Paseo de los Tristes and Hola Pizzametro

Dia Cuatro

Paseo do los Tristes

Mushy croquettes

We started the day late again and decided to explore the city. As soon as we reached the Calle de Darro we were ready for food, but more importantly it started to rain. We snagged the first open table we found under the terrace in the Paseo de los Tristes, overlooking the side of the Alhambra. The restaurant served the typical set menu with two courses for 10 euros - we had expected to pay a little more in the tourist areas. The restaurant, called El Paseo, turned out to be the worst meal of our trip. Not only was the service not great (mostly because the few waiters were spread thin), but the food was disgusting. I'm not that picky, but this was bad, especially after all of our previous delicious meals. We ordered a salad and tortilla espanola for our first course which took about 45 mins to get out (both are cold dishes!). Luckily we got a tapa while waited which was some type of stew and pretty good. My tortilla espanola was about half the portion that the rest of the tables around us were getting. My guess is they ran out, had to make more and sent out smaller portions. Sadly people before and after me got at least double. Our waiter wasn't rude per se, but gave up on most communication (like taking our food order) when he realized we couldn't talk fluently. He was busy laughing with the large groups. Our actual meal was a real disappointment. I got pollo asado (grilled chicken), which I thought no one could screw up. It was a grilled chicken soaked in oil, set in a puddle of oil, with fries soaking in that oil. Boston Market's chicken would have been gourmet compared to this. My boyfriend got croquettes which he said tasted ok, but had the worst texture inside (complete runny mush). The dessert was flan that was nothing special and pre-prepared. Please don't waste time eating in this area when there are great place a few blocks away like the Parilla Paella Bar. I guess you need some bad meals to make the good ones taste even better.

Pollo asado - more like chicken in oil

Hola Pizzametro
After the horrible lunch we walked off our sick stomachs and covered most of the city. That night we were ready for something other than tapas and headed for Neapolitan style pizza at Pizzametro. This place was great! It was a rainy Sunday and inside it was packed with locals. The pizza was affordable and large. We got the half meter and it was 8 gigantic slices (probably best for 3-4 people). Two people should get the pequena if you don't want leftovers. We had a fridge to take it home to so it wasn't a problem for us. We got the margherita, which was delicious and made with fresh ingredients (basil and mozzarella). Our total bill was around 16 euros. The wait staff was very friendly and service was quick. It was the perfect meal for when you need a break from tapas. http://www.holapizzametro.es/

Our half meter pizza with two slices eaten!

Paella, Cassata, and a Flamenco Show

Dia Tres

Paella mixto at La Parrala Paella Bar

La Parrala Paella Bar

The mystery tasty tapa

On Saturday we again left late and went straight to lunch. We made it down to Calle Darro, which is packed with tourists and anyone trying to make money off of them. We walked toward the city center and up a side street from plaza nueva. We ended up in La Parrala Paella Bar, which I had remembered seeing on trip advisor. We got paella mixto and sangria. They have a deal for sangria and paella for around 9 euros or 10 euros for seafood. We ordered sangria and the paella mixto (which turned out to be a seafood paella - even though that was listed separately on the menu in the 9 euro section). We aren't big fans of seafood, but the paella was very good, although quite burnt on the bottom (maybe that's normal?). The sangria was delicious and as we waited for the paella we got one of the best tapas on the trip. We have no idea what it was, but it had some noodles in sauce with maybe an egg? We got a ton of food for about 25 euros. The waitress was extremely friendly there and we were the only non-Spanish speaking customers at the time. I would recommend the bar for paella, but it wasn't the best paella I've ever had.

Los Italianos Ice Cream Shop

I do not consider myself a connoisseur of food or wine, but I know my ice cream and this place was amazing! We walked by and saw a large crowd here and decided to grab some ice cream. I was looking at flavors when I saw someone order one of their specials called a "cassata." It looked like a slice of an ice cream cake put into a waffle cone. We ordered one and that description was pretty accurate (2.40 euros). There were layers - chocolate, strawberry-like with pink candies, and a creamy vanilla. It was delicious and I have never had any type of dessert like that before. As we walked down Gran Via on a warm sunny day tons of people had ice cream from there. We'll be back and maybe I'll try and figure out if they have other flavors of cassata. 

