Day 18 - Spain, Segovia

We drove fifty miles north of Madrid to Segovia. Gweneth on On The Road Again, had said it was the most beautiful town (town of 55,000 not a city) in Spain. I haven't been to every town in Spain, but ya...this place had charm. Roman aqueduct, grand catherdral, historic castle, park to relax in: check. The city is 3,000 feet about sea level right by a mountain range and therefor gets cool northern breezes. Good thing because it was hot in Madrid that day- we were nearing the middle of June on the last few days of out trip. Segovia was a nice break from the summer heat. Segovia had a culinary claim to the fame, roast suckling pig (cochinillo asado: 21 days of mothers milk, into the oven than onto your plate). After a tour of the aqueduct, Mark and Claudia ate at Meson de Candido and enjoyed its famous suckling pig that’s so famously crispy, it can be 'cut' with a dinner plate. We did not have time and Im not so sure about eating baby pig. Hmm. After eying the restaurants we were off to explore the town.

Day 18 - King of Spain, El Escorial & Valley of the Fallen

We woke on our last day of our trip determined to get a road trip to the north of Spain in. We hit the road by 9 AM and were very surprised to see military and police men stationed at every exit of the freeway we were driving on. We started to get nervous...maybe there was a terrorist attach that we didn't know about...maybe it had already happened...
We then got even more confused when we took an exit 30 miles northwest of Madrid to go to El Escorial and found even MORE military and police vehicles and officers. We stopped to ask for directions from one of the policemen hoping they could also tell us what was going on. The officer did not speak English...but was trying so hard to tell us...he kept saying.. "Jefe" pronounced heffay. I new that meant boss...but still what the heck was going on. We drove on further and more and more officers lined the street until it was a wall of them. When we arrived at El Escorial we heard a marching band blaring and saw the military band marching along. Finally we found a Australian couple (who spoke English) who filled us in. The King (Jefe????) was in town. Awesome- free show for us. Jets flew over twice making a train of a Spanish flag behind them. We could see The King and the military show was impressive...however El Escorial was closed for the day.
El Escorial looks more like a stone military base than a palace but it was built by King Philip II (1527-1598) as a grand mausoleum for Spain's royal family, a monastery to pray and as a school to promote the Catholic faith.

The monarchy is currently represented by King Juan Carlos I, his wife Queen Sofia. Opinion polls routinely reveal that the monarchy remains popular by a wide majority of citizens in contemporary Spain,with as many as 75% of Spanish citizens ranking the monarchy above any other public institution in the country.In 2010, the budget for the Spanish monarchy was 7.4 million euros, one of the lowest public expenditures for the institution of monarchy in Europe.

On the way back from our days travels we stopped at El Escorial to see it if have opened up again (the King was long gone) but it had not. We drove the short (6 mile) distance to Valley of the Fallen. Valle de los Caidos. A 500 foot tall granite cross marks the immense and crazy underground monument to the victims of Spains Civil War (1936-1939). Thirty thee months of Civil war killed 200,000 Spaniards. Unlike our Civil War that split the country North and South- Spain's was between classes and ideologies which divided cities, villages and families. The war began with a military coup to overthrow the democratically elected Republic (a government that the army thought was to liberal and disorganized) In the summer of 1936 the army rebelled again and pledged allegiance to Francisco Franco (1892-1975) Hitler and Mussolini sent troops and supplies to their fellow fascist Franco. Hitler helped Franco bomb the town of Guernica (April 1937). Event was captured by Picasso in his work Guernica that is housed in the Reina Sofia Museum. Hundreds of Americans (including Ernest Hemingway) steamed over to help on the Republican side.
In 1940 prison workers dug 220,000 tons of granite out of the hill beneath the cross to form a underground basilica. It is enormous. The ceilings are so high, you walk on and on. It seems like you are in the movie, The Never Ending Story, as you pass under the huge foreboding angels of fascism holding swords. When you arrive at the end you find Franco's grave. Hmm. A solemn silence and stony chill fill the space. The basilica was built to be longer than St. Peters but the Vatican would only bless 262 yards. 50,000 are buried here- both Francos Nationalist and anti-Franco Republicans.

Earlier this summer I had a craving for some Spanish churros and chocolate. My sous chefs were so excited to help out. In the end we used about twice as much sugar as the recipe called for and added a Hershey chocolate bar, more cocoa and some other dark chocolate to our hot chocolate (why not) We made the churros shorter, but next time I think I would do a big long rounded strand just like San Gines does. These babies are oh so good.

Churros and Hot Chocolate

Recipe courtesy Chocolateria San Gines, Madrid, Spain

Ingredients

Churros:

• 8 cups vegetable or olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

Hot Chocolate:

• 4 ounces dark chocolate
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Churros: 8 cups vegetable or olive oil 1 cup water 1/2 cup margarine or butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

Hot Chocolate: 4 ounces dark chocolate 2 cups milk 1 tablespoon cornstarch 4 tablespoons sugar

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to 360 degrees F.

To make the churro dough, heat the water, margarine, and salt to a rolling boil in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the flour and stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, approximately 1 minute and remove from heat. Beat eggs until smooth and add to the saucepan while stirring the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a star tip. Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into the hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and roll the churros in the sugar mixture. Set aside until ready to serve.

To prepare the hot chocolate for dipping, place the chocolate and half the milk in a saucepan over very low heat and cook, stirring, until the chocolate has melted. Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining milk and whisk into the chocolate with the sugar. Cook on low heat, whisking constantly until the chocolate thickens, approximately 5 minutes. Remove and whisk until smooth. Pour chocolate into cups and serve with churros.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

Day 17 - Madrid, First night on La Ciudad

I fell in love with Madrid right away. This is a city I could revisit. So much calmer and more sophisticated that Barcelona. Yet...still...rustic in its own right.
We stayed at

Hostal Acapulco, Mardrid

Salud 13 4^th Floor

(34) 91 531 19 45

Loved the price, it was clean and we requested a balcony view. Great location just around the corner from Puerta delSol (the lively central square that was always bustling, even the last night after we had gone to a late night movie, we weren't afraid to walk home at 1a.m. It seemed like everyone was still up). First we went to the Reina Sofia Museum to eye Picasso's most famous work of art Guernica. The story is sad the the painting reflects the atrocities that took place. Not a huge modern art fan, so didn't stick around the museum to long. However, the glass elevators...are worth the free admission (all museums are free certain days of the week, check ahead, save some euros)

We passed up the Museum of Ham for Mercado de San Miguel- a great market full of Tapas, pasteries, drinks and cheese. I got to taste the oh so famous Manchego cheese (and or so overrated if you ask me...I would take a good aged Cheddar over the stinky goat milk cheese ANYDAY) We then went to Plaza Mayor- Madrids historic cobbled square. Built in 1619-still a traffic free chunk of 17th century Spain and oh so Lovely. Each side of the square is uniform and was a stage for bullfights and plays recounting the inquisition. We then walked on to the Royal Palace- Europes 3rd great palace (following Versailles and Schonbrunn in Vienna. Philip the V was very french and the palace reflects his tastes.

Last on our wonderful evening out on the town we headed to San Gines for churros and chocolate. SO SO SO So so so SO good! Two thumbs way up. I was not disappointed by this classy institution. If you like churros and chocolate or think you might- google San Gines churros and chocolate- someone has a copy of the recipe and we made it and we not disappointed...at all.