Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - Madrid: What to Eat and Experience in Spain's Capital City

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

We're back with American expat Khephra White to talk about everything you need to experience when visiting Madrid, Spain. Interested in living abroad as an expat in Spain? Check out the last episode where we share how  you can live and work in Spain via the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program.Enjoy the episode.***I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel, a certified clarity coach trained in the Enneagram who first moved abroad on my own at age 18. I’ve been permanently enjoying life in Europe since 2010.My mission is to help my clients gain the clarity, focus, and skills they need to create a life that sets their soul on fire.Visit sarahmikutel.com to get in touch about how we can work together one-on-one to help you achieve more peace, happiness, and positive transformation in your life.Looking for a guide to help you discover your Enneagram personality type? Book your Enneagram typing session by going to sarahmikutel.com/typingsessionWant to connect on Insta? Find me hereDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Welcome to Live Without Borders, a travel and wellness show for expats, the expat curious, and globally minded citizens of the world. We are the travelers, the culturally curious, the experiences and not things kind of people. And we know that freedom is about more than getting on a plane. It's about becoming the most heroic versions of ourselves, which is why on this podcast you will hear insider travel secrets, inspiring expat stories, and advice on how to live abroad. but you will also hear episodes that will help give you the clarity, focus, and skills you need to create a life that will set your soul on fire. I am your host, Sarah Micatel, a certified clarity coach trained in the Enneagram, and I first moved abroad on my own at age 18, and I have been permanently enjoying life in Europe since 2010. If you are ready to make some big moves in your life

and want my help moving from someday to seize the day, visit live without borderspodcast.com. In the last episode, my guest Kefra White shared how she was able to become an expat in Spain through the North American Language and Culture Assistance Program. Today, this seven-year expat is sharing all of her favorite things to eat and experience in her adopted city of Madrid. The conversation took a serious turn at one point because Kefra said she's not exactly sure what places are going to survive the COVID pandemic. Lots of places are closing. which is all the more reason for us to support local restaurants and shops as much as possible when it's safer to travel. And even now, many shops and tour companies have gotten very creative in what they will ship around the world to people. So keep an eye out for that as well.

All right, there's a little profanity in this episode. I hope you don't mind that too much. Just a heads up. Enjoy the show. Tell me a little bit about Madrid. What does the postcard look like if people are trying to think about what the city is like? I always think about the buildings on Guvenvia in the center of Madrid. I think about the buildings. A lot of people say that if you're looking at styles of living and lifestyle, the fast-paced yada, that between Madrid and Barcelona, Madrid is New York City

and Barcelona is Los Angeles. Now don't y'all come for me. Okay, this is, I've been to both places. I've been to both places. I know, but this is just what we say, if you're looking at where you want to settle. So it's very big city, fast-paced, a lot of people international. And because probably the first real memory of Madrid I made was when I had just gotten here, I'd been on a flight all night, bleary-eyed, couldn't read, took the metro, got lost, and popped out on Granvia. I was just like, holy shit, this is cool.

So I think of Granvia as when I first think of Madrid, especially Plaza Cayo. It's kind of old theater, a bunch of billboards, and the little like kind of Fisher-Pricy Times Square. It's like the little theater district with the billboards and stuff like that. It reminds me a lot of Broadway. The Lion King is even there. Sorry, El Ray Leon. Ooh. Fancier in Spanish.

I like it. And you're an entertainer yourself, right? Aren't you a performer? I am. I do stand up comedy and I would like to act. I do stand up. I have a show pre-COVID. I did a stand-up showcase.

I am working on finding another venue for that because with the nightclubs being closed, it's hard to find a spot for live shows. Live shows have taken a hit. Are you doing comedy in Spanish or English? In English. Okay. In English, I would love to do comedy in Spanish. I don't think my Spanish has given enough. Oh, yeah. I mean, I did not expect you to say Spanish, but I just thought I would throw the question out.

