Rodrigo is a pilgrim who worked as a hospitalero for Mar years ago. He came through, and his knee was bothering him. So he decided to stay a few days and give me some time off.

The first day I came to town and did this.

I didn’t check in any pilgrims or clean a damn thing. Yesterday the same thing. Today I did a little before I left and I’ll do more tonight after dinner. It has been so wonderful. Even though my shoulders still tingle, they have relaxed enough I can feel the knots. Before they were too stiff.

I texted with Kevin last night, and told the others, “ Kevin is thinking ‘holidays!’ Fiestas! And I am having to tell him I wash dishes and mop floors.” So tonight Mar, Ulises, and I went to a tea house, then to dinner.

So what music do you hear when you see those pictures? Pan flutes? Enya? Nothing? What? You didn’t guess Guns and Roses? Welcome to the Jungle, baby!

We ordered tea off the menu .

We also got crepes. If I had known we were going to dinner afterwards I would not have gotten ham and cheese.

The tea house closed at dark. So we went to dinner at Taberna Che. Che as in Che Guevara. Ulises, who is from Argentina, was shocked the entire place was virtually a shrine to him. The food was good though.

As I stuffed myself I thought, I am going to gain five pounds overnight. Worth it. Totally worth it.

I told everyone I was going to eat at the San Miguel Market, and it wasn’t far from estación Sur, where I arrived. But I was lugging a 30 lb backpack and wanted to stop, so I took a 26€ taxi ride to my hotel, which was near the airport w a free shuttle. It would have been either another 30€ ride to the market (and 30€ back) or a 4€ but 40 minute ride by Metro w a station change.

I decided to eat in town.

I ordered breakfast w my room. I’ve been eating vegetarian lite for a month, and Stef dislikes cheese. So my breakfast this morning was cheese, bacon, ham, and WHITE bread.

I have figured out Montse likes to eat light in the evenings. No one here eats a lot of meat, and not just because they can’t afford it. They really don’t like it that much. But Montse doesn’t like beans or other proteins in the evening, so I’m trying to plan meals accordingly. I made Kushari for lunch, which everyone loved. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Kushari is Egyptian: lentils with rice, pasta, caramelized onions, and tomato sauce.

I was a bit worried because the bottom of the pot was just black after I cooked the onions, and I thought it was going to make the rice taste burned. It didn’t. It didn’t used to, but then I went through a period where it always did.

Anyway, after lentils for lunch I said I was going to attempt tortilla de patata for dinner. Ya’ll, this is the national dish of Spain. Cloti had shown me how to make it, but I looked up a recipe anyway. The writer said she lived in Spain for THREE YEARS before she even attempted it. I’ve been in Spain one week. I was so nervous attempting this; I can’t even tell you.

But I was really glad I looked up the recipe because Cloti had fried the potatoes in a LOT of oil, and I thought, “I’m not going to do that; I’ll save the calories.” You have to use that much oil; the potatoes don’t so much fry as poach. Cloti cooked her onions at the same time as the potatoes but my recipe said to use a separate pan. I did, but I couldn’t tell a difference so I probably won’t next time.

I let the potatoes cool before mixing them with the eggs, but, having never made a tortilla before, I hadn’t timed it properly and if I had let the mixture rest fifteen minutes, as the writer wanted, we wouldn’t have eaten until after 9 p.m. I gave it five. I also salted the potatoes after cooking. However, the salt was perfect!

Sliding the tortilla onto a plate in order to flip it was more than a little tricky, since everything was slick with oil, but I managed it. It didn’t land on the floor and I managed to not burn it. I was worried it didn’t cook through but it did. Some people don’t cook it through; they leave the middle a little runny. I’m too American for that.

Guys, it wasn’t the best tortilla I’ve ever had, but it was equal to most. My very first one! I am so happy I can make this dish. In part because I ADORE Tortilla Espagnola, as it is also called, but also because pilgrims love tortilla. I fueled most of my camino with tortilla and cafe con leche. So I was worried that I would not be able to cook this most essential of Spanish dishes. But I can.

So now, when we have pilgrims, I can make tortilla the night before to have in the morning. But someone else will have to make the coffee.

This combination is not your friend. It recommended I ask the restaurant for “el toro” instead of “la cuenta.”

Mom and Aaron generously offered to buy me a meal, so I went all out. I had the salad I bought at the grocery for breakfast and a croque monsieur at the museum for lunch. So dinner was a treat.

I had Olivier salad

And ravioli caprese

I tried to have dessert but for some reason I wanted chocolate and they didn’t have anything. It’s okay. I’m still eating my Napolitanas.

Now I’m going to roll back to my hotel. Fortunately it’s not far.

It was so late after my shower that I decided to get something to eat then go to the Prado when it was free. I went to a place called Tinto y Tapas, where the gentleman quickly figured out he needed English although I was doing my best.

I ordered an empanada caprese and a solomillo with sirloin.

I like the empanada the best, although both are a little sweet. The onions in the solomillo are really sweet. They remind me of the sweet onion sauce at Subway. Antonio would probably really like this sandwich, since he loves both sweet onion sauce and steak. But maybe not together.They are both deliciously greasy and the hotel is going to hate what I’m doing to their towel.

Now on to the Prado!