Madrid

I'm looking for places to eat around the aparthotel Barajas outside Madrid.  The pickings are pretty slim and nothing comes up in a "search nearby".  We might have to stop by a supermarket and pick up something or eat at Bacadilleria Pans & Company.  I wonder if we'll need a car to get there...

We might have to take the Metro into town for dinner.  Or into a closer neighborhood with restaurants, like the area around the bull ring (Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas), which has bull fights on Sunday so we'll miss them.  There are some restaurants in that area that serve bull meat but some of the reviews accuse them of only wanting to make money.  There is a Basque restaurant, Ordago, which might be good.  And there is an Andalucian restaurant called Rincon de Jaen with several branches that looks like it would be good for tapas.  Yes, I think Fernando might like that one with Gamba Andaluza, Chopitos Andaluza, Calamares Andaluza, Chipirones Plancha con Ajito, Pijotas Andaluza.  Even if it only has a 3.8 rating on google maps.  I wonder if I should look up some of those words or if we can point to what looks good.  Chopitos are cuttlefish, chipirones are squid (also spelled txipirones), pijotas (or pijotitas) are young hake.  And then there are Carabineros (shrimp), Pimientos de Padrón (where did I run across those in the US recently?  San Diego?), Berberechos (cockles), Trigueros (asparagus), Mojama (salt-cured tuna), Chuletitas de Lechal (baby lamb chops).  Oh my!  And we're only spending two nights in Madrid?  But I notice that they don't have any txitxardinak - baby eels in garlic (anguilas).  When we were in Pamplona in 2007, all their eels were artificial (like are fake crabmeat) -- they'd eaten up all the baby eels.

On Friday we plan to visit the Museo de America, which is located near a university -- Fernando should like that.   We'll have to figure out the best way to use the Metro.  It's supposed to take 25 minutes to get from El Capricho (where the hotel is) to Ventas (where the bullfight ring and restaurants are).  That seems like a long way to go for dinner.  And to go from El Capricho to Moncloa (Museo de America) takes 40 minutes.  Oh, my.  I guess we are nowhere near downtown!  It's sort of like getting from Silver Spring to Downtown DC.  Fortunately all the travel is in zone 1 so we shouldn't be charged extra for staying out by the airport.  On the other hand, it would take 20 minutes to walk from the aparthotel to Pans & Company in the shopping mall across two major highways.  But I need to check out the shopping malls too...