Madrid

This is our second visit to Madrid. We came in Nov 2015, as the first stop of our first ever Europe experience, Spain and Portugal. This time, it will be the last stop of our second Europe experience, Italy and Spain. Both visits included 5 nights in Madrid.

We loved Madrid the first time round, and the love deepened this second visit. Our favourite churros and chocolate cafe, Chocolat in Calle Santa Maria is still as good, with additional "heart attack in a cup" combinations on their menu. Kai and I swoon over Bora Bora, a mocha made with their dreamily thick fudgy hot chocolate, strong coffee, condensed milk and whipped cream. Talk about swooning, Alfonso the owner was eye candy swoon worthy 2 years ago, and he is every bit so 2 years on. And, he remembers us. He doesn't speak any English, and is so shy that he just smiles. I'm sure his smiles are the secret ingredient in his food. It certainly lights us his little café. We communicate through his staff who translates for us. I have watched Alfonso interact with his staff and customers and have concluded that he is just the nicest, sweetest man ever. So, we go there for breakfast of churros, hot chocolate, patata tortilla ( potato omelette), coffee and Bora Bora (Kai and I hope to survive tomorrow morning's last dose). What is not in the menu but we do partake of in great amounts is the warmth and smiles from Alfonso. When he found out that it was Kai's birthday, he played "Happy Birthday" over the music system as he presented her with an enormous slice of his yummy chocolate cake. Kai was horrified that the happy birthday CD was in every conceivable language, and he left it playing all the time she was in the café. Most hilarious. He even whispered "Happy Birthday" to her in English.

We also revisited our next foodie haunt, Mas El Sur, for dinner. Again just as delicious as we remembered, and the staff are still lovely, although they are all different. Whilst having dinner there on our second last night, we met John, a gay guy from Philippines who now lives in Munich. He and his friend sat at the table next to us, and as the tables are quite close together, we got chatting. Within half an hour, we got the story of him and his family. It was most entertaining, and he was delightful dinner company. "Darlings, I've been to Perth, but what is there to do in Perth for a gay guy? So I had to. Had to, visit my friends in Melbourne and Sydney. Perth. It's so quiet, I can hear the birds!"

The other revisit we did was to Museo Reina Sofia and the Prado, both art galleries.Read more