Here's another memorable meal. It was in Segovia, Spain. We were staying in Madrid, and took the train to Segovia for a day trip.
We took an early train from Madrid, then walked all the way from the Segovia train station to the Segovia Castle, then the Aquaduct, and finally the Cathedral. At the Cathedral, being tired and hungry we looked for a restaurant that served
Cochinillo Asado or Roast Suckling Pig, a dish for which Segovia was well-known. As it was now in the afternoon, the chance of finding an open restaurant was not great, let alone finding one that offered the dish.
On the way walking in from the train station in the morning, we had stopped at a small neighborhood grocery to get some bread and jamón for a quick breakfast. I inquired the very nice shop owner for a restaurant serving this dish in town, and he could not help me. He even called someone, and said he did not know of anybody serving it for lunch. So, I did not have high hope that we could get to taste this local dish, unless we hung around till dinner time which would mean getting back to Madrid very late.
At a square not too far from the Cathedral, we stumbled upon an open restaurant, and yes, they had the dish. Wow, how lucky was that! I think because of the location, the restaurant did cater to tourists who came at odd hours, and we just lucked out. We were so happy.
See photo I took below. This is what travel memories are made of. Note the three servings. We were traveling with a female friend of my wife who was an American of German origin. She spoke some Castilian but not Catalan, and was upset when she could not understand people in Barcelona.
PS. Franco suppressed the use of Catalan under his regime, and the use of the language did not proliferate until after his death. Recently, Barcelona wanted to become free by having a referendum. I have not followed the news to see where it stands.
