After covering Madrid on foot, you’d think I’d just want to pass out rest before dinner. You’d be correct.
Then my dad got inspired and somehow dragged me into checking out the hotel gym with him. “Just to see it.” One thing led to another and suddenly I was roped into a 5:30 pm workout date with my pops. Damn. I had totally come to peace with my exercise free vacay. Sure I was slightly annoyed that I had wasted precious cargo space on my running shoes and other cardio gear, but I like being prepared for all scenarios. My girl scout training (always be prepared) really backfired this time.
So I was coerced into it (at first), but to be honest, 40 minutes of elliptical-ing felt pretty damn good. I read a mag, listened to music, stared out at the rooftops of Madrid, and zoned out while doing some decent sweating. Then I did some arms, abs, and stretching and called it a day week.
Back at the room I ghetto (sink) washed my clothes and hung them to dry before I showered myself.
Pretty soon it was time to get ready for pre-dinner drinks.
We met A & E and walked over to the fancy schmancy Ritz (which was basically diagonal across the street from the Royal Palace).
Holy pricey drink$!!! WTF. 25 Euro for a cocktail? Does that include dinner and a massage? No thanks. We took a photo and promptly left. Sorry to any facebook peeps who wrongly assumed Ethel’s tag meant we were ballin’ it up at the Ritz.
We may have been staying at the Royal Palace, but we are far from rich.
Instead we went to A & E’s hotel a few blocks around the corner from ours. It had a bar and had (free?) tapas, too. Way more reasonable.
I got bubbles. 🙂
We discussed El Escorial and Paris plans and got excited for tennis.
And we may have gotten a little tipsy too.
Good thing dinner was just a block away. The lure of Argentinean fare at La Cabana sucked the carnivores in, but I had minimal options* and thus dug into the bread with vigor.
*This is especially ironic having now been to Argentina and seeing how vegan friendly the city is.
Dad browsed the Malbecs (typical) while we made our way to the back of the restaurant (hide the obnoxious Americans, stat!).
The table setting was beautiful.
We got a bottle of Tempranillo for the table. Emina Crianza 2007, Do Ribera Del Duero. It was my fave of the trip.
The olive oils also got two thumbs up from me with infused seasonings that were really good.
My mixed salad was a big dud but I got my dinning choice the previous night so I couldn’t (and wouldn’t) really complain.
My dad was really excited for his soup. This pic makes me laugh a lot.
Gazpacho.
Carne.
Ensalada.
We walked home and zonked out, sad that the next day was going to be our final one in Spain.