I'm working on it. And I'm definitely, because I, when I book shows, I book Spanish performers as well, it's stand up in English, but I book Spanish comedians. And I really love and admire them because they're putting themselves out there. And I really like, is challenging me to up my, My game. So if we wanted to see a show, let's like imagine that COVID's not here and we can do cool things in Madrid. Where would you recommend seeing like comedy and also maybe a play since you mentioned the theater district? Oh, let's see. Okay. I would see stand-up comedy. There's a place here called Beer Station. That's super dope. And they do comedy in English and Spanish. I have been invited to perform with some Spanish performers there. Right now the shows are. in in Spanish but beer garden I believe it beer station is back up and running and there's a good strong stand-up scene here and the Spanish stand-up scene is coming back and I say kudos to them theater okay so in the center right of glenvia there is a neighborhood Kayau I love it there is a place have you heard of micro theater I don't think so tell me more about it microtheater is super dope and so they're 15 minute plays and so there is a small little well it's not

actually small the rooms are kind of small but they have like six or seven or eight rooms and so you can see different plays and they are every 15 minutes they're in 15 minute time slots and so it's micro theater so you can go and see like four shows you know in an hour and it's super cool because It's a whole start, middle finish in 15 minutes. And I love micro theater. I'd never heard of it until I came here. And I was actually in a microtheater play a couple of years ago. And it was so fun.

I really enjoyed that. So if you want to see something, and they're all different plays, different shows, different themes, different casts. So if you want to have a cool night of theater, I would definitely recommend microtheist. Yeah, I love the sound of that, especially since you see so many shows, are like two hours long, two and a half hours long, and you're like, oh, my God, when will this end?

Right. Not micro-theater, 15 minutes. 15 minutes in and out. Was there a particular theater you would recommend? It's a Performing Arts Center, Microtitheato, M-I-C-R-O-T-R-O-T-R-O-T-R-O-T-R-O-T-R-O-T. That means dot. It's, oh, so this place, apparently, other cool fact, was an old brothel. What wasn't?

I know, right? Especially I'm from New Orleans. Everything was an old brothel. It has 13 rooms and it's a little, a little theater bubble that's super cool. They have a bar. They have some nibbles. You can just Google that. And it's super dope.

You sound like you'd be really fun to go out with. That sounds like a good night out. I like to think I'd be fun to go out with no humility at all. I'm a Leo named after a Pharaoh in a pyramid. There's no humility here. I'm also a Leo. Oh, when's your birthday? August 19th.

Oh my God. Seriously? Are you my twin? I am your birthday twin. Oh my gosh. Crazy. Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday to us.

Oh my God. How dope is that? Yeah. Oh, my God. I should come to Madrid in August and we can tear up the town. You should. We will tear up the town as much as we can because shit ain't open in August, but there's something.

No, it's really not that bad as it sounds. Like, yes, a lot of people go on vacation, but there's always something to do here. And that's what I love about here. And as a matter of fact, one of my favorite parts of Medved is Templa, Templa did it both. It's this Egyptian temple. It was like a gift to Egypt. I'm sorry, a gift from Egypt. I'm smart.

I went to college. It was a gift from Egypt to Spain. And so it's like this straight up Egyptian temple, like just chilling in the center of Madrid near the castle, near the Palacio. And for me, it's still one of the most wonderful, perfect places to see. the sunset in Madrid. Oh, what a beautiful idea. Yeah, it's absolutely magical. We have picnics there. I'm doing training to become a yoga teacher as well, and I would love to have classes there. You really are doing everything a little bit better. Well, when I visit you, we will just sit around and watch this. So don't worry. It's like when I talk about it, I never really think about it because, you know,

I guess I'm too busy doing it. Yeah, I'm the vice chair of Democrats abroad Madrid. And so, you know, we just have been working nonstop on the election. I'm finally just getting my feet there. I make meals and distribute things for the homeless once a month. I don't know. I guess I say I'm tired, but I get so bored when I'm not busy. Yeah.

Well, you've got your hands. Yeah, you're doing a lot of exciting things, which it's really cool and very nice of you to be helping out the homeless and the elderly in your building. I mean, someone has to. Like, all we have, all we have is each other, you know? Like, I'm going to be old eventually, and I would like to think that my community has my back or that I would have help if I need it. And with everything going on this year, too, you know, we've got almost two million people out of work. And the homeless population has grown, and it's cold. So we make hot soup. We collect blankets and coats, and that's just what, you know, we do around this time. My family, who we've had our own housing problems growing up in the same thing.

