Sunday Sofa Sojourns #2: Madrid, Spain

| pinaymama@sg

Seeing as all our travel plans this year (and the next…?) have been put on hold, to ease the wanderlust I’ll post a throwback photo every week from our past trips. Join me as I travel from my sofa!

Was this taken in Luneta Park?

No — this was taken almost 11,650km away in Avenida de las Islas Filipinas, Madrid. It’s a replica of the Rizal Monument in Luneta and bears Rizal’s last poem, Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), on the side in both Rizal’s original Spanish and the Filipino translation. It’s difficult to miss; the monument is just a short walk from the Islas Filipinas metro station.

It was a little odd for me to see something so familiar in a place so far from home. Yet another reminder that the ties between Spain and the Philippines run deep.

*

One of my favourite moments in Madrid was when we visited Botín, an institution of Madrid traditional cuisine. Established 1725, it’s also the oldest restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records (fans included Ernest Hemingway). We ordered Botín’s specialty, conchinillo asado (Castilian roast suckling pig), which came with a boiled potato. Hub and I were discussing what else to order with it when the waiter – who turned out to be Filipino – overheard us and came over saying “Ma’am, masarap po ‘yan sa kanin.” (Ma’am, that tastes good with rice.)

Not only did he bring us a small bowl of rice to go with our conchinillo (off menu perk!) but he introduced us to the chef downstairs, also a Filipino.

Hence, we discovered that Spain’s oldest kitchen is run by fellow OFWs too. Ties run deep, indeed.

Think critically dear readers,

9 thoughts on “Sunday Sofa Sojourns #2: Madrid, Spain”

      1. Yes, there are. I think there is one in Vienna as well. Piazza Manila in Rome is the meeting point of Filipinos every Sunday and there are Pinoy who sell iba’t ibang tsitseria

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  2. Ohhh I loved Casa de Botin! I was going to go back there last year when I was in Madrid to take my son with me. Funny because when I was there for the first time, my husband and I were trying to have a baby. It would’ve been funny to take my son there but we ended up not going for some reason (I forgot why….oh the reservations we got was too late in the evening—10pm! Lol)

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    1. 10pm sounds just about right after 9pm tapas 😉 It would be great to go back there with your son… full circle! Take care Boots!

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