Not a lot surprises me any more, so when something does catch me by surprised, I'm speechless. Such was the case the other night at the Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid. I stopped at the bar to have a ¨proper¨ vodka gimlet. Now, I don't know if I have some how become much more frugal in the shadow of the global economic crisis or if I was just feeling that enough is enough. I was scheduled to address a crowd of mostly Spanish newspaper gentlemen the next morning in one of the hotel's stately rooms. (I was actually staying in a fabulous hotel around the corner from the Westin called Hotel Villa Real.)
While I sipped on the gimlet, I flipped through the bar menu, which touted the creations of some new French chef as the centerpiece of the restaurant. But what made me laugh out loud was this from the menu:
Energizing Snack
Club Sandwich
chicken breat, tomamto, bacon, lettuce and tartar sauce
Cost: 22.90 euros. That equals $30.6047! Thirty dollars for a club sandwich! Really, though? Really? I walked away just nodding my head. Wasn't it enough that my Absolut gimlet cost 16 euros? But 22.90 for a club sandwich ... Now, I love nice things and will spend on items that some others might think are ridiculous, but in my camp, most people would agree that a club sandwich (no matter how organic the chicken or how homemade the tartar sauce) is hardly worth what amounts to a days pay for some hardworking people in underdeveloped countries.
Next up: More on Hotel Vialla Real (a real Madrid jewel), food in Madrid and the language barrier.
Alison
9:34 a.m.
27 April 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Chasing Hemingway
Today I tracked down a place called Cerveceria Alemana (off of Plaza de Santa Ana), a cafe frequented by Ernest Hemingway back in the day. It is may be the fifth or sixth place that I have been in Hemingway's steps. I've been to one of his favorite pubs in Key West, to Hemingway's in Malindi (on the Indian Ocean in Kenya) and to La Bodeguita and La Floridita in Cuba! What good taste in food and drinks this man had! And what good places for fishing -- well, at least those with water any where near!
Alison
6:37 p.m.
25 April 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Man, oh, man
We arrived in Spain today. Madrid, to be exact. Man, oh, man. I was ready for it: but then I wasn't.
First of all, the guy sitting next to my husband on the plane ordered -- at 10 a.m., a glass of white wine. Okay. When the the flight attendant asked him if that was it, he said no and proceeded to order a beer as well. Free things will make you loose your mind, I thought to myself. After the flight attendant went down the aisle and served everyone, she came back and asked a second time if anyone wanted anything else. Of course, our guy didn't fail us. His next request: Champagne. Jackpot!, I thought. (So maybe I should have just been minding my own business, but I found it all kind of hilarious.)
Madrid is everything they say it is: Gritty, old, new, friendly, Spanish. The latter is interesting because few people speak English, which is, you know ... okay. But I find myself telling people goodbye in German rather than Spanish. I am constantly amazed by people who speak multiple languages -- how they can turn off one language and switch to another.
Our first stop today was Plaza Mayor, a sprawling, open concrete park, if your will, with a man (or women) dressed as Micky Mouse in red, white and blue and people posed as various other characters all for the price of a few coins. My husband was particularly taken by the fact that beer is cheap and bars hand over small tapas for free when you sit at the bar! Talk about hog heaven!
After a siesta, we awoke at 9 p.m. to a still fairly bright sky. It looked more like 5:30 p.m. And so, when in Spain ... we headed out for dinner and like most Spaniards, sat down to eat at like 9:45 p.m.
First of all, the guy sitting next to my husband on the plane ordered -- at 10 a.m., a glass of white wine. Okay. When the the flight attendant asked him if that was it, he said no and proceeded to order a beer as well. Free things will make you loose your mind, I thought to myself. After the flight attendant went down the aisle and served everyone, she came back and asked a second time if anyone wanted anything else. Of course, our guy didn't fail us. His next request: Champagne. Jackpot!, I thought. (So maybe I should have just been minding my own business, but I found it all kind of hilarious.)
Madrid is everything they say it is: Gritty, old, new, friendly, Spanish. The latter is interesting because few people speak English, which is, you know ... okay. But I find myself telling people goodbye in German rather than Spanish. I am constantly amazed by people who speak multiple languages -- how they can turn off one language and switch to another.
Our first stop today was Plaza Mayor, a sprawling, open concrete park, if your will, with a man (or women) dressed as Micky Mouse in red, white and blue and people posed as various other characters all for the price of a few coins. My husband was particularly taken by the fact that beer is cheap and bars hand over small tapas for free when you sit at the bar! Talk about hog heaven!
After a siesta, we awoke at 9 p.m. to a still fairly bright sky. It looked more like 5:30 p.m. And so, when in Spain ... we headed out for dinner and like most Spaniards, sat down to eat at like 9:45 p.m.
Friday, April 16, 2010
what?
There are some truly amazing and quirky things about Austria. One of them is the Austrian law that makes it a crime to express support for Hitler. Yes, that Hitler. Adolf (who was originally from Austria, although not Vienna.) You can get up to 10 years in prison for saying the words "Heil Hitler," or for even doing the famous gesture that accompanies it. Most people will tell you that that's a good thing. In my line of business, however, it puts me in an awkward position since my organization's sole purpose is to support freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Still, don't both those privileges come with some responsibility? What do you think?
Coming tomorrow: News on funny Austrian Easter traditions and the new people we have met along the way! (Including a brother of St. Lucian heritage who owns one of the most swank and popular "American bars" in Vienna, which we learned about from a woman we met when we first arrived who herself is from Grenada!)
Coming tomorrow: News on funny Austrian Easter traditions and the new people we have met along the way! (Including a brother of St. Lucian heritage who owns one of the most swank and popular "American bars" in Vienna, which we learned about from a woman we met when we first arrived who herself is from Grenada!)
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