Sometimes we had trouble getting food. Sometimes we didn't have food. So as an adult, I'm very sensitive to that sort of thing. And I just figure it's the least, the bare minimum I can do is help people get a hot meal or helps a cold person get a blanket. I do that even here too with a lot of the language assistance, some of the people who just move here. I didn't know anyone when I moved to Spain. My mom told me not to talk to strangers and I was like, Mom, I don't know anyone on the continent. So I got to get around that.

but people come here. I didn't really know how to read or write or do anything, and I didn't know anything. In Spanish, yeah. Right. And so when I meet people who move here and we don't have, we ain't got to be friends for life. We don't have to get matching tattoos or breathe each other's hair and talk about boys. But I try to be the guide that I didn't have when I first got here. I try to show people things that they didn't know.

Or little helpful tips like, hey, the banks close at two. God, why. Or, you know, we don't, just little things. And if someone doesn't have family for Diadel Gobble, Thanksgiving, you know. Friendsgiving. Yeah, I try to have something for Friendsgiving. Or if someone's just moved here, they don't know anyone. I'm like, let's meet for lunch.

Let's get a drink. Come over to my house. I can cook. Whatever. I ended up being the, I guess, the Ox mom for a lot. lot of people. Well, that's wonderful. So how did you meet people when you first moved to Spain? Some of my friends who are still my friends, actually, I met them my first day in Spain at the hostel I stayed in. It's a great place to meet people. Yeah. I'd never stayed in the hostel

in my life. I was 34 years old. Just sitting there with my suitcases looking like someone that just shot my puppy. Like, Jesus, what did I just do? I'm in this town. I'm in this country. I don't know anyone. I can't read anything. And, well, I'm here now. And so, yes, my, like, my friend Jay is the one who showed me how to look for apartments online and taught me what things mean, you know, how to see if they took pets or if it was a room or an apartment. And a lot of them I kept in touch with. And I met my friend Brian across the street from my apartment because he was singing outside. And he has the most beautiful voice, by the way. And I met, uh, I met, some friends through him. My friend Samuel, who's like my brother, I met him and his husband,

and they have been my closest friends here, my support system, my network. Ravei, I met them a lot of the same way. And since we are now all volunteering with Democrats abroad, that's opened up a whole different group of people and family and community for me. Yeah, I love that. And also, I'm going to give a shout out to hostiles because I did do them a few times when I was a teenager and hated it. I was like, it's too loud. I don't like it. And then a few years ago, a friend of mine convinced me to go to one in Mexico. And they had changed so much, at least the one that we went to. So comfortable, like every bed had like their own little curtain and places to plug in your computer and phone and great Wi-Fi and delicious

breakfast. And we met cool people. And I was like, oh, my God, hostels are in the way now. Fosters are dope now. Like, it's really cool. Yeah. Yeah, it's a great place to get your bearings and to meet people. So, all right, if I'm coming to visit you in Madrid and we're going to spend like a long weekend together, what are some like mustsies that we have to do? Okay. So if you're coming with me, I will walk you all over Madrid because you have to see the Templar de they both.

And it depends on when you're coming as well. Like now is the holidays, so it's a magical time for me because all the lights, the Christmas lights and decorations are up. And I love that. And the cool thing is each neighborhood has different lights. They have different themes and everything so you can run around. It's interesting. You, a lot of people, you have to go to the Miseo do Prado. I haven't been. I'm sorry. I haven't been to the Prado yet. You can slap me. I would take you to the Theson because they have a lot. more interactive things. What is that place? The Thesson is another museum where when I went, they had a Vogue exhibit of all the Vogue covers,

and now they're about to do a fantastic exhibit for L Magazine. I'm kind of a fashionista. I love things like that. Of course, we could go to the Raina Sophia so you could see the Gernica. That's, oh, girl, hold on. Picasso, the Gernica.

Kepro, what is that. Bad, bad Kepra. Okay. How dare you forget Picasso. When it comes to Madrid, I like to just walk around. Also, I like to eat. Yes. Okay.

Well, let's talk about foods and places, like, and even some hidden gems along the way. Okay. Plaza Espania, there are a lot of Chinese restaurants, like real authentic Chinese restaurants. People talk about this hidden one. In Plaza, Spain, it's like in the parking lot, there's this hidden restaurant. I have never been there because there is a, for me, I've heard that there's a better one across the street called the Winnie. And that's where I have been to. And it's, I don't even know it's a real name, but it's called the Winnie because there's this picture of like this ill-tempered looking drawing of Winnie the Pooh.

