12/31/2019
The capital of Spain was my layover choice before reaching Budapest. My selection criteria: low airfare, direct flight, and somewhere I haven't been. Madrid on the way over to the Hungary capital and Seville on the way back, two days three nights each, seemed a good plan. And plan I must to maximize my stay.
For about two weeks prior to the trip, my work after work was to read travel guides for the two countries, study city layouts, create custom offline Google maps and legends, note museum free times, flea market hours, restaurant/café ratings and locations, down to what to order. I am sure obsessive compulsive disorder is a result of DNA mutation because I don't recall being so OCD when I was a kid.
As a kid, I also didn't burn myself out ahead of an adventure. Why? Why is this vacation so much work? Then I remembered - my friends were my Airbnb and guides for the Stockholm segment last year. Who? Who can be my guide this time? Erika! My friend joining me in Seville from Japan. I recall her visits to Taiwan and Los Angeles, she had guidebooks with her when I was taking her around. She's got to be more thorough than me!
I shot her a message enlisting her help to cover the itinerary for the birthplace of Flamenco. She replied, "Of course I'll try to plan but you know I'm basically a no-plan person." Quite reassuring. But let go I had to if I don't want to be a walking zombie on vacation. Seville, I guessed there is always hotel helpdesk.
I arrived at JC Rooms Jardines in Madrid just before 6pm on Saturday and Ivan, a friendly fresh graduate, at reception checked me into a Yemen-themed room. The walls are colored in vibrant yellow and a panoramic shot of the old city of Sana'a on the side where the head of the bed is. The space was just big enough to fit a small table, a double bed, and a bathroom. Clean, economical, and central. I smiled, content with my online pick. But no time to idle, I hurried to make the remaining hours of the free day at the Reina Sofía Museum before dinner at 9pm with a colleague.
I met Angela three years ago at a work conference and have been saying I will visit in every greeting email until this trip, until she went on maternity leave. We almost missed each other since she wasn't checking messages often. I know I was on her turf when she slashed my tourist trap dinner pick with one of her favorite hangouts: Circo de las Tapas.
The waitress gave an incredulous look and repeated the drink of my choice back to Angela in case I meant vodka rather than agua. An image of a TV show flashed in front of me, host Angela making fun exchanges in Español with the delightful staff, subtitle "crazy middle class Asians, can you believe the things they ask for?" Yes, I know, who orders hot water with lemon at a bar? I told my date it's actually very heavy, she should try it sometime. And when it came, it's the heaviest I ever had yet. "Oh my God," I said. The waitress dunked half a citrus almost as big as the mug in my agua.
We ordered a grilled veggie plate, two types of ham, one of them the famous Ibérico ham, and grilled shrimps with olive oil and garlic. I cleaned out the bread with the shrimp garlic oil and was very tempted to box the leftover garlic oil for breakfast with more bread. But I thought I made enough impression with my hot signature drink order.
For about two weeks prior to the trip, my work after work was to read travel guides for the two countries, study city layouts, create custom offline Google maps and legends, note museum free times, flea market hours, restaurant/café ratings and locations, down to what to order. I am sure obsessive compulsive disorder is a result of DNA mutation because I don't recall being so OCD when I was a kid.
As a kid, I also didn't burn myself out ahead of an adventure. Why? Why is this vacation so much work? Then I remembered - my friends were my Airbnb and guides for the Stockholm segment last year. Who? Who can be my guide this time? Erika! My friend joining me in Seville from Japan. I recall her visits to Taiwan and Los Angeles, she had guidebooks with her when I was taking her around. She's got to be more thorough than me!
I shot her a message enlisting her help to cover the itinerary for the birthplace of Flamenco. She replied, "Of course I'll try to plan but you know I'm basically a no-plan person." Quite reassuring. But let go I had to if I don't want to be a walking zombie on vacation. Seville, I guessed there is always hotel helpdesk.
