Madrid - Spanish Tapas Madrid walking and tasting tour

This tapas tasting tour was a birthday present for Kelly, and we were very excited. 'Meet in Placa del Sol, under the statue of King Carlos III and look for a red umbrella' said the instruction email. How hard can that be? Well, with the Gay Pride celebrations on in Madrid this week, and Sol covered in stalls and thousands of people, it proved to be quite a challenge. Eventually our guide Mario found us and the five other participants.

Mario gave us a potted history of Spain and Madrid and a good geography of the city before we set off for our first experience. On the way we were shown the Tio Pepe neon sign. Like the Skipping Girl in Melbourne, the people of Madrid did not want to lose their landmark so it was re-located to Placa del Sol.

At inClan Brutal Bar we experienced gazpacho, croquettes, octopus and basil injected buratta mozzarella. After a lesson on Spanish wines we had a glass of a 2013 roija crianza red. All delicious!

Next stop was a family business Enrique Tomas that specialises in Iberian hams. A feature of Iberian ham is that in the third year the pigs are fed on acorns. We had lots of ham and other pork products, cheeses and bread which we enjoyed with Cava, the Spanish wine which can no longer be called champagne.  We were all amazed to see the price of a full leg.

At Meson de la Tortilla we drank sangria and ate egg and potato tortilla.

  

We all agreed that we had no space for a dessert of churros and chocolate so Mario took us to the best ice-cream shop in Madrid. What a super night out talking food and travel with people from U.S.A, Canada, Brazil and Spain.

If you are ever in Madrid, be sure to book a Spanish Tapas Tour with Mario or Luis.