12. La Mucca, not just for drinks

Confession: It started with just drinks, but food was served and eaten, so it still counts. I mean, I very nearly licked the plate. Delicious. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It started with a meeting on the metro. Tara, coming from far, far away, flagged me down and we headed to the Malasaña neighborhood (it's too cool for school, trust me). La Mucca is right there in the heart of it, next to el Palentino, the legendary dive bar, on Calle Pez (I have yet to

see a fish). Since it was early, we grabbed a table outside and enjoyed one of the last days of warmth (although as I write this, it's bright and sunny outside and you could easily walk around in short sleeves). We breezed past the school gossip over our first round, a mojito and a "dirty" martini.Side note: If you are going to put "Dry Martini" as a drink option, do your research. The drink is a martini. Dry is one way of serving it. Dirty is another way of serving it. If i want a dirty martini instead of dry, do not look at me like I'm a crazy person. It's a real thing. Look it up, and stop giving me something different every time I order one. Immense, dramatic sigh. Anyway. After this round, another followed, and then we started to get a little hungry. And also, there's the "always eat dinner" rule to contend with (it's very inflexible). We decided on nachos and a salad, and shockingly, both were delicious. There was no weird surprises on the nachos (green mayonnaise, tomate frito, etc.) and the salad had ham and cheese and a bright dressing, and it was amazing. Then our friend Brian showed up, and we headed out, then Darwin called, I got a text from Sarah and Nuria...needless to say, I got home around five, smelling of smoke, exhausted, and nearly penniless, but with a full stomach.