We journeyed out from the apt today and managed to find our way to the plaza where we were to meet our food tour guide. It was 47 when we left, but beautiful sunny skies! It warmed up quickly and was just perfect, especially when drinking. We went to four places on our tour, and at each one we had at least one glass of wine and LOTS of food. We were a group of 8, with one couple from Chicago, another from Denver and lastly from Russia but living in Germany. We all hit it off really well and just had the best time chatting with each other. The poor tour guide, Jaime, could hardly get a word in edgewise for our talking to each other. He had a VERY heavy accent, so we all had a bit of trouble following what he was saying, which may have been why we didn't pay much attention. :)) I think I had at least 6 glasses of wine, and two shots of a liqueur--all I know is that I was having a grand old time! Our group was so chatty with each other that we finally told him at the last bar, "it's ok to leave us, we're fine!" He smiled and said ok! We exchanged emails and are supposed to get together with one of the couples when they return to Madrid next week. The food we had today was amazing, too...so much that I can barely remember it all (the wine has NOTHING to do with that!) LOL We sampled several different types of cheese & Iberian ham, a shrimp dish, coddle fish, potatoes fried in chorizo oil, blood sausage that was deep fried (very tasty), chick peas & tripe (yuck), a rice dish (personal fav), deep fried peppers...there was more, but I can't remember it all. Needless to say, plenty of food!! The streets were packed with people since today is a holiday--it's actually their version of Labor Day--and Rich and I decided we had had all the fun we could take for a day, so we headed for home. This was truly a feat after all the drinking we'd done, not to mention we had to find the train station and then change trains to make it back. It was definitely a collaborative effort. :)) Going to try the tourist bus tomorrow.