Tapas, I've decided, is completely overrated. After a week in Madrid I had to resort to giving up on the tapas and visited 2 Italian restuarants, 2 French restaurants and a Vietnamese. Yum. Now, it's not that I don't appreciate the usual meatballs, chorizo, spanish omelette combo most tourists go for, it's the sharing I object to. Tapas is my worst food nightmare. I don't share food, no, I can't share food. The whole idea of tapas is to get together with friends over a bottle of wine (so far so good) and then you order a selection of tapas to share and pick, ladylike, a few bits here and there, slowly working your way through the selection. Anyone who knows me will be able to confirm that I don't nibble or pick at my food. I inhale it - at speed. I eat quickly. Very. And if I have to share I eat even quicker as I have to make sure I get my share of the food in. So with tapas, well, I pretty much polish it all up in about 5 seconds flat - leaving not a lot for anyone else and any Spanish clientele staring at my bad eating manners in disbelief and disgust. So, I was a much safer dinner companion in the Italian, French, Vietnamese (even the burger grill bar) as in these restaurants I was given my own plate with my own non-sharing portion. Finally, an enjoyable meal. Tapas aside Madrid is a gorgeous city, the sun shone the whole week and I finally got to wear my flip-flops and summer dresses.