Cafe Ronda, Ronda de Toledo, Madrid

El Rastro, held every Sunday in Madrid's La Latina/Lavapies districts, is supposed to be the largest flea market in Europe. The market goes on for blocks and blocks, with lots of old and new merchandise: vintage hardware and toys, wind-up phonographs, furniture, paintings and prints, T-shirts, Indian-print tablecloths and clothing, didn't see any tube socks, but a lot of the new stuff was of that type.

It was fascinating to go into some of the old buildings and to explore these new-to-me neighborhoods. And Calle de la Cava Baja, which is supposed to have some of the best tapas bars in Madrid, sounded like a fun area to check out after el Rastro.

After wandering up and down the streets and checking out the fleas for several hours, I was ravenous and forgot all about Calle de la Cava Baja. My only requirement was to eat in an actual building rather than from a street vendor. Cafe Ronda was nearby, looked ok and seemed to be full of locals. The cafe has a half-dozen tables, a stand-up tapas bar, a remarkably pleasant and accommodating waitress, and some of the best cafe con leche ever.

I ordered a couple of tapas staples: patatas bravas and bocadillo de calamares. The patatas bravas were crisp quarters of unpeeled thin-skinned potatoes, which seemed to have been roasted rather than fried. Doesn't seem likely, considering the tiny, open kitchen, maybe they were cooked on a well-seasoned plancha (griddle). The practically grease-free spuds were topped with a thick, spicy tomato sauce, seasoned liberally with smoky pimenton. The serving was big enough to share.

Don't order a sandwich in Spain if you can get a bocadillo. Sandwiches seem to rather mundane, kind of the equivalent of bland, packaged boiled ham and yellow American cheese on Wonder bread, no toppings. Bocadillos, on the other hand, are made on crisp-crusted mini-baguettes, their chewy, light centers layered with any number of tasty fillings, it could be prosciutto-like Serrano ham, hearty manchego cheese, creamy, frittata-like tortilla Espanola, or thinly sliced spicy chorizo.

My bocadillo de calamares was full of tender rings of calamari, lightly fried and vigorously seasoned with salt and garlic. Excellent, either plain or dipped in the nice salsa brava that topped my patatas.

My tasty and inexpensive lunch -- plus two glasses of strong and sweet cafe con leche -- gave me the energy I needed to head back to el Rastro for another hour or two of digging for treasures.