jelopez33

Ekscrunchy: Big Coincidence!! a few days ago, I found( and lost) an article with a recipe for rice horchata; which didn't seems interesting at all( to me at least).We found horchata de chufa refreshingf in hot days, and of course,the ambience at El Siglo helps,great to have outdoor sitting.
We really found Valencia charming, a city that has many things in common with Montevideo( where we live many months,with 2 or 3 months in Punta del Este), not so big, on the sea,with many possible nice walks, not so cold in winter.Of course,I thank you for all your sensational reports on Spain and Italy, full of good tips; waiting for your new trips and reports!!!

jelopez33

Madrid: Thurdsday-Wednesday-Saturday.

The second half of our stay in Madrid was devoted(mainly) to shopping; walking without a purpose,just for fun and doing some specific things:

--With friends: gone again to Barrio de Saalamanca, this time to a Cerveceria, to have some tapas and delicious chistorras( a sausage); chistorras, bread and bear are a winning combination!!! This time we returned early to the hotel,as our friends (the ones that live in Madrid); depart the next day to Praga (we hope they will give us good tips for our visit next year).

--We visited the church of San Francisco el Grande (San Francisco de Asis).Really close to the Palacio Real and the almudena Cathedral. Another amazing church, this one with a radial pattern for chapels,and with marvelous paints. We think that this church must be in any “to visit” list in Madrid.Beware,in the afternoon it opens at 4 pm.

--Take mental(and written ) note of some things to do in a next visit to Madrid:
-Visit the new market near Fuencarral street, in Barrio de Chueca.
-Go to the famous Chocolateria that Ekscrunchy mention in her classic report on food in Madrid; this time it is almost impossible, as temperature is at 28 to 30 ºC.
-Eat at “el Séptimo”.
-Day trip to Cuenca.
--On Saturday,we did our check out,leave luggage at hotel and go to take a walk in central Madrid.We did Montera, San Jeronimo and Plaza Santa Ana. Big surprise at Plaza Santa Ana, there is the commemoration of the “Dia de Guadalajara”.
There are “giants”,”devils”,”bulls”, music; and of course some, not too many, tourists. People started marching towards Plaza Benavente, Plaza Santa Cruz and Plaza Mayor; we are all having great fun!!!
When in Plaza Mayor there is a food market, and we had sidra (cider)and almond pastries that were really good.

As usual we went to have a light lunch at a restaurant at Gran Via 65; a nice place, on a first floor with good Menu del Dia for 10 euro; gazpacho is a must, as is a breaded veal rib.

Then, we spent some time seated at Plaza de España, made some last minute shopping and returned to the hotel.

The van took us to the airport and our plane scheduled for 2 a.m. flight, takes off at 3 a.m.
Uneventful fly direct to Montevideo, arriving to a rainy an cold day…back to winter(well technically not yet winter,as we arrived june 19th).

All in all this trip( Turkey, Madrid and Valencia) was almost perfect. Our new destinations, Turkey and Valencia were really charming and Madrid is like an old friend to us. Thanks to you all for being so patient reading this report!!!

lowcountrycarol

Thanks for a great report. Debating about heading up to Madrid while spending a month in the southern part of Portugal. You make it all sound so interesting. Have only driven through Spain on the way to the French Pyrenees and visited Barcelona and Seville. You have really peaked my interest in Madrid.

jelopez33

Carol:
Glad you visited my report and somewhat found it interesting!!!.
Certainly Portugal is in our radar for a future trip.Madrid is a beautiful city, very friendly, and you can always make good day trips to places like Segovia, Toledo,Ávila,or, as we did this time to Aranjuez or Alcalá de Henares.
Don't doubt in asking if you think I can be of help!

annhig

JE - so glad you told me about your TR as we are going to Valencia in a couple of weeks time. By the sound of it we are very lucky to be doing so.

Thanks especially for letting me know how to avoid a bad paella.

now I need to know how to find a good one!

lincasanova

South American horchata is made with rice.. only the Spanish one is made with the local chufa nut.

jelopez33

Annhig: if you want a good paella just go for the advice of Lincasanova or take a look at Ekscrunchy 's report.
Enjoy Valencia!

jelopez33

Lincasanova:

You are right as usual. But horchata is nonexistent in he southern part of South America, as we prefer sangría, clericot( something like a white wine sangría, with as many versions as you like), beer or any soft drink.

Waitung for a much desided oportunity to return to your beautiful city. Saludos!

annhig

We saw everyone ask for horchata plus some sweet pastry, we asked and those pastries are named fartons, and the combination of horchata plus fartons is really good (plus the view towards the Miguelete, the cathedral’s tower).>>

horchata sounds interesting [a drink made from pulverised nuts as I understand it] but what are fartons? I'm looking forward to trying them anyway.

danon

We HAD to try horchata in Valencia.....
Turned out- not my" cup of tea".

jelopez33

Annhig:
Here you can learn about fartons and take a look at pictures
https://www.google.com.uy/#q=fartons
We liked the combination of horchata and fartons....of course not really to everyone's taste......butgood for us.

annhig

thanks, JE, the farton looks like an iced bun!

Like you Danon, we'll have to try them and the horchata while we're in Valencia. if we don't like them, we'll have a cup of tea! [or more probably a beer or glass of wine.]

lincasanova

Best to try it dunking the farton in the horchata.. and getting its flavor that way at first. The same goes for the thick chocolate. I find that three people can share ONE chocolate when trying for first time.. We just use it for dunking the churros.

lincasanova

Actually, joselopez.. it's probably popular in Mexico more than anywhere else. I have no idea but am not surprised it's not found everywhere.

jelopez33

Lincasanova:
Don't count with me for sharing chocolate! Thick or thin, solid or liquid, dark or with milk......my chocolate is my chocolate! Best regards.

lincasanova

I could have a whole one to myself if I hand´t had breakfast that day.. or lunch, but otherwise, it's just so deliciously rich.. I can´t justify it!