The photo with the pizza shows a pizza boloñesa (Bolognese pizza) with a tomato sauce base, minced (ground) beef, olive oil and parsley. I am seated at the Metro Gran Vía plaza, a popular tourist area. The coconut pancakes at the café in the image remind me of some of my favorite pancakes at home. The picture with my laptop shows me working on homework while eating a turkey, pesto and arugula sandwich. On another occasion, I had some delicious dumplings at a restaurant near my apartment while getting over a cold, as shown in the last photo on this page. Finally, I was quite surprised to see a Stranger Things pizza at the grocery store!
Churros are another food I love. This sweet dessert, which consists of fried dough sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon, is similar to American funnel cake and is served with a warm cup of hot chocolate. One of my favorite things about the hot chocolate in Spain is its flavor. Spanish hot chocolate is much richer, thicker and slightly less sweet than American hot chocolate. This pairs perfectly with the sweet churros.
Chocolatería San Ginés is the oldest churros spot in Madrid; it first opened in 1894! It is also a 24-hour restaurant, so it is one of my personal favorites for a late-night snack. I also love trying the churrerías (shops that make and sell churros) in other, more local neighborhoods (since San Ginés is in quite a touristy location).
I recently visited Vallecas, a neighborhood outside of downtown Madrid. This community is home to many Latin American immigrants, as well as immigrants from around the world. This area reminded me of where I grew up outside of Washington, DC.