I arrived at JC Rooms Jardines in Madrid just before 6pm on Saturday and Ivan, a friendly fresh graduate, at reception checked me into a Yemen-themed room. The walls are colored in vibrant yellow and a panoramic shot of the old city of Sana'a on the side where the head of the bed is. The space was just big enough to fit a small table, a double bed, and a bathroom. Clean, economical, and central. I smiled, content with my online pick. But no time to idle, I hurried to make the remaining hours of the free day at the Reina Sofía Museum before dinner at 9pm with a colleague.
I met Angela three years ago at a work conference and have been saying I will visit in every greeting email until this trip, until she went on maternity leave. We almost missed each other since she wasn't checking messages often. I know I was on her turf when she slashed my tourist trap dinner pick with one of her favorite hangouts: Circo de las Tapas.
The waitress gave an incredulous look and repeated the drink of my choice back to Angela in case I meant vodka rather than agua. An image of a TV show flashed in front of me, host Angela making fun exchanges in Español with the delightful staff, subtitle "crazy middle class Asians, can you believe the things they ask for?" Yes, I know, who orders hot water with lemon at a bar? I told my date it's actually very heavy, she should try it sometime. And when it came, it's the heaviest I ever had yet. "Oh my God," I said. The waitress dunked half a citrus almost as big as the mug in my agua.
We ordered a grilled veggie plate, two types of ham, one of them the famous Ibérico ham, and grilled shrimps with olive oil and garlic. I cleaned out the bread with the shrimp garlic oil and was very tempted to box the leftover garlic oil for breakfast with more bread. But I thought I made enough impression with my hot signature drink order.
My gracious host entertained my questions from food to public transport. Any special Spanish breakfast I should try? No, not a real thing. What about Spanish omelet? That's just eggs with onion and potatoes, lots of potatoes, it's quite heavy. . . The trains, my friend is going to take the train to Madrid from Seville one day early because she worried about missing her flight. It's totally not necessary, train here runs on time, there is no strike, you cannot depend on the bus or the taxi or the weather forecast, but you can always count on the train. . .
It was the perfect meal, the perfect company, the perfect timing because we ate at Spanish dinner hours, from 9pm to midnight. Super late compared to my usual meal time in the U.S. but just right for my adjusting to jet lag. I crashed as soon as I got back to my Yemen bed and woke up around 7:30 next morning, ready for self-guided tour. I was checking off each legend on my map, eating at my preselected places, and checking in to Prado Museum at the free time. All according to planned except the damn beautiful cobblestones.
Even with my daily fast walk regime in Los Angeles, I felt my legs going wobbly after one day workout on the cobblestones. The Madrilenians must have legs of steel. How? How was I okay in Lisbon? Oh, I didn't check the scale. The sunny capital of Europe was one-sixth the size of Madrid. One more day I needed to hold out, then I can buckle on the massage table in Budapest.
I parked myself at the JC reception on my second and third/final night. The second night was to consult Ivan on my last-day itinerary. I wanted the most optimal route with least amount of backtracking. Soft spoken and always smiling, the skinny grad reordered my agenda in one glance. While discussing food, he suggested a vegetarian restaurant nearby he loved for dinner option. I promised to report back on my experience.
And report back I did around eleven o'clock the next night. Earlier that afternoon, I felt my eyelids and limbs getting heavier while viewing the paintings at Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The bench beckoned. Oh the damn jet lag, resist I ought to. But it was bad, like I was going to fall into oblivion. I hastened back to Yemen and snoozed. For about a week after that, I kept waking up at one or two in the morning. So much for conquering the time zone difference.
Of all the highlights that day, only one thing on my mind, only one thing I needed verification from the locals, mainly Ivan and Angela. I needed to know about their butter. I like salt and savory food but not salty. Yet I seemed to have incredible luck with the flavoring crystals on this vacation. And the more expensive the place, the richer the salt. I must've spent at least 15 minutes on the lunch photoshoot covering all angles of the cod and sautéed rice with truffle and wild mushrooms I ordered at Arzábal Retiro. When I was ready to taste the exquisite dishes, the first bite didn't just alter the sodium balance in my bloodstream, it altered my excitement.
I continued eating, trying to hide my disappointment. My gaze moved to the bread. But there was no butter, like the lunch place the day before. Why? Why no butter? I decided to ask this time. Butter I typed in Google translate, "mantequilla, OK," I got from the waiter. In to the kitchen he went, and the next minute a tub of freshly churned cream landed on my table.