Jardines de Zoraya

That evening we went a flamenco show in the Albayzin at Jardines de Zoraya. We bought the 35 euro menu for the 10:30 show in advance through their website. We arrived around 10 and showed the hostess a digital pdf of our reservations on an old smart phone I brought. We were a little worried that we couldn't print out tickets, but it wasn't a problem. The hostess and another waiter there spoke English so ordering etc. wasn't an issue. The waiter also seemed to know many other languages, including french. We were seated by the stage which was up close, but at an odd angle. There didn't seem to be any other non-Spanish speaking tourists there. You can check out what is included with the set menu at jardinesdezoraya.com‎. Our welcome tapa was a potato puree. For the first course my boyfriend got the pumpkin soup and I got a goat cheese (a brie style goat cheese) salad. For the main course we had fish and pork, both delicious. For dessert I got a crem brulee and my boyfriend got a chocolate ganache torte. Everything was large portions and good quality. We ate during the hour long show. The show itself was fantastic, I can't say enough good things about it. If you are looking for a cultural experience this is a great option. The performers were all of a high caliber and very impressive. Even though this is a relatively expensive dinner and show, in my opinion it is worth the splurge! Also, pre-paying was easy online and at the end of the show the staff just said thanks and we were good to go. 

Eating in Albayzín and Calle Elvira

Dia Dos

Gazpacho

Lunch in the Albayzin

Albodingas (meatballs)

After sleeping late on Thursday we ventured out around 2pm to find lunch. We stumbled across tables in a laza (I'll try and figure out the name) and sat down. It was gorgeous out and a small band was playing. We figured out that we were eating at tables for Bar Panero. The waiter was very friendly even though we speak only a little Spanish (not always the case). We immediately got some paella with the two waters we ordered. I then tried to order some additional tapas (or so I thought). This was the first time we encountered a menu del dia or menu diario - menu of the day. These typically have a first and second course with bread and dessert included. They range from 7.50 to 12.50 euro, with 9-10 euros being the typical price. So what I thought was 1 euro or 1 euro prices was actually first or second course. The waiter explained and we ended up with gazpacho and salad for the first course and chicken meatballs (albodingas) and jam and melon for the second. We never got our dessert, but we gave up on it in the end. The food was very good overall and the final bill was around 20 euros. At first I thought getting these set menus was a tourist trap, but looking around most other people had done the same. We noticed in Granada most other tourists spoke Spanish, so it was hard to tell a tourist from a local. These set menus are a great deal if you want a large meal (which seems to usually be a late lunch in Spain). If you want small things, order many drinks or find a bar that you can order additional tapas. Maybe all bars do this, but we have rarely seen a tapas menu.

Jamon y melon

Calle Elvira
Because we ate lunch so late we ended up hungry for dinner around midnight. It seemed crazy late to us as Americans, but as we walked down to Calle Elvira, a lot of places seemed packed with people. We finally found a table in a small restaurant/bar that was worldly themed - meaning they had more than just Spanish tapas. It wasn't anything that special so I'll pass writing anything. I will however suggest Calle Elvira as a popular destination for bars and fast food places. Not a real family friendly feeling. Tons of hookah bars on the side streets and many street vendors selling the same "Arabic" things. Let's just say, if you see the same exact items in 5 shops, they probably all come from the same factory. If you are looking for something unique or handcrafted, this isn't the place. If you want cheap (both in price and quality) "Arabic" style decor this is the place to get it.

Granada Trip

The following entries are a kick-off to my new travel and food blog.
Currently my boyfriend, Mike, and I are on a two week trip to Spain and England. We decided to write this as a guide for others going to these places to help them find their way. Each post will have subsections that are reviews of things we did that may help you decided what's for you. Mike is taking photos that I will upload when we are back. Also, we live in the south side of Chicago so we would like to continue blogging when we return to talk about a different side of Chicago. Hope you enjoy!
-Courtney (and Mike)

Dia Uno
Madrid Airport
We arrived in Madrid at 8am. The airport was very nice and modern, but oddly deserted. I'm not sure if it is the recession or just the fact that we were in early. There was not a soul at customs so we were actually confused for a moment if we were going the right way. I had also forgotten different small things in Europe, like the fact that there are few paper products. I went to go wash my face in the bathroom, but there was only a hand dryer. You also have to remember to throw away your toilet paper, rather than flushing. I suggest bringing plenty of extra tissues and toilet paper (restaurants did not always have tp). There were plenty of ATMs at the airport to get cash and I wouldn't recommend exchange booths - they usually don't have a great rate. If you are looking for a great card to travel with, I recommend Schwab's checking card that has no ATM fees worldwide, nor exchange rate fees (Bank of America has both).

