Virtual Tour of Spain: Day One: Madrid: Tapas and Cava Baja (May 8, 2020)

Welcome to our "Virtual Tour of Spain" May 8 to 22, 2020!
Day One: Friday May 8, 2020
Madrid
Cava Baja for Tapas, Wine, Company!

In these exceptional times when we can't travel to Spain as in past years, we'll enjoy TOGETHER a "Virtual Tour of Spain" keeping on the same itinerary that had originally been planned to happen May 8 to 22 this year.  Soooo ... let's imagine we left the US last night and arrived in Madrid this morning, took a shower, and now -- despite our sleep deficit -- we are about to walk to Cava Baja for all of it's tapas and life and wines and cameraderie!  Grab a glass of wine and a bit of cheese and go virtually exploring with us!  Ole!

TECH NOTE: To make this virtual tour as interactive as possible, we can explore by actually moving throughout the places we are "virtually visiting" through Google maps. Today and over the next 12 days, you'll first see a map to get your bearings ... which you can zoom in or zoom out as you wish by using the PLUS or MINUS tools on the lower right of each map ... and we'll have at least one Google Street View frame which you can "crawl" along, the closest thing to walking the streets.

Here's our map for general orientation ...


And we are off to explore!  Use your mouse or finger on the Google Street View image below to navigate along Cava Baja:

• Click OR Tap twice in the CENTER to move forward, for example, so you can "walk further down the street."
• Drag mouse OR Swipe to LEFT or RIGHT to navigate to left or right, all the way to changing direction.

The joy of exploring Cava Baja is to sample tapas and local wines all along the way. Jamon Iberico, Patatas Bravas, oh, I'm getting hungry already!

Photo, above, from a great review of tapas places along Cava Baja, at:
https://www.lucasfoxstyle.com/favourite-madrid-streets-calle-cava-baja/

A super rundown on tapas from a classic source, Conde Nast Traveler, at:
https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/best-tapas-bars-in-madrid

And there's more to explore and learn about tapas at:
https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tapas-in-madrid

One of the most gratifying and fun discoveries during a night in Cava Baja is the super taste and reasonable prices of house wines to accompany your tapas crawl.  We'll conclude our outing to Cava Baja with a great photo from TripAdvisor of "Pinxtos at Txakolina, Calle Cava Baja, Madrid"
See the TripAdvisor photo and review at:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g187514-d1942497-i101683665-Taberna_Txakolina-Madrid.html

On this first day after flying overnight last night ... it's soon time to turn in, so let's walk back via Plaza Major ...


That's our DAY ONE!  I wish you all a good night and sweet rest!  Recharge your batteries for tomorrow!  Buenas noches! 
--Don

UP NEXT TOMORROW:  Walking Madrid