The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Bright Lights, Big City
The road trip winds up today with a 4+ hour drive from Cordoba to Madrid. After my adventures driving in Granada and
Cordoba, I was hoping the trip would end without another tale of Where's Waldo ... and it didn't! Other than some long
stretches of single lane through construction zones, the road was open. Even filling the car before we turned it in was
almost too easy -- there were plenty of gas stations right beside the main roads in Madrid. No searching at all!
Gertie took us straight to the main train station where we were to turn in the car. Only at that point did it get a little confusing but I asked a policeman where the Avis lot was and was quickly pointed in the right direction. Security is still high around the Atocha station -- this is where that big terrorist bombing happened a few years ago. All was quiet today, though.
The guy at Avis was very helpful, even called a cab to come pick us up at the lot rather than having to schlep our bags half a mile up the ramp to the station itself. A short ride into the center of town and we were at Hotel Cortezo. We had originally booked another small hostel near the Prado Museum that was recommended by a member of our travel club, but I figured Margene deserved to end the trip in a real hotel with a big room and ... amenities!
Tomorrow afternoon I am meeting with David Downard, one of my subscribers from London, to discuss bringing A Place of Hospitality to the UK. He and his wife are flying in to Madrid for the night and since they were staying at the Cortezo, it seemed easiest just to stay here as well.
It was after two by the time we got settled in at the hotel and with only a croissant and coffee since the morning, we were hungry. Fortunately we are located about two blocks from the biggest concentration of traditional tapas restaurants in Madrid so it was easy to fill the void. As it turned out, the drive and lunch were the only activities we worried about today. We ate late enough that we weren't hungry for dinner, Margene was tired, I had two days of trip reports to finish and that was all she wrote.
Maybe we'll do something tomorrow morning ... or maybe we'll just sleep in. At this stage of the trip, who knows?
Coffee and a croissant at Funky Cordoba and we were off, this time without the need to make any illegal turns. We even went down the street the right way! They were packing up the big ferris wheel as we drove past so I guess we caught the last of the Feria. I'm glad we saw at least part of it. There isn't much along the road between Cordoba and Madrid but I guess when you don't have much to look at, you MAKE something to look at. I really don't know the story behind these big cut-outs, but they are kind of fun.
The area is known as La Mancha so the windmills fit right in. No sign of Don Quixote, though ... although there were references in some of the roadside businesses. Speed limit on the autovia roads is 120 km/hr -- about 75 mph.
As we approached the train station it was clear that we weren't in Kansas anymore! This is the big city. I was impressed with the train station -- very clean and modern (unlike some we have been in) -- but we were a little confused by some of the public artwork.
Near our hotel we stumbled into the Plaza Santa Ana packed with diners enjoying a late lunch. We wandered about until we found a menu we liked but the only empty table in their section of the plaza was in the sun and we were getting a little warm so we just headed across the street to the restaurant itself.
It turned out to be a good choice. Turf is more modern that we probably would have chosen, but the menu had us interested and the display of their specialties in the window gave a good idea of what you were getting yourself in for. From left to right: a pincho of salmon wrapped around a crab salad, a pincho of red tuna sashimi on avocado spread, mini-hamburgers with caramelized onion and BBQ sauce, some lovely spring roll-looking things of vegetables and cheese with a sherry sauce. We also split a great salad of arugula, cheese and bacon. A couple of cold cervezas and we were happy campers ... almost.
Margene's sweet tooth was aching and she remembered passing a Haagen-Dazs sign, so we stopped in on our way back to the hotel. You have not seen an ice cream shop like this one! Located in a classic old theater originally built in the 20s, Haagen-Dazs Teatro is now owned by the company (or at least by the franchisee). Where a regular theater would have a snack bar, this one has an ice cream shop ... and a very cool place to relax and enjoy the product. The theater itself now features musical acts.
© 2012 Restaurant Doctor
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