Other Areas of Madrid

And everywhere we went, it seemed, there were always the blue and gold Christmas decorations of another "El Corte Ingles," the largest and oldest department store in Madrid!

Along the way, we stopped in at our fair share of bars and restaurants (especially the Irish pubs I believe we hit five of those!). Of course, what food (other than ham) is Madrid most famous for? TAPAS! Among those we sampled were

Chips (crisps) Potato tortillas Green olives Mixed olives Mixed nuts Mixed crackers

Chorizo on toast Potato salad on toast Fried pork strips Pork rinds Crab in pastry shells Anchovies on pickles (!)

My favorite, of course, was the potato tortillas. The most unusual was the anchovies on little gherkins (in a bar in San Lorenzo, while waiting for the train).