Getting Around Madrid
We took Renfe to the bus station where we were catching an afternoon bus to Granada. I hadn't realized that renfe had a train system throughout the city (similar to the metra in Chicago) in addition to the high speed trains throughout the country. The bus station was in an ok, but boring, neighborhood in the city. If you have time, I would recommend storing your bags (5 euros for up to 24 hours) and hopping on the underground to check out some sites (12 euros for a 10 trip pass that you can share). We were exhausted after about an hour of sleep on the plane, but managed to walk around like zombies to the palace and the Retiro park. I would equate Retiro Park to the Central Park in NYC. It was beautiful out and a ton of people were paddle boating - if we had any energy left we would have gone.

Supra Alsa Bus
We took an Alsa bus to Granada. We opted for the "supra" alsa bus that was slightly nicer and more expensive. I think it took about 4.5 hrs. We had opted for this because we learned that the train becomes more expensive as the date gets nearer and we missed the cheaper fares. For slightly less than the train we booked the bus. It was a really enjoyable ride. We had a stewardess that served a sandwich and later snacks. There were complementary drinks, headphones, and newspapers. There was a bathroom on board and you can feel safe storing your luggage in the bottom bus compartment. We reclined and slept most of the way. Compared to the train , I think it was a great choice and we also got to select our seats which we couldn't do with the cheaper bus or train options. If you don't really care about the ride, the normal alsa I'm sure would be fine. We may be taking that to Malaga later in the week, so I'll update.

Apartment Rental in Granada
We arrived in Granada that evening and the person from whom we were renting an apartment for the week picked us up in his car. He wanted us to call his cell phone when we got in and that proved to be a challenge. Usually if I travel for a while I buy a local SIM card for a small European cell phone I bought on previous trips. We figured there was no one to call so we didn't get a SIM this time - also my current SIM for the UK would probably work just fine, but just cost more to call Spanish phones. In the end we tried for a while to use a payphone. Little did we know how challenging that would be! The trick we finally figured out was that you don't need the country code for a local number - seems simple right? Once we got a hold of Javier, we got picked up and taken to our apartment. The apartment is cute and a nice medium size right across from a hippy park in the Albayzín. The apartment was in the low 50's and took hours to warm up with the small electric radiators. There was little to no insulation with the windows/doors that opened to the street, but in the 50's and 60's that's a bit cold. The two person beds were also much smaller than our double back home. Everything in the apartment is heated by electricity, including the hot water, so we did run out of water in the morning sometimes. If little things like those above are an issue for you, go for a hotel, otherwise we really liked having an entire apartment to ourselves. We had a kitchen for cooking, a washer (no dryer), and a separate living room. It was also a great deal ~40 euros or $50 a night.

Our First Taste of Tapas

Patatas Volcanicas

We got in pretty late, around 8pm, but that wasn't an issue for grabbing food. We walked around the Albayzin around 9:30 for dinner and found a great little bar called Casa Torcuato del Albayzin. The place was full and lively inside, but we managed to snag a table. We got two red wines "vinos tintos" (we learned you don't get much choice in type of wine or beer unless you can speak Spanish well enough). We got delicious Tempranillo usually. With our wine we got some fried whole fish. They also had a menu with cheap tapas on the wall. We ordered patas volcanicas, which were delicious crisped/blackened potatoes with warm red sauce in the center - I would highly recommend. We also had some secreto, which is a "secret" cut of the Iberian pig near the bacon. It is very rich and buttery - unlike the typical cuts of pork in America. All of the food was delicious! Our total bill was only 12.20 euros, which was a great deal.

Secreto