We had 18 friends plus little Ketu over to celebrate Thanksgiving Madrid-style.  Cliff made a 10 k turkey, Mike made chipotle sweet potatoes, Maria made pumpkin pie, Samara made corn muffins and corn salad…the list goes on.  Here are the pics!

All night party on Gran Via

Madrid participates every year in this great cultural explosion that lasts from about 5 PM on a Saturday through 7 AM on Sunday.  It’s overwhelming – I felt a bit like I was in NY for one night, there was so much to do, we couldn’t make any decisions. There were free or cheap plays, performances, the museums and galleries stayed open and there were street events. Gran Via was blocked to automobile traffic and there was a light show along the buildings. Extremely cool, but I wandered home at 3AM because it was too much.

Here are a few notes to savour for when you go to Oporto. One thing we noticed about the meals in Oporto is that they always place tasty starters on the table either before you arrive or as you arrive…and though they may be tempting, they are not free! In some cases they were well worth it, but in others it was annoying to have the unwanted food hanging around – and then we got to wondering how many other tables had the food sat on, being rejected and being breathed on by other people!?! We really enjoyed the food, but you have to be proactive about finding the good restaurants.

Casa D’oro
22 610 6012
I can’t find an official review or website of this place, but it was spectacular – practically under the Arrabida bridge on Rua do Ouro in a cube-like building overhanging the water (apparently it used to be a control tower for mining engineers?!). Upstairs they have a pizzeria with an outside terrace and downstairs a more elegant restaurant. We ate downstairs and had starters, a shared glass of wine, 2 dinner entrees (mine was smoked salmon and spinach wrapped with some sort of white fish, cooked in white wine and served with steamed veggies and potatoes), 1 shared glass of Port wine and something chocolatey for dessert for 25€ each. If you take the #500 bus from town, you can see it as you approach the bridge, the stop is before the bridge. Excellent for watching the sunset over the river.

La Brasserie De L’Entrecote
Jardim do Sobreiro, Loja 2, Foz do Douro
Tel: 225 321 270/ 934 995 958
www.brasserieentrecote.pt
This is further along the Rua do Ouro, when you get into Foz (after the lighthouse). There is a fixed menu of salad, steak and potatoes (or apparently tuna or Seitan – I’m not sure if there are options every night) for 17€ per person. Request the meat how you like it and the waiter brings it over on a platter that sits atop a candle to keep it warm. The fries are unlimited and they weren’t very impressive, but everything else was. We shared a bottle of wine (I think it was Lopes) and a dessert afterwards even though we were stuffed. Also great for sunset viewing.

Papa-Razzi Restaurant and Bar
Rua Monsenhor Manuel Marinho 35, Foz do Douro
22 618 1945
www.papa-razzi-foz.com
A bit off the beaten path in Foz, we stumbled across this accidentally, but I’d read several good reviews of it online so we wandered in. We shared a bottle of wine and each chose a main dish – all of which were delicious. I had roasted duck with chestnut purée. It was amazing. I don’t know how they classify the food, somewhere between Italian and French. The desserts were dissappointingly a bit salty, but my chocolate bomb was definitely edible. I think we paid close to 25€ a person.

Adega E Presuntaria Transmontana II
Av. Diogo Leite, 80 – Gaia
351 223 758 380
919 850 229

This is right on the main drag in Gaia. It’s necessary to have a reservation because the place was hopping with locals and tourists. You really have to put your powers of resistance to use to refrain from eating all of the pre-set appetizers – I suggest you either go just for those and some wine or skip them and go for a huge serving of mixed seafood grill (we shared a 1/2 ration and it was too much food for us). Unfortunately we didn’t have enough room for the dessert buffet which looked amazing with exotic fruits and big cakes. The place got noisier as the evening went on, so next time I think we’ll go early and eat slowly! We paid about 25€ here as well for 2 glasses of wine, too many appetizers, and a shared main dish.

I’ll slowly be posting older pics…enjoy!

Nobel prize winner Seamus Heaney came to the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid to read some of his poetry.  Some of it was inspired by his previous visits to Spain!