Aqui Esta

I'm finally slowing down for a minute to write my first blog entry from Spain. The first thing I did after landing at my apartment at around 2pm Spanish time was take a quick siesta, por supuesto! Upon waking, I took a quick shower and was up and at 'em for a walk up the main street in my neighborhood to the very edges of the Parque del Buen Retiro and the Paseo del Prado. After almost 22 hours of travel, I was feeling -- and hearing -- my stomach growl. Then, like a shining beacon among the few Burger Kings and McDonalds in this touristy area, I find the only possible place I could go: Museo del Jamon.



In Europe, a bar is somewhere where you mainly get food, and happen to have a drink, rather than the other way around as in the U.S. In many ways, the Museo del Jamon is like any bar in Madrid, except it has what seems like a hundred legs of ham hanging from the ceilings for ambiance. This is no place for vegetarians or sympathizers! While at the original location of this chain of bars on Paseo del Prado, I had a large sandwich -- called a bocadillo mixto -- with delicious manchego cheese and a few slices of Spain's famous Serrano ham. I chased it with a cana of Spanish beer -- Mahou. It all looked sort of like this.

In case my description of the whole spectacle of seeing a hundred legs of ham hanging from a ceiling is lacking, here is a slightly better photo of another bar on Calle Alcala in Madrid:










I said a prayer to the food gods for giving me such a welcome to Madrid!