Here we are, a month and a half after coming home and I’m still looking back to the trip that was.
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I suppose the not getting over it part happens when you’ve gained so much more than just memories and photos from a very long trip, but also the added human weight that bug you on a daily basis with how you could no longer fit in half a number of your clothes!
After our 12-day Mediterranean cruise with Bri’s parents and siblings, we disembarked in Barcelona. We then headed straight to the nearest Hertz / Dollar for our car rental reservation with all of our luggages in tow.
The plan was to take a 6-hour drive from Barcelona to Madrid, with a pit stop in Zaragoza. We settled in Madrid for the first 2 days, then for the last 2 days, we took a drive to Segovia to see the aqueduct and Avila to see its medieval city walls.
Scroll further down to see our top 10 highlights from the last leg of our trip!
1 CASA LAC (ZARAGOZA)
It took us exactly three hours to reach our pit stop that is Zaragoza. Which was timely because before leaving for the trip, my dad highly recommended us to go there (for religious purposes of course). Of course, Bri and I just had to turn it into a gastronomical experience. We went for a late “lunch” in Casa Lac, reputedly known as Spain’s oldest licensed restaurant (1825). It’s also well known for its gastro-tapas that came in set menus.
Entering the restaurant was just wonderful! It had what seemed to be the original ceiling and wall fixtures, updated with modern drop lights, tables and chairs. 
The food was surprisingly superb! As we had just googled this restaurant on our way to Zaragoza from Barcelona, we didn’t exactly know what to expect from it. The purpose of the pit stop was basically just for feeding us hungry travellers. But lo and behold, we were very lucky to have made our way here. Up to this day, this is arguably one of the best tapas I’ve had from the whole duration of tour.
Half tomato with roasted pepper and anchovy 
Meatball of venison and Iberian pork with parmienter 
Fried suckling pig with roasted apple — so good!!
Pressed cheek of beef with red wine sauce
I don’t know if I’d be able to visit Zaragoza again in my lifetime. But I am very grateful to have stumbled upon Casa Lac.
Address: Calle Mártires, 12, 50003 Zaragoza, Spain | Contact details: +34 976 39 61 96
2 CATHEDRAL BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR ( ZARAGOZA)
Papa was very happy about the news that we got to pass by Nuestra Señora del Pilar. On one of our weekend meals at home with him, he mentioned to us how great it would be to visit the church that had part of the pillar where Mother Mary bi-located on (READ: Our Lady of the Pillar). Bi-location is a rare instance wherein a person who is still alive, appears as an image in another state / country. Such was the case for Mary and this was her first ever recorded apparition.
The streets leading up to the Cathedral-Basilica was very scenic. Cobble stone pathways, lined up with lamp posts and interesting shops. One of which was Bri’s most favorite stop: Jamon!
Of course, Bri had to taste one or two Jamon samplers (i.e. Iberico de Bellota!) and got out of the store with a bag of retail therapy in hand. 
Address: Plaza del Pilar, s/n, 50003 Zaragoza, Spain
3 CASA RESTAURANTE EL CALDERO
We were genuinely exhausted upon our arrival in Madrid. The boys, Bri and Choy, had to return the rental cars to Hertz / Dollar and we the ladies had to spend what seemed like 3 hours waiting for our Air BNB host. Side note: most European Air BNBs don’t have elevators. So not convenient if the unit ends up being on the 3rd floor and your group has at least 10 luggages in tow!
It was absolutely one very long day for all of us and we again needed good food. Ha ha! Once we had settled our Air BNB, we headed straight to Bri and Choy’s number 1 recommendation for paella: El Caldero.
Acorn-fed Iberian Ham!!! (Paired with Sangria! — with the number of exclamation points in this caption, need I say more?)
Paella Alcantina: Rice with chicken, clams, squid, prawns, and vegetables. If you read my previous post about Barcelona, I mentioned there that our paella experience in Spain just kept getting better and better. This was, please forgive my lay man’s judgement, the best among all paellas we’d tried. 
Arroz Negro: Black rice, seafood, prawns and squid ink! If I can only put a gif here that says “100”. My Filipino paella life will never be the same again after this.
Look at us happy campers!
Address: Calle de las Huertas, 15, 28012 Madrid, Spain
4 MERCADO DE SAN MIGUEL
On our first full day in Madrid, we went straight to Mercado de san Miguel, a heaven for all kinds of tapas! It was overwhelming entering the market, as it was packed with so many stores selling all these different kinds of tapas and pintxos. One would not know where to start!
Bri and I’s first stop was Tacos Margaritas y Punto. All of their tacos were served in 100% corn tortillas. The experience of taking a bite of this taco was so good, we wanted to just stay in this stall the whole afternoon. But, of course, there were more stores to try, so Bri and I had to get over this one quickly.
What d’you know! We caught a cultural parade just outside the mercado. 
My bocadillo jamon iberico for only 5 euros!
What d’you know! A mozarella bar!
Brian and his frittata roll of jamon serrano y queso at 3.5 euros a piece!
Our Madrid crew from left to right: Ate Lia, Ate Jill with Martina, and Choy.
