The Very Hungry Caterpillar visits Spain

Brett and I had the absolute pleasure of spending last week in Spain with my brother Ian and his wife Nathalie. We had a wonderful time visiting the cities of Madrid, Toledo, Campo de Criptana, Chinchilla de Monte Aragon and Alicante. One of the things Brett and I were most looking forward to in our trip were quality and uninterrupted meals with no dishes to do and no children to feed! So we ended up eating our way through Spain with enthusiasm and seemingly insatiable hunger! On many occasions I thought about that iconic children's story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. We were that caterpillar! Especially on Saturday as we feasted our way through Madrid on a five hour tapas bar crawl. Just as the caterpillar ate one piece of chocolate cake, one slice of swiss cheese, one slice of salami and so on until he had a major stomach ache, our meal went something like this:

One spanish ham and manchego croissant

One beer

One glass of port

One bowl of garlic shrimp

One bowl of breaded fried shrimp

One glass of wine

One plate of crispy fried pigs ear (mmm, cartilage)

One plate of olives

One glass of wine

One plate of stuffed mushrooms

One glass of sangria

One plate of spanish cheeses

One glass of wine

And One cone of gelatto!

And after that, we were finally full!

On Sunday we also had a green leaf sort of day to cleanse ourselves from the indulgences of Saturday night.

Eating tapas is such a fun and unique experience. The idea of a social and mobile meal that involves exercise and small portions is such a contrast to the American way of eating. Taking pleasure in food and making it the center of conversation during a five hour meal is really a cultural experience that you have to leave the US to enjoy. We ate each plate of food at a different bar and probably walked over a mile during the meal. We were in the good company of hundreds of thousands of other people (literally!) crowding the bars and streets of Madrid into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

There were many many more adventures to recount from our trip to Spain. I'll try to highlight a few of them on my blog as I find time in the next few days.