TIE card and La Alpargata

 27 December, 2019

Today I went to pick up my Tarjeta de Identidad Extranjero (TIE), which is my combination Spanish Identification card and residency permit. This is a photo of the line we have to wait in to collect the card.

Finally legal! It feels like turning 21 again...

To celebrate, I took myself to lunch at a little restaurant inside the Mercado San Fernando (marketplace). Marketplaces here typically have lots of eateries inside as well as vendors. The more trendy ones sometimes have an entire floor of just eateries (like the food court in a mall, only 100x more crowded).

The one I went to is called La Alpargata, which is a type of handmade shoe with a canvas top and a rope sole, worn by both men and women.. In English I think they are called espadrilles. From the picture, it looks like they have fond memories of being whupped by abuela (grandma) with a slipper!

This restaurant is one I have been wanting to try because it has vegan versions of traditional Spanish foods. It did not disappoint. The menu is small and the restaurant was even smaller, only a few barstools and tall tables.

Here is a vegan version of one of the most popular foods in Spain, the tortilla de patata (potato omelette). The name has nothing to do with Latin American style tortillas, which are known here as "tortilla mexicana". The word tortilla translates as "little cake", so I can see how it evolved in both cases.

I ordered the albondigas de mijo con salsa de pimientos (millet meatballs with red pepper sauce). It was 100% delicious, and I used the bread to scrape up every drop of the sauce. I don't know whether that is a faux pas here or not and I don't care!

Atocha Station, Madrid

30 November, 2019

Major European train stations are impressive, and Madrid's Atocha Station is no exception. I am compelled to take photos of it every time I pass by from the outside, but don't often pause for photos once inside. These photos are of the original train terminal, which has been converted to a conservatory and the actual station moved to a new wing of the building behind it, preserving the original architecture in a truly beautiful way and providing a really nice place to relax while having a bite to eat or waiting for a connection (bus, train, and metro all converge here).

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Atocha, Fish, and a High-Rise Sunset

 23 September 2019

Today I went to the shop where I bought a SIM card for my mobile phone to investigate why I couldn't get service when I traveled to Germany. The shop was a couple of blocks from the main downtown train station, Atocha. The station is enormous and the old part of the building is beautiful. I'm sure I'll be back to photograph it inside and out.

The building across the way with the striking statuary on top is the Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food).

Haven't figured out the whole siesta thing here yet. The mobile phone shop was closed from 2-5:00PM, so I had some time to kill. Just a few doors down was a very Spanish looking bar/restaurant, so I decided to sit down and have lunch. The accent here is VERY different from Latin American Spanish, so I honestly had no idea what I ordered because I couldn't understand a word the owner said. I did NOT expect this terrifying looking fish.

 

 

Dessert was more to my taste, a yellow cake with a hint of almond. 

The Airbnb I'm staying in is an apartment away from the city center, on the top floor. The view from here is fantastic and tonight's sunset was no exception.

Buenas noches!