Hi folks! We will be touring Andalusia by motorcycle in early April - first visit to Spain. I am invariably an early riser - especially on vacation - and am getting a bit worried the more I read about Spanish meal times. I have 2 questions: Will I be able to find something to eat by 7 or 7:30 (apparently we will be staying at various Paradores); and what is normally available for breakfast in Spain?

My experience at 7:00 a.m. has mostly been coming home!! You'll find the breakfast at the Parador abundant to say the least! You may want to check to see what time they start serving (I'm NOT an early riser- that's why I love Spain). Other places such as local bars will be serving "breakfast" at that time. Breakfast in Spain usually consists of café (a given), té, chocolate, juice, Cola Cao, alcohol, you name it! Most order a tostada (toast), bollo (pastry), magdalena (sponge cake), Sobao (my favorite- from Galicia), churros (fresh at that hour), croissant, and porras (not porros)! The bars will have all the breakfast pastries on display so just point and enjoy. If you like chocolate, try the neopolitanos, they're good! The toast is "a la plancha" which is on the griddle (not toaster) and also yummy. If you have a hard time holding up until 2 for lunch, just repeat breakfast around 10. I'm sure you could always use another shot of café (or vermouth)!

You could always ask for "Paladin a la taza"

[This message has been edited by nevado (edited 03-06-2001).]

Remember this name: "Vips". Is not typical Spanish food, but is the only chain restaurant that will be open at any time...it is comparable to a Denny's in the US...not gourmet food but is not bad either. You will find it in almost every city in Spain.

I agree with Matamor. Vips also offers an English menu if you don't understand Spanish. It's an option until you get a hang of the language so you can ID foods by their Spanish names. They even had a few selected American combos as well the last time I was there.

If you're in the Sol District of Madrid, there's one really handy.

Wolf

parador survival skills: they don't usually serve breakfast until 8. But if you go down earlier, they are busy setting up and you could for sure get some fruit or something to tide you over. I shamelessly toted food OUT of the breakfast buffet because it is so abundant (and lots of it easily portable); that way i always had some food in my room for those moments. It depends where you are re: breakfast. In some towns, nothing was open before 9 except probably some cafe for workers that we never ran in to... but in madrid, sure, there's lots of cafeterias open early on weekdays (weekends is another story: even the VIPS didnt stay open all night sat. night, hence was close sun morn before 9). Let us know how it goes for you!

There are some bars that open really early. I know one in Madrid that is open at 5 am. At this time usually come some taxi drivers that have been working all the night and are hungry, you can order any kind of bocadillo.....lomo, calamares,etc...
I don't know in Andalucia, you will have to ask in easch town, but there you can order a toast with tomato and olive oil, it's my favourite breakfast.

In the cities, you can normally find a bar or cafeteria open around 07:00 but you will have to wait until around 08:00 if you stay in a Parador. I am an early riser also and at Playa Muchavista (Alicante) I had to hitch-hike to the center of Campello to get a cup of coffee at 8:00 AM. Continental breakfast is pretty common (juice, coffee and a croissant or something like that) but the Paradores have buffet American style breakfast (not cheap).

The parador buffets are around 1300 pesetas -- not cheap, but considering you get all kinds of chorizo, cheese, eggs, fruit, cookies, juices, etc etc -- and if you use my technique of toting out some food for snacks-- it's an ok deal. The only times I don't do the parador breakfast = when there is a nearby cafe that I like (in Cambados, for example).

Just out of curiosity, how DO you spaniards make it to lunch without fainting. I always meant to ask my friends that... I would start my morning (when I lived with a family) at 7 am with a magdalena and nescafe. By the time lunch rolled around (about three, sometimes four/four thirty in the afternoon) I literally would be shaking with hunger. For our Sppaniards on the board, do you typically eat breakfast later, snack midmorning - is it the same in rural areas where people are doing more physical work?...

It's called las once (11 am). You take a break, have either another cafe con leche w/ some kind of snack, or already start in with a beer and tapa.... no one could make it from 7 to 4 without las once!!