Okay. Which is the opposite of what Winnie the Pooh should be. You don't put ill-temper than Winnie the Pooh in the same thing. But I swear this Winnie just looks pissed off. And he's like life-size and he stands outside. And that's where you get the good shit. Yes. There's also Ucera. Oseira is the neighborhood in Madrid that is basically Chinatown. And they have some of the most lit food in the place, in the city, as far as I'm concerned.

We go to Chueca, which is the neighborhood. And I spend a lot of time there. My first night in Madrid, in Spain, was in Chueca, getting roasted by a drag queen at a drag show. In English or Spanish? Where you were like, what's happening? No, I understood she was ripping me. Okay. Oh, she let me have it. She read me up and down for filth, and I deserved it.

I can take my punches. I'm from New Orleans. She's not the first drag queen to roast me. And she definitely won't be the last. Okay. So the Mercados. The Mercados around the city are also awesome places to go. I spend a lot of time on day trips.

So it's places, it's not just Madrid. I mean, there's Quattro Caminos, my old neighborhood, Guantro Caminas Avarado, or as I call it, the little DR where all the Latinos are. I still hang out there. I live there for four years. But I also like to go outside of Madrid. Like Alcanadeanadas is super cute. It's smaller. They have their Plaza Mayor.

They have some great terraces. And it's quieter and it's calmer. How do we get to these day trips? is like the train system quite good. It's amazing. You can get to Alcala in I think 45 minutes. And there's El Escorial, which has this beautiful monastery and palace. And that's like 30 minutes by train.

You can go to Segovia, which has, that's my favorite place outside of Galicia in the north of Spain. For my birthday, for our birthday, I went to Segovia this year when they finally allowed us to leave Madrid. They have a Roman aqueduct and this dish, Cogonillo, which is roastsuckling pig. You're not going to eat it because you're a vegetarian, but it is there and that's what it's famous for. And it's 30 minutes by high-speed train. I think it costs 20, 20 euro to get there. I think round trip I pay like maybe, yeah, no, I think I paid 20 round trip, actually. It's very affordable to take these day trips and go around.

it's super affordable and that's what I love about it yeah that sounds like a good place for a history lover yes and I am a history lover my grandfather was a history professor okay I am an absolute history nerd and my students think it's very amusing to watch me nerd out over uh whatever they're learning I'll be like what's your teacher teaching you this this week when are you guys learning about in this chapter and I'll be like oh the inquisition I'm like the inquisition oh my god and I just go on these tangents about history in an English class. So if we're history lovers, what else should we see either in Madrid or on a day trip? In Madrid, and I, this sounds, it's touristy, but you have to see Plaza Mayor, because Plaza

Mayor has so much history when it comes to Spain, especially, as I mentioned before, the Inquisition. That's where they held the author de Fees and the burnings and stuff like that. and they have these cool pillars in different parts of Plaza Mayor. You see people sitting on them, lounging on them. They're these big lamp posts. But if you actually look at them, they are etched. Basically, they are little monuments to the history of Plaza Mayor. And what happened there, it's an iron, and it's like engraved in the iron.

That people are just chilling and feeding birds and stuff on it. But if you look at it, you see the entire history of Plaza Mayor on it. And for me, it's morbid and super cool. You'd mentioned something about the palace a while back, and I always forget that there's a royal family in Madrid. One, what are the feelings about the royal family these days? And also, can we go on a tour of their palace? You can go on a tour of parts of the palace if you pay for it. I don't really know the feelings towards the monarchy.

Going back to history nerding for a second, just when my first year here was when the king abdicated stepped down and the now king took over and I thought that was so interesting

I was like because I'm not from a monarchy so I didn't really understand and it was interesting at the time I remember talking to a friend about it and he said he was afraid

of the monarchy and he didn't want a republic and he was worried about the future of the crown and I was just like word I did what else to say I'm like, okay.