"What? Oh my God," I said. Seriously? Seriously. Knife smacked in the middle, that pale yellow mass was left on my table for as long as I wanted. What to do? Take pictures! I couldn't stop laughing and shaking my head. The genius server turned my whole experience around. I ate the buttered bread with a grin from ear to ear. I wondered what would he say if I had asked a to-go box for the mantequilla. Crazy middle class Asians.
Ivan was shocked, Angela triple LOL emoji when I sent her my butter documentation. They said bread on its own or with olive oil is more common for them. So do you serve butter like that? No, usually on a small tray. So I really just got served. A happy recipient of the service, I made my feelings known before I left the restaurant.
I typed, "no one brought me a tub of butter ever. crazy! made me laugh. thank you!"
My guy beamed through his braces looking at the translation on my phone. If he's reading this, I would like him to know he made my coworkers and friends around the globe laugh out loud.
Erika and I had another encounter of great generosity from the hospitality Spaniards in Seville. On our second day there, we sat down outside Orio Gastronomia Vasca café for a quick bite before our 1:30pm tour at the Royal Alcázars. I took care of the bill when Erika went to the restroom. The waiter brought the change on a tray and a coaster that had food monsters design on it.
"Where'd you get that? It's cute," Erika said. "He gave it to me. You want one? Let me ask," I said. When I asked if we could get another coaster or how much to buy one, the waiter waved me off and stepped inside the café. He returned in less than 30 seconds and deposited a stack of coasters on the tray. God I called again before saying muchas gracias. "De nada," he replied. Seven in the stack exactly, eight total, four even split.
Ask me what my favorite place or thing is in Spain, I smile not because of the museums or my setting foot on Plaza de España or the Royal Alcázars where they filmed Star Wars and Game of Thrones. It's the lemon, the butter, and the coasters I think about. The real gems of Spain for me are the amazing waiters. They weren't part of my plan, but they built this OCD middle class Asian one hell of a memory.
Madrid Itinerary
10/12/2019 - 10/14/2019
Night 1
- JC Hoteles Jardines
- City stroll
- Reina Sofía Museum: free Monday – Sat 7pm – 9pm, Sunday 1.30pm-7pm, free all day 4/18, 5/18, 10/12, 12/6
- Dinner: Circo de las Tapas
Day 1
- Breakfast: La Mallorquina. Napolitana de chocolate and coffee
- Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel
- Plaza de la Villa
- Palacio Real, Teatro Real
- Lunch: Juana La Loca. Fried aubergines with honey and duck confit
- Barrio de La Latina, El Rastro flea market
- Prado Museum: free Sunday/holidays 5pm – 7pm, Mon – Sat 6pm - 8pm
- Dinner: Taberna el Sur. Paella
Day 2
- Breakfast: Dunkin Coffee
- City stroll
- Parque del Buen Retiro
- Lunch: Arzabal Retiro. Cod, sautéed rice with truffle and wild mushrooms
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: free Mondays 12pm-16pm
- Dinner: VEGA. Rooibos tea, brochettes of heura and vegetables with satay sauce and Japanese rice thin noodles
- Panadería Aquí Pan: early next morning breakfast takeout before flight
Seville Itinerary
10/22/2019 - 10/24/2019
Night 1
- Hotel: La Parada del Marqués
- City snapshots
- Dinner: Sacamuelas Tapas. Salmorejo (cold tomato soup,) pimientos (shishito peppers,) vegetarian paella
Day 1
- Breakfast: Bar Papanatas. Croissant and coffee
- City snapshots
- Mercado de Triana, Mercado de Artesania
- Cathedral, Giralda Tower
- Tea break at Gusto Cafe
- Plaza de España
- Museo del Baile Flamenco: Flamenco dance performance
- Dinner: Moon Korean restaurant. Bibimbap and soon tofu pot
Day 2
- City stroll
- Plaza de España
- 11am University tour (old tobacco factory)
- Lunch: Orio Gastronomia Vasca café
- The Royal Alcázars