Casa Labra, Madrid
Every year, thousands of pilgrims head to the town of Santiago de Compostela where it is believed that the body of St. James is buried. Some people will undertake the pilgrimage as a way of penance, and a way to get closer to God. The pilgrimage can take as little as five days (I was told) or as long as several months. A pilgrim can also purchase what is known as the credencial or a pilgrim’s passport which is stamped with the official St. James stamp in each town where the pilgrim has stayed. At the end of the journey, pilgrims receive a certificate of completion, called the compostela, which means they have walked the last 100 kilometers to get to the destination.
They say, this is a spiritual journey of a lifetime that I one day hope to experience. But in the meantime, I find myself in Madrid instead, and am about to embark on another type of pilgrimage. This culinary pilgrimage starts at our hotel and I stop at various restaurants and tapas bars along the way to reach, around five hours later, my destination. The final stop is a street called Cava Baja. At first glance, it looks like an almost impossible feat to eat in this many places in one night, but like any pilgrimage, there are mini and longer breaks. My mini breaks are the tapas bars where we enjoy one or two little dishes and move on. The longer breaks find us in restaurants like Casa Botin or Casa Lucio for a proper meal. At the end of our journey, the certificate of completion I get is not a compostela, but instead, a few extra kilos on my frame!
Trissalicious 