We don't have this where I'm from. It was just like the first time I saw the rural palace, and everyone was just kind of just sitting there looking bored. It was New Year's Day, 2014, and I was just in awe because I had never seen a palace before, and my friends couldn't really fathom that. So it was really, it was so amazing to me. And when my mom came, I brought her,

when my sister came, I brought her. I'm like, look, y'all, they got a castle. You want to see a castle? Yeah. Oh, I have lived abroad for a long time, and I still, I love a good castle and touring around a palace and all of that. Yeah. So castles are a great place for history lovers. We talked about the scene where the Spanish Inquisition happened.

What other places we should check out bigger small? History-wise? Actually, I guess it doesn't have to be history, but like, what are some hidden gems you take to people to where you're like, this place is so cool. Nobody knows about it. Here's the thing. I don't know what's still here since the lockdown ended. I don't know what's still open. A lot of places have closed. And like there, I've been walking around another neighborhood. And that's another thing. The neighborhoods that I'm exploring again, because I can leave my house and leave my neighborhood. So I haven't been able to go around. And one of my favorite restaurants was a, it was an Andalusian place called La Caleta. I loved that. them someone. Now that was that was somewhere every time someone came to town you had I had to take you there for dinner. La Caleta and they had fried seafood on little, we call them shark bites. There were shark nuggets. Oh, shrimp fritters, fresh seafood that was deep fried and you didn't even get plates

really. They just brought it to you on paper and unraveled it. But I went over there with my friend Friday and La Caleta is gone. Oh, that's a shame. No signs like we're coming back after COVID. No, no. The only sign was a forensic sign. Oh, gosh. I know, right? And it's funny because that's actually what I'm thinking about now. Like, there are some places and that's why I really love supporting the local places and smaller places. There is a website, though, that I actually love for stuff like this. And it's called Spotted by Locals. that is super dope. They have, and what's cool is it's done by city. So you can do like Venice or other places, but the Madrid one is lit, especially like food.

We know I love food. Yeah, let's talk about food. So what are some foods we need to try while we're in Madrid? I was assuming you mean Spanish food? Yeah. You'd have to go by region. I mean, there's cociedo made, Madrilyiano. Coceido Madelieno is a typical

Amoset plato. Spanglish. Casillo Madaliliano is a typical dish here. Everyone loves it, raves about it. And it's basically a chickpeas stew with different kinds of meat and vegetables. And now it's cold. So it's actually cocyed time. It has a lot of broth.

It's very rich. I am not the best fan. I'm not the best fan. the biggest fan of Coteino Madiviano, but my friends say that I have not had true Cossido, and whoever made it for me messed it up. Okay. Because it's one of the best foods in the world, you know, got some carrot. It's it, for me, it's a chickpeas stew with a lot of meat in it. It's got chorizo, pork, beef, chicken. It's got meat in it. But that is the Madrid dish of that you have to have.

I haven't been to Madrid in like 10 years, and there was really no veggie scene at that time that I knew of. Is it more veg friendly now? Could I find a vegetarian version of that? Do you think or no? A vegetarian version of Cicito? Don't know I've never looked for it. But you did say something very interesting and very true,

because even when I moved here seven years ago, if you were like, I'm a vegetarian, we'd be like, oh, you're going hungry the night, huh? Potatoas bravas again please Bravas and a salad Yes And you know what there is a vegetarian Cuthido

And even better There's a vegetarian Cothido And there is a vegan Vegan Cicada Oh yeah yeah lovely Okay Yeah it is much easier To eat vegetarian here

And vegan as well Especially in Medved There are a lot of You have a lot more options. There are vegan restaurants. There are, and I think there's an app called Happy Cow. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that really has a lot.

But funny enough, one thing about the lockdown was that I actually started experimenting more with vegetarian and vegan options. What inspired the more plant-based eating? Curiosity. I love to cook. I'm a New Orleans girl. New Orleans with the side of Atlanta. I got to throw preps to Atlanta. I have been cooking since I was a child. I love to cook. It's a passion. And I do a picnic or I did a picnic here called the Soul Food Social, where a lot, we all cook our favorite foods from home. I cook New Orleans food. I cook soul food. And it was a big old potluck. We got like 60 to 100 people at it. The police loved that. Let me tell you. But it was a big

potluck and one some of the feedback i always got uh were people asking if there were going to be vegetarian options and i do i did answer i don't know are you bringing them because it is a potluck and i would make chicken creole or usually uh or jambalaya and one of my friends just made a comment she was like i always hear about your cooking i was here about your food but i can never eat what you cook because i i'm a vegan and so I decided to see how I could make my chicken creole accommodate my friends. It was the same way with my friends who like gumbo, but don't eat pork. And they can't have chicken and sausage gumbo because it's got pork in it.

