Madrid: San Jerónimo el Real, La Pulpirea de Victoria, and back to La Oreja de Jaime

We'd already had a pretty full day. It was pretty hot after lunch and we were stuffed full of orejas.

The one great thing about our apartment was that it was easy to black out the entire place. And the A/C worked really well.

Also, the apartment was located basically across the street and a block or two from the Prado Museum. The Missus had really enjoyed visiting the previous day. Plus....it was free! She had wanted to return.

So after waking from a restorative nap, we were (well She was), ready to head off.

And off into the bright Madrid late afternoon.....

Before heading into the Prado Museum, the Missus wanted to check out San Jerónimo el Real, the Catholic Church right above the museum. This is all that remains of a monastery that stood next to Buen Retiro Palace.

The feature of the church I enjoyed the most were the beautiful stained glass windows.

The visit to the Prado was just as interesting as the previous day. I got to see that beautiful work by Velasquez again. And in addition, there was a special exhibition of works by Picasso.

To be perfectly honest, I'm below a neophyte when it comes to art. I do enjoy the work of Joan Miró, but that's about it. Having only seen the later work of Picasso, I really could not understand or relate to his work. There were several early works of Picasso in the museum. I thought they were really well done, I'd only seen his later Cubist work, but was really impressed at his early work. We were headed to Barcelona next, so we would make it a point to visit the Picasso Museum.

After our visit, we headed back to the Missus's favorite spot in Madrid; Puerta del Sol.

We decided to find a place close by. I had this place on my "Calle de la Victoria" list.

This being quite early for dinner in Madrid (815 pm), the place was empty except for one other group.

The girls working here were very nice....though everyone seemed really friendly in Madrid. I had a caña and the Missus a tinto. Man, the potatoes we really tasty; the aioli had a ton of garlic in it and the tubers were nice and waxy.

This place served Galician style food; so of course I wanted the Pulpo a Feira, but the Missus wasn't sold. So I went with the Pulpo and Camarones. The whole thing is served in a pan submerged in olive oil.

This was like getting your French fries served in its cooking oil.......anyway; the shrimp were really tiny like cocktail shrimp, but had nice flavor. The octopus didn't do well, it was very tough. The olive oil tasted ok as we dipped our bread into it. Though next time I'll go with the Pulpo a Feira.

La Pulperia de Victoria
La Victoria 2
Madrid, Spain

We decided to cut our losses and find someplace to grab a another light bite on the way back to the apartment. As we passed La Oreja de Jaime, he was cooking and saw us through the window. He smiled and waved at us telling to come back in...... He's such a character, how could we refuse?

This time we sat at the bar and noticed all of the funny stuff on the wall. Like the calendar photo of Jaime with a wig and sunglasses on....and the plastic ears (orejas) hanging on the wine bottles. The place really reflects the owner....it has character.

Now, the Missus had seen something on the menu that I didn't know. So of course She was fascinated. Mollejas. We asked what mollejas were and Jaime grabbed the part of his neck under the jawbone. The thymus gland....mollejas de cordero; goat sweetbreads. Based on our previous experience here; we knew portions would be fairly large....but sweetbreads, that's rich stuff, there's no way you'd get a huge plate of that, right? Wrong. After ordering it, Jaime went to the tray of what almost looked like gizzards and grabbed handful after handful of the stuff. The Missus and I looked at each other in stunned amazement. This went on the flat top, with a good amount of oil. Man, Jaime is not shy about the sea salt either. After achieving a nice char from the griddle, an application of a slightly spicy and smoky sauce was applied. The stuff he puts on patatas bravas and we were served this huge plate of mollejas.

The first, say 12 bites were really good, if a bit too salty. But man, after a while, it's just too much of a good thing. The texture, or should I say combination of textures keeps your interest. There are those creamy pieces, but also of texture of the surrounding tissue, some crunch, some fat, some sinew.

It's always fun to try something new. It's even more fun having it at a place like La Oreja de Jaime.

La Oreja de Jaime
Calle de La Cruz 12
Madrid, Spain 

Sun had set and we headed back to Puerto del Sol. It was 930 and things were just starting up in Madrid.

We dropped by the market in the basement of El Cortes Ingles and got some yogurt for the next morning. It would be our breakfast before heading off to Barcelona.

We walked down the back streets parallel to Calle Atocha. Past the many bars, the squares, the folks and families just heading out to dinner at 10pm.

The wonderful folks at Estancias con Arte had left us a basket of "stuffs", including orange juice, which would come in handy for breakfast. They also left us a bottle of wine (such a nice touch!), which we enjoyed while doing our "pre-packing" for the next morning.

Getting to our train the next morning was a breeze. Atocha Station is basically 2 blocks (albeit good sized blocks) away.

One interesting note about Atocha Station. There's a tropical garden in the concourse of the train station. While the Missus was waiting for our morning espresso, I took a short little walk.

Madrid was interesting for us. I know it wasn't the Missus's favorite place; I think the heat, schedules, noise, crowds, and the mild grittiness of the city had caught us off guard. On our return trip however, something had changed, we had gained an appreciation for the liveliness of Madrid and embraced the late nights. But for now, we were off to Barcelona.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[kat]

looking forward to hearing about barcelona!

[Kirk]

We had a great time in Barcelona Kat!

[Sandy]

I'm thinking of going to Spain next year, so I am paying lots of attentions to your posts ...

[Kirk]

Hi Sandy - That's great! Let me know if you have any specific questions.....

[caninecologne]

That Jaime sounds like a great guy! Very friendly!

[Kirk]

He is quite a character CC......really friendly and jolly.

[jack]

Love hearing about your trips Kirk...thanks for sharing!

[Kirk]

Thanks for reading Jack!