VIVA NOLA
Madrid: November 24, 2014
Hola mis amigos! (That’s right, Español not Italiano)
I am going to abandon my scrappy Italian for this post in honor of my trip to España for Ellie’s 27th birthday el fin de semana pasado. While last weekend was magical for me because I could FINALLY communicate easily with those around me and practice my Español (lisp optional), I think I am back to square one with my fluency in Italian…
GOOD thing I had my first real Italian lesson (grammar textbooks included) on Thursday night with a teacher named Emiliano, whose flyer I found near one of my bus routes. After a full day of teaching, I got to be taught to! Emiliano was a wonderful teacher, but it was difficult for me to focus initially due to the fact that Emiliano was (no exaggeration) a spitting image of TOBIAS, one of my favorite television characters from Arrested Development about a wildly dysfunctional family. For those of you not familiar with Tobias- Google him or better yet, watch a season or two of Arrested Development on NetFlix . Like Tobias’ brother Buster on the show, Emiliano also lives with his mother, Maddelena (no resemblance whatsoever to the Lucille Bluth character). And little did I know before signing up for Italian lessons that the price of my lesson ALSO included an authentic Italian family dinner with Emiliano, Maddelena and his father, Francesco.
Anyway, I am sure my Italian lessons with Emiliano & famiglia will be worthy of a TV series in the coming weeks, but until then…back to Madrid!
I think it is safe to say that I’ve been fortunate enough to live abroad a number of times in my 27 years of life, including my current situation here in Roma. But other than Italia, I’ve only ever lived abroad in SPAIN! I spent a summer in Salamanca, a summer in Cadiz, and a semester abroad in Sevilla, not to mention my abuelita (grandma) is from Barcelona and a native Catalan speaker. Even though I’ve never lived in Madrid, I have visited and LOVE the city. The last time I visited Madrid I bopped on over to the Reina Sofia, Museo del Prado, Palacio Real de Madrid, and the usual must-sees. Living in Spain had already exposed me to the verb 'tapear' and to eating jamon in every possible form. Not to mention staying up until the sunrises.
my favorite way to eat jamon...
But on this trip, I got to stay with a local, Lisa Cuervo (Crow), and her Spanish roommates from Galicia y el Pais Vasco (both lawyers). Lisa is also teaching English and a native of New Orleans, where we are known for being proudly eccentric and passionate of our city's football team.
Lisa didn't bring a lot to Spain, but she did pack her flag to hang outside her window on Calle Humilladero.
This was Ellie’s first trip to Madrid and España in general, so while she did the typical first-timer excursions with friends of hers also on vacation in the city, Lisa took me all around her hood or ‘barrio’ – La Latina. This was a part of Madrid I had never explored before (and after this trip- definitely my new favorite barrio).
The neighborhood really should be re-named from La Latina to La Lisa, because Miss Cuervo in the time she has lived in Madrid has become the barrio’s unofficial matriarch. She knows EVERYONE- from the local butcher and graffiti artists to the opera singer who performs at La Latina Theatre in Plaza de la Cebada (and who Lisa claims is infinitely better after a few Tinto de Veranos). Every restaurant, tobacco shop, tattoo parlor, bar we passed you would hear someone yell, “que tal LISA!” She gave me a private walking tour through a different kind of museum, where the graffiti installations are famous and considered works of art by the local community. These installations can be found down la calle Cava Baja- what Lisa calls ‘Bourbon Street of Tapas.’
Spain was at least 15 degrees colder than Roma and like most places in España, Lisa’s apartment did not have heat, which made me nostalgic for the cold winter nights in Sevilla where I’d often sleep with my blow-dryer on to keep me warm. But Lisa and I managed to keep warm with sidra (cider) and beer blankets at a local bar where we met this affectionate firecracker, Maria Isabella, who drank Cruz Campo like it was her job and reminded me of my abuelita in all the best ways. She insisted we come over for dinner the next time we were in the area (but to give her enough time for food prep) and smothered us with cruzzy kisses before Lisa and I headed home for a siesta.
Saturday night, the seven of us in Madrid- me, Lisa, Ellie, her 2 friends Scott and Lizzy, as well as Dario, our Italian bestie who joined us for the weekend, went to dinner at Restaurante Botin. Lisa was actually responsible for introducing to us to Dario when we moved to Rome (they studied abroad together in Argentina years ago). Restaurante Botin in Madrid was founded in 1727 and is the world’s oldest restaurant (still open for business) according to the Guinness Book of World Records. I usually tend to steer more towards the seafood dishes when dining out, but Botin is famous not only for their age, but the roast suckling pig and roast baby lamb dishes. So in touristy fashion, our table went HAM and ordered everything recommended to us by our waiter. I highly recommend this restaurant for those of you visiting Madrid, but I would also highly recommend dining here on a night when you didn’t feel like being accompanied by an entire suckling pig to a discoteca (I think we danced him off anyway)…
DARIOOOO!
Sunday we dressed in our finest black and gold apparel for the Saints game before attempting to catch the tail end of El Rastro flea market, where Ellie bought herself an incredible vintage military bomber jacket for her birthday. Lisa knew exactly where to take us to watch American football and where to take us to pregame the home game. Before heading to Public House in the Moncloa district of Madrid to watch the disappointing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (the bar owner was once Lisa’s roommate and thus knew how important streaming Saints on Sunday is for New Orleanians), we made a pit stop at a cave bar called La Chapandaz, famous for its Panther’s Milk cocktail that apparently can be found within the cave’s stalagmites…? The drink was delicious and just what my calcium deficient body needed (I can’t remember the last time I had a full glass of milk – Panther or not) to end my Sunday and begin the work week…
Leaving Madrid was not easy, but Ellie brought back to Roma with her not just flea market finds, but one of her friends, Scott. Scott offered us his professional and personal chef skills in exchange for lodging. Scott was a kid in a candy shop here in Rome when it came to his passion for Italian cuisine and cooking. While we were in class and at our respective lessons during the day, Scott was out finding the freshest produce, meats, cheeses, pesto, etc. to cook for us. This American from Atlanta literally cooked some of the best pasta carbonara I’ve eaten while in Italy, along with HANDMADE pistachio and ricotta filled cannoli. And let me remind you that our TINY kitchen can barely fit a microwave oven, let alone Emeril Lagasse type talent- so Scott’s cooking REALLY was impressive. Dario even gave it two thumbs WAY WAY up as far as Italian cooking goes.
The pasta carbonara also contained small pieces of pork cheek (something I probably never would have ordered or opted to try), but WHEN IN ROME (this saying will never get old for me) and with a personal chef for a week, why not.
So HAPPY MONDAY All! And Happy (Early) Thanksgiving! I can’t believe it is already the end of November and this time last year I was dressed as a ‘Baby Clown’ in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. This year will obviously be VERY different and more of an ExPat, Pot-Luck, extravaganza that will carry over into the weekend since no one will have Thursday off and like me will be expected to work. But don’t think that means on Thursday I won’t be in the holiday spirit. My kids will DEFINITELY be covering the history of Thanksgiving and why it is a day of feasting, football and family in the United States.
Hope that ya’ll eat enough turkey for the both of us over here since turkey is hard to come by. I’ve found in Rome rotisserie chicken will have to do…
Besos!
Mallory
