Fabulous food

Now back from three weeks in Spain and southern France -- as usual, France was my favorite. Had some great meals, the most wonderful of which were lunches, as it turned out. And I seem to have gained maybe 3 pounds, kept that low thanks to a whole lot of schlepping, especially in Spain.
So for some specifics.
We started with two days in Madrid, staying at the Hotel Villa Real, an excellent location near the Prado and other museums and parks. Our best meals actually were at the hotel, which had a great bar -- best Sangria we've ever had was mixed by two different bartenders. No bottled, pre-mixed stuff there.
At the Villa Real, we had a lunch with a glass of Champagne (the real thing, French) on the house and this vegetable saute, just what I needed after a dreadful night on a Delta Airlines flight.
(NOTE: They served up the WORST AIRLINE MEAL EVER, along with execrable boxed wine. Boxed wine on an international flight! I asked if I could buy something else & they said, that's all they had. The pits.)

Lunch in Madrid

 We also had dinner there on our second night (having not found anything nearby that was as promising, and we didn't have the energy to go to another neighborhood). Dessert was very interesting: pineapple carpaccio (sliced very, very thinly) with a basil sorbet. It was light and delicious, and I'm not much of a pineapple fan.

Pineapple dessert

Next time, more of the best bites we tried in Spain.