Address: Plaza de San Miguel, 5, 28005 Madrid, Spain
5 EL RETIRO PARK
To make our going around the city much easier and much more cost effective, we decided to buy tickets for a hop-on hop-off bus tour around Madrid. One of the stops took us to El Retiro Park, which is considered to be one of the largest parks in the city. It was a fine afternoon walk of seeing random musicians performing along pathways, watching people canoe their way through a man made lagoon, and eventually making our way to the heart of the park: Palacio de Crystal.
I found Palacio de Crystal an all glass structure of architectural splendor! Nice on the eyes, but it was an oven when we entered it. It took us about only 5 minutes to last inside the place. Hah!
Bri managed to squeeze in a blogger shot of me. lol.
For every musician we get to watch during this Euro trip, Bri and I would always make it a point to drop in some coins into the hats laid out open in front of them. It was such a beautiful experience, having to witness all of them in the most random places!
6 CHOCOLATERIA SAN GINES
For anyone who plans to visit Madrid, Chocolateria san Gines is a MUST. This, as most people would call it, the holy grail of all churros. Who cares about being so full from our Mercado de San Miguel visit? There’s always room for churros!
We ordered the classic chocolate con 6 churros at 3.70 euros for each order. It was the best 3.70 euros we had ever spent on this trip.
Look. at. that. Doesn’t that chocolate make you salivate?!
Address: Pasadizo de San Gines, 5 28013
7 STREETXO
As if we weren’t filled enough to the brim with our food exploits from the day, Bri and Choy took us to Streetxo, a restaurant owned by Michelin-starred chef David Munoz. They call the restaurant a casual eatery, a way for him to make degustation a little more affordable and relatable. Their menu focused on wide range of asian flavors, served as tapas.
We didn’t make a reservation for this visit. We just literally waited for the restaurant to open while at a cafe across of it. 10 minutes before its opening, we made our way to the doors of Streetxo, and we were lucky to be first in line for a table.
Trendy and hip were written all over the interior of this restaurant. Each dish would cost about 15 to 20 euros each. Still a little pricey, but much less expensive compared to majority of Michelin-starred restaurants. It was, to Bri and I, a small price to pay for the experience we were about to have.
MUST ORDER: Vietnamese spring roll (duck and white warm prawns with sweet sour chillis and creamy ali-oli). Yummy!
Salmon tiradito — a combination of fatty salmon, covered in a spicy and rich sauce, topped with crispy salmon eggs. 
MUST ORDER: Grilled iberian pork pancetta “Saam”. If there was one thing I learned about the Spanish people during this trip it would be this: they love their pork. They have practically mastered how to cook it, especially this pancetta.
MUST ORDER: Pekinese dumplings (14.50 euros for three pieces) — slow cooked duck in thin wonton wrappers, topped with crisp pig’s ear, paired with pickle. To me, this dish bursted in both flavor and texture. Whenever I look back to this photo, I still remember eating and enjoying it. *drool*
MUST ORDER: Sous vide Chicken masala with baby corn and naan bread filled with delicious cheddar cheese. That pairing was just perfect.
ADDRES: El Corte Ingles, Calle Serrano, 52, 28001 Madrid, Spain
8 COCHINILLO IN MESON DE CANDIDO
On the fourth day of our visit, we got another rental car and drove one hour from Madrid to Segovia to see the Roman aqueduct. Of course, apart from visiting the UNESCO Heritage Site, at the top of our list was to also try cochinillo. Where else would be the best place to try it, but from where it originated right? 😉
Meson de Candido is a small and quaint restaurant that serves exactly what we came to Segovia for. They serve their cochinillo with fries, and it made for a sumptuous lunch for all of us.
Some of us would argue that the Philippine lechon was better. I would agree, but specifically for how we roast the skin of the lechon. It is better in the Philippines when done right. But based on my experience here, the cochinillo’s meat was more flavorful and tender, pieces of pig meat dissolved in my mouth as I chewed — and I think a lot of this had to do with the pig being a baby pig (ouch!).
9 AQUEDUCTS IN SEGOVIA
Majestic. That would be the word to describe my first personal sighting of the Aqueduct in Segovia. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the aqueduct is long and massive, and upon closer look, this structure is literally just made and formed out of rocks on top of each other. This was the water system back in the time of the Romans, and the people of Segovia were able to preserve it as is, where is!
I swear, my photo does not do it any justice. But you can look into more information about the aqueduct here.
10 AVILA
After our visit to Segovia, we drove another hour to head to the northwest of Madrid: Avila. From the aqueduct, we moved our sights to see the medieval walls of this town. In 1985, this city was hailed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As this was the last leg of our trip, we didn’t have time to ride the bus tour around the walled city. It would have been nice to be able to ride this though!
The walls stretching as far as the eye can see!
I am so glad we were able to take this trip to Madrid. Looking back, there are just so many places to visit and food to try! I had always admired the clean, quaint and romantic feel of Paris, and I had often declared it as my most favorite place in the world, but I have to admit: nothing beats the dynamic, buzzing, and vibrant nature of this Spanish city.
Maybe this is because of the cultural influence we got from Spain, but during this time, there were random instances wherein I weirdly felt like I was at home in Manila.
Ultimately, I believe my weight took the most toll during these last four days of our tour. But for the love of all those paellas and tapas, I have no regrets.
xoxo
Chasing Fran 
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