And I ain't got seafood gumbo money. So I had to figure out of the way to make that work. And so it really came from exploring how to make things more veggie-friendly, for them, but then it became for me wanting a veggie burger. So I had some black beans and decided to look up a recipe or just starting to look up different things I can do with veggies. I'd never had to, I'd never made tofu before, so I decided to experiment with cooking it. And now I can't, I always have at least two or three bricks in my fridge for whenever I wanted. I started, I began to actually crave this and really liked my veggie burgers. And so I've just started really enjoying it more.

And now the more plant-based I eat, I've had people tell me like my skin looks better. I have lost weight and I just feel a lot better. So. Well, welcome. Welcome. Well, your potluck sounds really fun. Are you going to keep that up post-COVID? I would like to. If there is a way to do it safely, and with the numbers, with the numbers that I have, usually, I don't know. I can't have a picnic with 100 people showing up and being like, hey, social distancing. How did people find out about your potluck? I started, there was a group, actually, I didn't start the group, but we started throwing around the ideas in an expat Facebook group. We started talking about in

this one group we talked about food we missed from home. And people were like, oh, mac and cheese and chicken and dumplings. Yeah. Oh, I'd kill for this. I'd kill for that. And then someone, I said, definitely, I'd kill someone in front of a mama for Peach Cobbler, because that's like my favorite thing. And someone said, oh, we should make like, we should make a potluck where we all meet up. Everyone cooks like something they miss from home and we all bring it. And I said, like a soul food social. And we're like, yeah. So then they created the group. But and no one picked a date because no one wanted to organize it. And I was like, no, wait a second. I was promised Peach Cobbler. Y'all think this is a game. I didn't forget about Peach Cobb.

So I kind of took control and chose the date and arranged it. I made the Facebook event and everything. And 134 people R.SVP. I was not expecting that. But people were like, I'm bringing fried chicken. I'm bringing mac and cheese. I'm bringing collard greens. Yeah. And people were, started posting what they were bringing and the day before someone said are there really going to be like 120 people here and I'm like no please it's Facebook you know there's going to be like 30 people showing no no they weren't playing with me they were not we had like 130 people legit in Ritiro eating their best lives and yeah so I met a lot of people I've met some friends and everyone's like oh this was so much fun yeah let us know

the next one is and I was like next one. No, this was supposed to be it. I mean, all right. I have a Facebook group, Soul Food Social. There's tumblewees blowing through it, but y'all are welcome to join it. I post, right now I post, if anything, about the volunteer work we're doing with the feeding the homeless and everything and promoting local businesses. I was doing that during lockdown and I'm doing it as well now to help local businesses stay afloat to try to promote some people or if we're, if someone a local business is taking donations or needs help or wants to distribute blankets, good, stuff like that, I promoted in Soul Food Social as well. Well, that is wonderful.

Before I let you go, could we do a lightning round of some of your favorite things in Madrid? And we're just going to cross our fingers that these things are still. Okay. All right. All right. Number one, tour, like walking tour or some other kind of tour. tour. Okay, there's two I would recommend. There's Devour Spain, which is exactly how it sounds. It is a walking culinary tour. That is absolutely fantastic. If you want to learn about Hidden Gems, too, they take you

the different places, they give you the history of each place, and it's super cool. And there's also the street art tour, the graffiti tour that's going on. And I know that one is still going on because I saw them earlier. I believe devour is still going on too, but it's, it takes you through different parts of the center of Madrid where you can see scree. Screte. Oh, Lord, I went to college. Street art, graffiti, street art, different parts and different artists around the city. I think those two are super dope. I love a good food tour. Where do you like to go for coffee? Do you have a favorite cafe? I have to shout out Cafe Barbieri, which is near my house, and I go there a lot. They're not just You can get coffee, tea, or whatever, but they also have bites to eat.

And I usually go there for the wine, l'olooia. So is it like cafe by day, cocktail bear by night? It's one of those places. I love it because you walk in and you look around and you're like, I definitely can't afford this place. But you actually can. And that's what's really exciting about it. They're super nice.

