After the
incident with the suckling pig we walked around and to the nearby Mercado San Miguel. It is Madrid's oldest market but was recently renovated and converted into a
tapas shopping mall extravaganza. It is large and interesting because, instead of 20-30 different tapas joints, all serving pretty much the same things, you have 20-30
specialized tapas joints. Seafood here, jamon there, olives there, caviar here. (Caviar?!) See below. In any case, we resolved to come back for another dinner-on-a-stick after our visit to the Thyssen. And we did.
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| Us, there |
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| Has the whole world gone mojito?! |
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| Welcome to the seafood department! |
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| Olives tapas, with jamon, salmon, squid, cheese... |
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| We think this might have been Japanese tapas |
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| Potato chip tapas |
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| Turkish tapas, the pistachio particularly tempting |
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So from this bin, I predict that tapas/pinxtos soon will be known simply as "shots"--
food shots--more alluring to the younger American tourist |
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| Caviar shots |
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| Mozzarella shots |
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| From the Mozzarella bar |
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| What youngsters do while parents take shots |
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| Sangria on tap |
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| Wine guy |
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| After the olives shot, I had this seafood shot |
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There is exactly one market type store in the market; here, a beautiful pyramide
under construction; cherry shots? |
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Black rice paella; I do not understand why (some) people think paella is such a
big deal |
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| Yogurt shots; read the label |
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| Pizza tapas; I mean, shot |
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| Avid customer |
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| Coffee shots |
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We thought we might end it all with a shot each of Ginja, the incredibly wonderful
Portuguese cherry liqueur; but this was a watered-down abomination, not even
served in a chocolate cup |
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| So we repaired to the Amorino's across the street; a great ending to a great day |
