Spain: Seghovia and Cochinillo

We drove from Turegano to Seghovia. This town is famous for its immense Roman Aqueduct. It is over 2000 years old, and up until less that 100 years ago, it was still delivering water to the city.






Even more impressive is that this was built using no mortar. It is simply cut stones fitted together. A really amazing accomplishment.








For Lunch, Luis, Leeza, Tony and Luis's Parents had some secret that they wouldn't tell me, but promised I'd have the meal of my life. . . Hmm.

We wandered up the hill through the village towards the main square at the top of the hill.







The views were wonderful, and the winding medieval town streets made for a picturesque walk.






The restaurant we were heading to, Meson de Jose Maria, is just off the square. It is famous for something but they just wouldn't tell me. . .







But as we got closer, I began to guess what it was. This was going to be an Anthony Bourdain experience. . .









The restaurant is famous for serving "Cochinillo" or whole Suckling Pig.







All of us sat down at a large round table, and Luis's father ordered us a wonderful bottle of wine. We all (except Leeza who was horrified by this) ordered the Cochinillo.







I do have to admit, that it was a little strange seeing pictures of the chefs holding these little baby pigs, and my mind went back to that film, "Babe", and I felt a little bad that I was going to be eating Babe, but "when in Rome". . .



The Cochinillo arrived perfectly golden brown on a tray with the head and everything still attached.

Luis's parents were full of anticipation to see how Tony and I would react to it. The cochinillo was so tender that the chef needed only to use a plate to chop its head off and section up the piglet to give us our portion.



Once sectioned up, each cochinillo serves 6 people. Only the head isn't served. All I kept thinking was I wish my dogs Bentley and Pepper were here to eat the head. They would have been the happiest dogs on the planet!



Tony and I each got a leg section. It was delicious. The skin, (what the British call "Cracklin'") was so thin and flakey. It really did almost melt in your mouth. The meat was so tender, it was almost like a baby. Not that I've eaten a baby, mind you!

I would go back and eat there again in a second. One of the great experiences of being here in Europe is having the chance to try all these different regional specialties. . .





And this certainly fit into that category.

Spain - Castillo Turegano

For our second day in Madrid, we met Luis at this Metro stop on the edge of town, and he drove us out to the castle where he and Leeza were married. It is in a cute village in the Spanish Countryside.

Luis's parents had arranged access for us. We met them at their apartment and they came along.



We drove up and over this mountain that had a ski resort at the top of it, and then back down into the valley where the town was. Luiz's father imagines himself a racecar driver, and it was a suspenceful mountain drive.

We met the priest of the church, and he showed us the 13th century statues that they had just discovered behind the altar in the church of the village. They were found when doing some maintenance cleaning, and everyone was very excited about it.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and an espresso at the Inn where Luis and Leeza had their reception. I had a piece of Tortilla, which in Spain is completely different than what we know as Tortilla. In Spain, it is more like a Potatoe Quiche. Onions and Potatoes are sauted till tender, then eggs are added. It was delicious. I'll have to try making some when I get back to London.

We then drove up to Castillo Turegano, where they had been married. It is a neat old rustic castle. It was built to defend grain stores that farmers had paid to the church as part of their tithe. The church would then sell the grain.

The castle is no longer in use, but is shown to people as part of a tour, or for private functions. We got crawl all around it.



Inside, we saw visited where Luis and Leeza were married. It was fun to see how excited they were to revisit it.

It is a very unique place to visit, and we enjoyed seeing it a lot.

Spain - Madrid - Churros!

Perhaps no sweet from Spain has conquered the world the way the Churro has. In Los Angeles, you can get Churros at almost any venue from Swap Meets to Disneyland.





However, you have not had a real Churro until you have had one that is freshly fried and served with thick rich Dipping Chocolate.



I have found Churros on the Portobello Road Street Market in London, but the ones in Spain were particularly tasty and elevated in Stature to a food served in an elegant Tea Room.










Tony loved the dipping chocolate so much that he drank the remaining chocolate in the cup, then licked it clean.

Spain - Madrid Day 1

After Luis and Leeza left us in London, they traveled on to Madrid to visit Luis's family. We planned to join them a few days later to see some of Madrid with them.















We arrived in Madrid to nice warm temperatures. A pleasant break from rainy London.




Luis and Leeza met us at the airport, and they drove us to our hotel, Hotel Vinci Via 66, right in the middle of town. It is a beautiful hotel with a rooftop deck overlooking the city.








It was lunchtime, so we went to this restaurant that Luis's dad had recommended as a place that made excellent traditional Paella. It is made in these huge pans over an open fire. We ordered the Chicken Paella, and it was magnificent.





You can not believe the size of the pan when they bring it to the table. And it was delicious! We also ordered the first of the local beers: Mahou. It is a terrific beer, and has a bit of a Belgian quality to it.



From there, we drove around Madrid a bit before returning to the Historic District to see the palace and cathedral.



The palace is the third largest and most opulent in Europe, and it certainly looks it. We plan then to come back and visit it later in the trip.














Just across from the palace is the cathedral. It is fairly new, but possesses a neat blending of old and modern architecture.




From there, we wandered around the streets of old Madrid, eating our way through the city and enjoying the wonderful architecture.

The British Train Museum

One of the highlights of the York trip was a visit to the British Train Museum.









It basically charts the entire history and evolution of trains in Britain and really throughout the world.








It is an amazing museum that I highly recommend to everyone. It contains tons of old trains as well as a mockup of the Eurostar and a bullet train from Japan.



When I worked on The Polar Express, I learned a little bit about trains and became a bit of a train affectionato. The museum contains a train built in England shipped to China, then returned to England that very much resembles the 4-8-4 Pere Marquet train in Chicago that was the basis for the Polar Express.



One of the main highlights of the museum is the Hogwarts Express train from the Harry Potter films. It is a working train, and this is where they store it between films.

There is certainly a romance with trains in the British culture, and I can understand why. It is great to see these trains so lovingly preserved for people to enjoy.

The museum also houses the largest collection of royal train coaches in Europe.





It has the coaches of the royal family going back to Queen Victoria, who was the first royal to really use trains extensively to travel through her empire. It is a victorian marvel of jewel tones and tassels.



After the museum, we wandered over to the York Brewery to try some of their beer. I think our tourguide had been sampling a bit of the beer himself.





From there we went to The Masons Arm pub for a traditional British Roast Dinner.




I couldn't let Luis and Leeza leave London without having experienced this.







The pub was very charming, and the food was delicious. I had the Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding (in Yorkshire no less).






Alas, it was time to take our own train back to London. We arrived there just in time for the Tube Workers to go on strike and shutdown travel throughout in the whole city.

Ah. . . the joys of trains.