And I like going there. Blantatee, the place on my corner. So Blantatee, it's super small, but it's really cool. And the owners, the guys who run it are just absolute dolls. They're super sweet. They have like vegan cookies and cakes and stuff. And they have a little vegan brunch. So it's Blantete. Super cool. Who is brunch a thing in Spain now? It is now, because we don't infiltrated. And especially in these areas, because there are a lot of tourists. And, and Airbnbs and foreigners in Malesania, especially here. So the center, they have a lot of places. So there are brunch places. I do love a good brunch. I do as well.

Shout out, Carmencita. What's your favorite restaurant? Oh, Lord, that is such a hard question. You can name more than one. And that's the thing, you know, like if I want Indian, I'll probably go to shoplop. If I want Mexican, I will probably go to Maria Bonita. I want the Thai fusion, I get with a tuck-tuck, and that's the thing about Madrid is there are so many places. If I Chinese, like, wang-wang, all the way.

If you want Dominican, you go up to Tetuan area and you go to Perla de Sabo. La Casa de Mofongo is gone now, but the Eskina Caribbean is still open, what should call it, right by my old-school aroma, restaurant de aroma, is still open. So there are so many places. It really, you have to think about what you want to eat, like what kind of cuisine you need. And then you think of the place. La Musa. La Musa is another place to eat. They have something called bombas, which are as amazing as their sound.

They are potatoes with ground beef. Like think of on chili cancane stuffed inside and then fried. Fried potatoes with meat inside. Oh my God. Well, I'm going to go on a hunt for a veggie one. So once upon a time in the States, tapas were all the rage, like tapas bars. But that's not a thing in Spain.

Am I right? Well, it is, but it's not what we think about as tapa. And that's what I had to understand. Because, yeah, I remember being in New Orleans and being absolutely livid when I would order something, and they'd bring me this little Fisher-Price-ass-ass-plate and it'd be like spare ribs and there's like four ribs

and they're like, it's tapas, it's tapas, that means small plate. That'll be $18. Seriously? There's a difference between Tapa and Rassianas. And tapas is usually, some places, especially in the south, in Andalusia, is where you're going to get Tapa. Definitely.

Madrid, it's not so much. Like, you go out for somewhere, and get some wine and they'll bring you like potato chips or gummy bears. Like, it's real annoying. Have you seriously been served gummy bears with wine? Yeah. There's some place they'll just give you a little cup of like sweets and that's your top. If you order something, you're going to order a racion.

And those are the small plates that you're thinking about. But it's not like they do in the States. No one's doing a racion of crown rack of lamb. And they'd be like, it's small, it's Spanish, it's a small plate. Maybe some cheeses. Right. But you can also, for the racione, you can get like some chorizo, some hamos, some hamos, some cheese. And if you're with different people, usually, you know, you each or there's something different, and it's for the table to share.

And it's to keep the edge off. You go off for drinks and some tapas, some rassiones. And it's something to just keep the hunger off until dinner, because dinner's out 10 o'clock at night. Right, right. It's a social hour for you to have a drink, have something to nibble on. And if you have tapas, like, it is little. They'll bring you, you know, a piece of bread with some hormone or cheese on it. You have to, if you want bigger, you have to order a ration.

Yeah, it's similar to Italy where they've got a peritivo, where you get a drink, you have some snacks. It depends on where you go, how abundant it will be. Some of it can be like a full-on meal, which is amazing. Shout out to Altiga. Yeah. So for me, yeah, sometimes like for me, Peritivo is fine. But then the Italians are like, this isn't dinner. Dinner's at nine. So they're not, they're not as bad as Spain, but similar. All right. Well, that sounds great. What about like food halls? That has become like a global

trend in recent years. Is that in Madrid as well? So a lot of the Mercadoes here, I guess, are what you would call a food hall. Okay. When you go to the Mercadoes, like there are the sections where you buy your meat, your fish, they have all the butchers, but they have food stalls as well. And they have seats, different ones like the Mercado near me, have bars and restaurants that serve different cuisines. There's sushi, there's Italian, there's Thai, and everything. And it's just a part of the Mercado. So you can go to the wine bar, you can go down and stairs and get some vermouth and all the different Mercados here, all the different markets also have food stands and little restaurants in them. It's just a part of the market. Well, that sounds like a

