Aaahh.. thanks for that clarification, chrissiij. Madrid. Okay. You didn't mention the city in your subject line or the body of your postings so I wasn't sure. Most of my journals cover not only the Madrid portion of my visits to Spain, but also some other city/region of the country. I'll edit your subject line so everyone knows to where you're referring. (remember, this is an ALL SPAIN Message Board -- not just Madrid
)
Now, regarding the Bar Paco in Madrid where I had churros (I'm pretty sure there are probably at least 6 "Bar Paco"s in Madrid alone - it's a common and popular name for a "local bar"), I doubt you or anyone reading this... or anyone traveling to Madrid as a tourist would make a special effort to go to THIS Bar Paco as it is in the neighbhorhood of my ladyfriend in Barrio Lucero. Specifically, Bar Paco (run BY elderly Paco himself in the same location for about 40 years) is located at Paseo de Perales, 6. You can SEE the front of the bar through QDQ.com
HERE (there are two views-- the one you see by default and the #2 view by clicking on the #2 in the lower lefthand corner).
Bar Paco serves both churros and porras and we always get/eat/order the larger porras two go. I tell Paco how many porras to go ("para llevar"), he picks them out, puts them down on a sheet of grey paper, rolls up the porras inside, and sticks a toothpick through the middle to keep it from coming unravelled. Then he turns, back to his cash register, and calculates the total with pencil and paper. When you walk in, with the sound of the door opening, everyone shouts "BUENOS DIAS" without turning their head. I love it.
Again, I seriously doubt anyone will make this trek to get porras at this Bar Paco across the river and up Paseo de Extremadura into little Barrio Lucero. I always volunteer to get porras early one morning when visiting and my ladyfriend and her family always laugh that I'm surely the ONLY GUIRI (tourist) who has ever patronized Bar Paco. Mainly because I'm probably the ONLY GUIRI in the entire neighborhood when I'm there visiting.
As a side-note, I know that
www.ViveMadrid.net rents "typical neighborhood apartments/pisos/flats" in Barrio Lucero. I've listed them on my
MadridMan\'s Madrid Apartments page and these are cheaper than most hotels too, of course. It's accessible by a couple metro stops (Laguna and Lucero) and several buses stop along Paseo de Extremadura on their way to places like Plaza Mayor, Puerta de Toledo, and others. If you want a real neighborhood experience then consider Barrio Lucero! (WHAT AM I SAYING?! THE LAST THING I WANT IS FOR THIS little haven away from tourism to become, well, TOURISTY!)
'Nuff said. Saludos, MadridMan