More things Madrid

Okay this is one of the main buildings coming into town and of course I do not know the purpose or the official name but we saw it and here it is - impressed - me too!

This is a statue of a lady ridding in a wagon being pulled by two lions. It represents the queen riding in to save Spain. Of course there is more story to it but that is all I remember.

Now, I do remember this one. This is a statue of a bear picking berries from a tree. This one is special to Madrid, the story goes that a bear wondered into the area and found these trees that produced these special berries that are only found in this region of Spain. The bear was able to live in the area and only eat the fruit from the trees and he left everyone alone. The people decided that if the bear was able to survive off the land then it must be a good place to be so they built Madrid there.
At most of the restaurants you could order special meat of animals that were only feed these berries. It is more expensive than the rest but it is very good - but I really could not tell a big difference.

So on the last night we were there Ignacio took us out for some "local food." I thought it would be fun and at least I could say that I tried a lot of different things while we were gone. So below is a what was presented to us for dinner. Most of it was good!

This plate was different kids of pork. There was a Chorizo or sausage, a pork loin, blackened ham, and salami. Most of the meat here was smoked. They smoke the whole animal and hang them up. They are kept out in open and they cut off what is needed. The type of meat is not refrigerated. I liked all of this one - the pork loin was my favorite. Of course with all meals there was pan aka bread. The hard kind with a soft middle.

This was a plate of aged cheese. The name of the cheese I do not remember but it was good. Salty and dry but good.

Okay are you ready for this one - this is potatoes and octopus. It was a little rubbery but good. The potatoes really helped.

This is calamari - something you can also find at most dinning establishments in Madrid. Theses were the baby ones and they were also very good. We had calamari almost everyday.

Okay I saved the best for last. - just look at this doesn't it look good. Like bacon. Well it also comes from a pig - in fact it is pig ear. It was okay but not something I will ever order again. It was edible but different.
Andy was a trooper this night he tried everything!!! I was so proud.