fun place to hang out. Is that like in every day, all day thing? Pretty much, yeah. Like I said, they closed from two of the five. But yes, yes, pretty much. So, you know, like I meet friends for lunch. We'll go to a Mercado, say Mercado Valer and Mosa, which is. across town for me. Well, not really across town. Everything takes 30 minutes here because the metro is awesome. But, you know, we'll go to this place and get Korean. But in order to get there, you have to walk past the pizza place. You have to walk past the, oh, this place. They have an American-owned place. I forgot the name of it. God slap me. But they have pastrami. They have actual pastrami on rye, pastrami sandwiches, which is probably sounds normal because y'all can get them

whenever you want, but we can't. So I almost cried when I had it here. And what is it? Craft 19. Yes, it's called Craft 19. And yeah, they're in Mercado, Valia, Marso. Valle Armosso. So yeah, you can go to Kraft 19. You can go to the Thai place. You can get Italian. You just, you have sushi, ramen, everything. But it's a part of the market. So usually they're on the second floor. It's all together. So you have the ice cream place, the chocolate place, you walk past three bars, you've got a coffee shop, and then you go up to the next floor, and there's a bunch of restaurants and stuff. And then you go past that, and that's where a lot of the food stalls, the fishmonger, everything are. So it's a combination.

You get your butcher, your fish store, you can get cheese, chicken, and then you can go to the stand next to it and sit down and have a drink. or you can go across to the place and give a slice of pizza. This sounds amazing. So definitely hanging out there. I love it. I'm so spoiled. What's your favorite Mercado? Do you have one?

Mercado Madavillas. Mercado Madavillas is in my old neighborhood. Okay, so this place has like 300 stalls. So everything I just told you, it has like 300 stalls in it. And like they even say in Spanish, and I'm not going to butcher it because I don't want to get dragged. They basically say if you can't find it in Mercado Madavius, they don't have it. Like, you can't find it in Madrid. Awesome. Well, Kepra, any words of advice for people who are considering moving to Spain? Hmm. Know your limitations. And I lower your expectations, not in a bad

way, but understand that you can't always get what you want, especially when it comes to being in this country. Not everything is going to function how you like it and not everything is going to go the way you want. You are going to have to learn to go with the flow because you will, you will scream. You will cuss. You will do your anger management dance, probably in the street. You have to be willing to just deal with it because you have no other choice. Manage your expectations. What makes it all worth it? I am happier and healthier than I have been in my 41 years of life. My quality of life is good. I'm not a millionaire. Please, I'm broke as the Tink of Mamets. No one comes here to be rich. So if you're hoping about that, you can forget about it too. Okay? The pay scale ain't like it is back home, y'all. But I have health care. So, for example, I had knee surgery three years ago, almost, and I had knee surgery. I had to go. with a rehabilitation and learn how to walk again and all kinds of fun stuff. And it was covered.

And I think my out-of-pocket expenses was $34 euro. And my school, where I was working, my job gave me a month off because it was covered, because that is, you have that right here under the law to heal and to take care of yourself. The food is healthier. It's easier and and cheaper to eat healthy. So my, my quality of food and what I put in my body has improved. Well, thank you so much for talking to me today. Where can people find out more about you? Let's see. You can look me up on Facebook at Misadventures in Spain. That's Misadventures, E-N-E-E-S-P-A-N-E-S-P-A-N-A. It's got the En-A on Facebook or Fox Jokes, Madrid, as well. But Missadventures. in Espagna is my personal blog. There's also my blog that I totally plan on updating sometimes

soon. Misadventures in Espagna.blogspot.com. You can find me on Instagram at Evil Kenegro. E-E-E-L-K-N-I-E-G-R-O. That's pretty much it. Kefra-C-White, y'all. Awesome. Thank you again. Thank you for having me. That's all for now. Go ahead and follow the show or hit subscribe so you can hear more episodes like this. And if you would like my help taking bold action on your own dreams, like living abroad, changing careers, and other life transitions, visit live without borderspodcast.com. Thanks for listening and have a beautiful week wherever you are. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple

formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahigatel.com. com slash blank no more.