet, the world famous Museo del Prado which houses the famous painting (also my favorite by this artist) Las Meninas by the artist Diego Velázquez, the grounds and gardens of  Real Palacio de El Pardo, the main residence of the Spanish royal family and the site of the 2004 wedding of the heir to the throne, Prince Felipe, El Escorial which is the monastery of San Lorenzo built in the Castilian baroque style and of course, you can’t miss El Valle de los Caídos, dictator Francisco Franco’s memorial of the fallen in Spain’s civil war and the burial spot of Franco.  There is so much more to see and do in Madrid but sadly I can’t blog about all of it or the adventures we had while there.  Some of those adventures are better left unsaid…right, K?

Then there are the tapas!  croqueta de jamon (battered deep fried ham), calamares en su tinta (squid cooked in their ink), pulga (small filled roll), tosta (slice of toast with topping), huevas (fish roe), patatas bravas (deep-fried potatoes with hot pepper sauce), empanadas (flat pies, usually made with a tuna filling) and countless other tapa delicacies!  Tapas come in three basic sizes: a pincho (more or less a mouthful), a tapa (a saucerful) and a racíon (a small plateful). 

Next week we will be visiting Seville, Spain!

images courtesy of google images