Spain, Day Thirty-Three

After our wine-tasting adventure yesterday, we were pretty exhausted, so we just decided just to take it easy and sleep in a little, and then head over to Puerta del Sol to do some shopping. The best shopping in this area is on the south side, down one of the alleys that flank the giant clock. There are tons of fun boutiques in this area as well as the ever-popular Zara and Mango. I made out with a dress, three tank tops, a fun American flag shirt for the Fourth of July, and a cute new pair of wedges. This area required a lot of Spanish translation on my end and I even learned the shoe-size system for Europe. Apparently I'm a size 41, which seems entirely too big. Things are so different over here.

Once we were done with shopping, we headed over to a restaurant that is just north of the Puerta del Sol called La Casa Labra. We went here on a recommendation by my professor for really good croquettes, and I really loved it. We tried some cod croquettes, which brings me to our palabra del dia. The word for cod is one of my favorite Spanish words simply because it is just fun to say: bacalao (pronounced "ba-ca-low"). The bacalao croquettes were surprisingly good! I was expecting a strong, fish flavor but they almost tasted like there was no flavoring in them at all. Just delicious croquette flavor. We could see the flaky white fish in it though so we know it was there. I would definitely recommend these to try, although my mom says her favorite is the jamon croquettes, so maybe you should just try an assortment if you get the chance.

After lunch we tried one last time to go to the market that my professor showed us after class one day, but it was closed for siesta so we decided it was time to give up hope and just headed back to our flat for our own siesta, which was obviously well-earned after a long day of shopping.

For dinner that evening, we decided to hit up the Mercado de San Miguel one more time for more than just dessert. Here is the progression of our foods of the night:

Dad snagged us a couple of pizzas for round one

For round two, we had an assortment of mozzarella appetizers. Some of them tasted almost like dessert!

The sweet mozzarella didn't stop us from getting real dessert though. My selections of the night were baclava, a giant raspberry macaroon, and a little blackberry pastry. The macaroon was the winner of the night. Please enjoy my contemplative face here as I enjoy the first bite.

By the time dinner was over, I was ready for some stretchy sweat pants, so we headed home early and got a good night's sleep.