Sunday at the Ritz Madrid

Langoustine carpaccio

Swordfish and salmon carpaccio

Cochinillo - roast suckling pig

http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/restaurants_and_bars.jsp

Guten Tag Frankfurt

The Year of the City Break continued with a weekend in Germany to visit Boyfriend.

Frankfurt gets a bad press sometimes, as being largely just a financial centre which empties at the weekends.  But that couldn't be further from the truth.  It's a young, vibrant city that lives its life outdoors, with plenty of hidden gems.  Hipster shopping, a terrace cafe culture and, above all, fantastic food.

The Bull and the Bear, outside the Deutsche Börse

http://www.bikeboutique-ffm.de/

Alte Oper, the old opera house

Sculpture in Rothschildpark

No trip to Germany would be complete without a schnitzel lunch.  On Saturday lunchtime Boyfriend ushered me into Apfelwein Wagner, a traditional German dining room packed with tourists and locals alike, feasting on enormous fried schnitzels and apfelwein, a sour cider.

At first sip, apfelwein tastes like something you might use to sterilise medical equipment, but paired with the rich, greasy schnitzel, it got better with every gulp.  After polishing off a schnitzel between us, along with the obligatory frankfurter (when in Frankfurt...), we were full to bursting.

A favourite spot for coffee or a light lunch is Brot und seine Freunde (literally 'Bread and its friends', awww), a tiny cafe with mismatched garden furniture sprawling out into the street.

My weekend visit was timed beautifully with one of the first hot days of the spring.  Frankfurt is a city built for the outdoors, with endless cycle lanes, paths along the river and sonnenterrasse (sun terrace cafes and bars).

At the first sign of sunshine, everyone flocks to Walden for weekend brunch on the sun terrace.  We kicked off Sunday morning with elderflower, mint and white wine cocktails, settling in for the day with a crispy pizza to people-watch and soak up the sun.

Danke Frankfurt, I'll be back soon.

http://www.apfelwein-wagner.com/htdocs/english/essen.htm
http://www.brotfreunde.de/
http://www.walden-frankfurt.com/website/walden.php?lang=deu&site=about

Mercado de San Miguel

Sunday mealtimes in Madrid have a timetable all of their own: the day blurs into a haze of coffee, brunch, wine, tapas and back to coffee, maybe via cocktails, so your belly never really knows what time of day it is.

Tourists and madrileños alike nurse their Sunday hangovers at Mercado de San Miguel, a beautifully restored, glass-panelled indoor food market nestled behind the Plaza Mayor.  It's open from 10am until midnight (later from Thursday to Saturday); perfect for early morning tapas and wine if you're still going from the night before, or a late coffee and breakfast if you slept the day away.

A few Sundays ago we managed to gather ourselves in the market around 5pm, bleary-eyed and feeling a bit fragile.

Although you can buy produce to take home, the main draws of the market are the tapas stalls and bars lining the outside edge: you can install yourself at one and spend the day nibbling and quaffing through their tapas and wine selections, or you can choose a little something different from each of them and settle in at the tables in the centre.

It's undeniably touristy and can be expensive for Madrid, but the food is fantastic and the atmosphere buzzing; it's definitely worth a visit.  Okay, those olives stuffed with smoked salmon and feta might be €1 each, but they're the perfect salty hangover cure, not to mention the size of golf balls.






A few oysters, some squid croquettes and a chorizo paella later, I was just about feeling ready for another glass of wine...

www.mercadodesanmiguel.es