Ancient Eats in Madrid

I want to preface this post with some personal opinions about solo travel.  I think if you get the opportunity to travel alone, you should DEFINITELY do it.  When I went to Berlin alone, it was the first time I'd ever traveled solo.  I was terrified, but I got on that plane and went for it.  Solo travel has taught me many things about the world and especially about myself.

Traveling alone is scary, but in choosing to do it despite your fear, you become just a little bit braver than you were before.  When you successfully make it from the airport to where you'll be staying, you get still a little braver.  Every step that you make it through alone boosts your self confidence.  I had no idea what I was capable of until I was dropped in Germany alone.

Not only will solo travel boost your self confidence and courage, it teaches you how to be content spending time with yourself.  Of course, traveling with other people gives you someone to share your experiences with, and that's great!  But in going places alone, you learn a lot about yourself.  You make all your own decisions and don't have to compromise with anyone about anything.  You want to spend three hours in this museum?  Do it!  You want to try this restaurant or that one?  Do it!  You don't have to answer to anybody, and it's really liberating.  Now, back to the subject at hand:

About a week and a half ago, I flew to Madrid, Spain's capital city, for some more solo adventures.  After surviving Berlin, I was a lot more confident going into this trip.  If I had managed to decode the metro system in German, I could do anything!  My cousin's wife works in Madrid, and they've got an apartment in the city that I got to stay in (Yay! No hostel!).  The apartment is in a pretty central location, so I was able to walk or take the metro anywhere in a short amount of time.

I began my Madrid adventure by having a vermouth in one of Madrid's oldest bars, Bodega La Ardosa.  The bar was founded in the 1890s, and it's full of old bottles, jars, and beer taps.  At the counter, there are glass cases with bowls of gazpacho, tortilla de patata, and even jars of cheese in oil.  There are two beer taps that are stamped with the date, 1892.  On the walls are old pictures and sketches along with shelves of bottles that have been sitting in the same spot for a who knows how many years.  The layer of dust on them leads me to believe that they've been there for a while.  The tables are made from old barrels and the bar has a really unique vintage feel to it.  It was a great intro to the capital city.

Madrid is famous for its chocolate con churros, and I had to have some.  I visited the San Gines Chocolateria, founded in 1894.  To this day, there's still a line to get in.  I finally made it in the door and placed my order at the large counter on the ground floor.  Everything in the building was gold, green and crystal.  It was like stepping back into the 20th century.  With my ticket in hand, I stepped into line to take a seat in the room downstairs.  There was a line of us going down the marble steps, and waiters were rushing around carrying trays of coffee, churros, and melted chocolate.

When it was finally my turn to get a table, I handed my server the ticket with my order.  I sat at a small booth and before I knew it, my churros had arrived.  The waiter set a small plate with six churros on my table along with a cup of chocolate and my coffee.  To those of you who are familiar with Mexican churros, you already know that they're wonderful.  Well, let me just say, they've got nothing on chocolate con churros in Madrid.  Nothing can compare to dipping a crisp churro into a big cup of melted chocolate and washing it down with a coffee.  Now, you probably thought these businesses were old, having been founded in the late 1800s.  Well, the next restaurant I'm going to tell you about has been open since 1725!

Restaurante Sobrino de Botin was first opened in 1725 and has resided in the very same building ever since.  According to the Guinness World Records, it is the most ancient restaurant in the world.  Believe it or not, they've been using the same oven to roast suckling pigs since 1725.  I was fortunate enough to get a last minute reservation for a tour and dinner.

From the street, it looks like a small restaurant, but the restaurant is more than just the ground floor.  The entire building is the restaurant.  The building's two floors, basement, and wine cellar have served different purposes in the past 293 years, and I got to tour it all.  The ground floor, where you enter the restaurant, is decorated in a 20th century style; this dining area is actually the newest part of the building.  Upstairs is a larger dining area that was dormitories at one point.

The restaurant has been roasting suckling pigs, their signature dish, in the same oven for almost 300 years now.  The oven never even gets to cool off.  The fire is put out every night, but in the morning when employees come in to light the fire again, the oven is still hot.  There's a groove worn into the stone where trays have been pushed into the oven and pulled back out for hundreds of years.

After we got to look around, we sat down to eat dinner just before they opened for the evening.  The restaurant quickly filled with people.  The tour and dinner package I'd purchased came with a sampling of the menu.  I asked for a white wine and my glass arrived along with my starters.  First was manchego cheese; then, cod on a bed of roasted red peppers.  Next was scrambled eggs with blood sausage, and last were croquettes.  It was all delicious, and unfortunately I had to pace myself because it was a ton of food.  The main course was suckling pig and roasted potatoes, and for dessert, I chose a lemon sorbet.  I was STUFFED, but it was all fantastic.

At the end of it all, we got to take home a gift.  We got to choose between a plate or a sangria pitcher, both hand painted for the restaurant.  I decided I'd be more likely to use the pitcher, so I came home with a gift unique to Restaurante Botin.  It was a great experience.  I think food is a huge part of traveling, and with these ancient restaurants, I even got to see what Madrid was like in the 20th century.